The McCann v Gonçalo Amaral libel trial as it happens.

[John]

In the spirit of fair play I find it very odd the both parties cannot have the witnesses they want in court.  If I was a sceptic I would be beginning to smell a rat!

[AnneGuedes]

He gave a press conference iirc saying he'd wanted to talk that day and was disappointed at not being heard. My opinion is that it seems a little on the arrogant side to assume you can just turn up and have your say without going through the correct process.

Having said that, I hope that he does get to have his say when the request is properly dealt with.

I must say that, on last Wednesday, Mr McCann kept a low profile. He didn't enter the court room when his sister was taking the stand. He was sitting in a big hall outside the courtroom, whereas Mrs Healy was sitting in the ground floor main hall. He looked like kindly accompanying two ladies.

[AnneGuedes]

I haven't had a chance to read everything which has been posted this afternoon but it is rather telling what the honourable Judge had to say on Wednesday about the possibility of Mrs Healey testifying.

Following an observation by Amaral lawyer Dr Santos de Oliveira to the effect that Mrs Healey's evidence mustn't have been so important since Isabel Duarte chose to give her up in the first place.  The Judge said that Isabel Duarte had relinquished all additional witnesses except for Mrs Cameron.  She added that the production of testimony evidence up until now does not lead the Court to believe that the witness Susan Healy's knowledge is relevant to the discussion about the case considering her relationship with Kate McCann and the fact that lawyer for the plaintiffs had officially given her up. She therefore didn't give permission for the witness to be called.

Oh dear!!

Mrs Duarte wasn't smart on that issue. She provided the sticks to be beaten with. Why did she say in almost the same sentence that she had given up Mrs Healy and that Mrs Healy had important facts to reveal ? That didn't make sense. I can tell that through the intonation of her voice it was clear she wasn't pleading her witnesses' cause. It was as if she didn't mind ! I was shocked. Was she like this out of pride, because of the shame to have forgotten she didn't want to admit ?

[John]

Typical lawyers Anne...they are right even when they are wrong!   

[icabodcrane]

I haven't had a chance to read everything which has been posted this afternoon but it is rather telling what the honourable Judge had to say on Wednesday about the possibility of Mrs Healey testifying.

Following an observation by Amaral lawyer Dr Santos de Oliveira to the effect that Mrs Healey's evidence mustn't have been so important since Isabel Duarte chose to give her up in the first place.  The Judge said that Isabel Duarte had relinquished all additional witnesses except for Mrs Cameron.  She added that the production of testimony evidence up until now does not lead the Court to believe that the witness Susan Healy's knowledge is relevant to the discussion about the case considering her relationship with Kate McCann and the fact that lawyer for the plaintiffs had officially given her up. She therefore didn't give permission for the witness to be called.

Oh dear!!

It is interesting that the Judge,  when deciding on the relevance of Mrs Healy's testimony,  referred  to her  'relationship with Kate' 

Does the Judge consider that testimony given by those closely related to the McCanns is of less value than that of independant witnesses  ?

That must of some concern to the McCann legal team,  given that most  of their witneses have close personal  ties with the McCanns 

[Benice]

It is interesting that the Judge,  when deciding on the relevance of Mrs Healy's testimony,  referred  to her  'relationship with Kate' 

Does the Judge consider that testimony given by those closely related to the McCanns is of less value than that of independant witnesses  ?

That must of some concern to the McCann legal team,  given that most  of their witneses have close personal  ties with the McCanns

I wondered the very same Icab. And yet it is the family who are the people most aware of the effect Amaral's book and the documentary had on the McCanns.

[AnneGuedes]

If this book had an effect (and I admit it had, though I can't conceive loosing a daughter hadn't the worst of all possible effects), then it had one on all the close members of the family, the grand mothers, the grand father, the uncles and aunts on the father side. It's difficult to discriminate between your own pain and the compassionate pain you feel for those you love.

[Benice]

If this book had an effect (and I admit it had, though I can't conceive loosing a daughter hadn't the worst of all possible effects), then it had one on all the close members of the family, the grand mothers, the grand father, the uncles and aunts on the father side. It's difficult to discriminate between your own pain and the compassionate pain you feel for those you love.

The McCanns have never claimed the book or documentary caused them more pain than Madeleine's abduction.

Close family members are the people who would be spending the greatest amount of  time with Kate and Gerry , and who would know them better than anyone else  - and so by definition are best qualilfied  to say how deeply they were affected, regardless of their own feelings.

As a point of interest Anne  (off topic slightly) you say you had difficulty understanding the Glaswegian accent.  Do you think that any interpretor would have the same difficulty?   I'm thinking of the problems that situation may have posed during interviews, with an interpretor having to contend with Gerry's accent and Gerry having to contend with a translator's Portuguese accent?   I've always believed the language barrier was a reason for misunderstandings which would simply not have happened if it hadn't existed.

Must go to bed now - so will catch up tomorrow.

Goodnight Anne.

[jassi]

The McCanns have never claimed the book or documentary caused them more pain than Madeleine's abduction.

Close family members are the people who would be spending the greatest amount of  time with Kate and Gerry , and who would know them better than anyone else  - and so by definition are best qualilfied  to say how deeply they were affected, regardless of their own feelings.

As a point of interest Anne  (off topic slightly) you say you had difficulty understanding the Glaswegian accent.  Do you think that any interpretor would have the same difficulty?   I'm thinking of the problems that situation may have posed during interviews, with an interpretor having to contend with Gerry's accent and Gerry having to contend with a translator's Portuguese accent?   I've always believed the language barrier was a reason for misunderstandings which would simply not have happened if it hadn't existed.

Must go to bed now - so will catch up tomorrow.

Goodnight Anne.

Gerry may have an irritating glaswegian accent, but he's hardly a Rab C Nesbitt

[Benice]

Gerry may have an irritating glaswegian accent, but he's hardly a Rab C Nesbitt

I'm not saying he is.     But as an English person who is used to hearing the Scottish accent - I can sometimes have a problem understanding what has just been said.    Surely to a Portuguese translator, who has probably never encountered even a slight Glaswegian accent before - an accent is even more likely to increase the possibility of misunderstandings.     

[Cariad]

Gerry may have an irritating glaswegian accent, but he's hardly a Rab C Nesbitt

I'm not saying he is.     But as an English person who is used to hearing the Scottish accent - I can sometimes have a problem understanding what has just been said.    Surely to a Portuguese translator, who has probably never encountered even a slight Glaswegian accent before - an accent is even more likely to increase the possibility of misunderstandings.     

I actually quite like Dr Mccanns accent. I really don't think it's very strong. Whether it would have an impact on a translator is another matter though. Weren't the original translations done by an anglophone?

[Benice]

I actually quite like Dr Mccanns accent. I really don't think it's very strong. Whether it would have an impact on a translator is another matter though. Weren't the original translations done by an anglophone?

I've no idea Cariad - in fact I had never given 'Accents'  a thought before - until Anne described the difficulty she was having with the Glaswegian accent.

[jassi]

I actually quite like Dr Mccanns accent. I really don't think it's very strong. Whether it would have an impact on a translator is another matter though. Weren't the original translations done by an anglophone?

I would agree, his accent is not very strong. He is an educated man, living in England, so it is likely that his accent has been weakened. Those of his family who still live in Scotland may have a stronger accent.

[AnneGuedes]

I'm not saying he is.     But as an English person who is used to hearing the Scottish accent - I can sometimes have a problem understanding what has just been said.    Surely to a Portuguese translator, who has probably never encountered even a slight Glaswegian accent before - an accent is even more likely to increase the possibility of misunderstandings.   

The interpreter is British, speaks quite well Portuguese and also French. I asked her if she had difficulty to understand Mrs Cameron, and she said she had none at all (before any session she has a chat with the witness outside of the court room, precisely to get accustomed to the eventual accent).
The difficult part is to hear properly a person of whom you only see the back at a certain distance. The lawyer or the judge asks a question. The interpreter turns her head towards the witness and translates the question, her mouth being at about 40 cm of the witness' ear. Then the witness answers, looking in front towards the Judge. The interpreter turns her head to listen better, she can see the mouth's movements, then she translates for the judge, looking in front of her.
Of what I heard from the witness and then from the interpreter (in the case of Mrs Cameron, much more from the interpreter) I catch a meaning that I sometimes write in French, don't ask me how !
You have to realize idiomatic expressions can't by definition be translated literally. There too there's the spirit and the letter, a reality some seem not to be aware of.

[AnneGuedes]

I would agree, his accent is not very strong. He is an educated man, living in England, so it is likely that his accent has been weakened. Those of his family who still live in Scotland may have a stronger accent.

Yes, I've no difficulty to understand him. My children found his accent so funny that they spent hours imitating it in 2007.