The beating and conviction of Leonor Cipriano

[Carana]

I still haven't worked out if the child ever got home, let alone met a gruesome fate once back there.


Witness AA3, at around 8.30/8.40 p.m., saw CC [Joana Cipriano] walking up the stairs near the market, into the direction of her home, with a bag, a sign that she was returning from shopping (and we know that she did the shopping, from the deposition of witness NN). This witness, who was smoking at the window, stayed at the window for some time and verified that there was no movement on location, nor did she see any cars, or heard any screams. This means that, according to the rules of experience, and given the fact that the route is short, what is normal is that the minor returned home....

http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2012/03/blind-justice-maddie-case-review-is.html


I can't find the forensic report online which might clarify matters.

[C.Edwards]

I can't find the forensic report online which might clarify matters.

and this ^^^ is the problem with the cipriano case.  There is little available, so all that we can do is trust that the portuguese courts got it right.  I therefore don't understand why Leonor Cipriano gets such support from McCann supporters - well, I do understand why - as it's Amaral bashing - but it's very hypocritical if those same people argue that the Portuguese legal system is right to not charge the McCanns!

[sadie]

In among your flowery proselytising you have failed to reveal your sources for this Barbara Cartland-esque writing.  Please feel free to enlighten me as to what you got from where and which bits are your own personal opinion.

I'm sure debunker was about to post exactly the same thing as me as he wouldn't want to see uncited diatribes being propogated. ;-)

I openly admit that I am doing this from memory but I doubt the original documentation is still around ... but it is written with sincerity and integrity.  However I do know that loadsa lies now flood the internet ... same as hideHos youtubes.

As I suspect you well know C. Edwards, it is no longer possible to find certain articles/documents on the internet.  Links have been broken by someone.  Enormous efforts have ben made to flood the internet with disinformation.   ...the internet has been altered.   

There is something big being hidden and loads of resources are being changed to hide the truth

Is it drug smuggling?  Human trafficking? Blackmail?  Sex trafficking?  Things to produce more power for certain people  ... I dunno

I had been alerting to this, well over a year ago, when I was on ......, but nobody seemed to realise just how sinister these alterations were potentially.  The "book" or "facts" are being rewritten to suit an agenda.  Flood the internet with disinformation, hide all the true information and bingo, there is a new "truth".

This case stinks of corruption and "NEW INVENTED TRUTHS"


About 2 years ago, GEarth was altered with all the relevant street names around 5A removed, making it difficult without a datum to explain things.  I even sent into SY a map showing the street names, becos it would have been so difficult for them with out the basics.  Since this the names have reappeared. 



At one time if you entered the address "Ocean Club Praia de Luz Algarve" into the Fly box of GEarth, it would immediately fly you to the correct place. 

Then suddenly everything changed.  Enter the same address and it would fly you several miles east - every time to a specific seaside villa.  This made it impossible for the ordinary person who had no prior knowledge of where 5A was situated exactly, to find it.  Who changed this and why?


I will add to my post that it was from memory.   I haven't the time to search.

[C.Edwards]

There was a bit of a spat between google and some map data providers a few years ago.  I was working within the asset tracking industry at the time and it caused a few issues.  I think that lots of areas in Europe were affected.  I don't think it was necessarily anything underhand going on.

[sadie]

Im confused, what is the latest with regards to this woman, has she or has she not just had another 7months added to her sentence for lying in court about this, or am I missing something?

Yes she has - it's bizarre to say the least.  The courts previously accepted that she HAD been tortured, but have now decided that she also lied about specific details about the beatings which to my mind could seemingly be explained by the fact that she had her head covered whilst they were taking place.  I must admit I do find the PT Legal Sytem baffling at times.  Surely it is not right that the only person to serve time in prison for an act of torture is the actual torture victim themselves?

The Portuguese torture System stinks.  Sorry but it does. 

Cant help wondering if pressure is being put upon Judges by peeps who have info about their private life ... and I am NOT accusing ... just wondering

[C.Edwards]

Yes she has - it's bizarre to say the least.  The courts previously accepted that she HAD been tortured, but have now decided that she also lied about specific details about the beatings which to my mind could seemingly be explained by the fact that she had her head covered whilst they were taking place.  I must admit I do find the PT Legal Sytem baffling at times.  Surely it is not right that the only person to serve time in prison for an act of torture is the actual torture victim themselves?

From: http://www.regiao-sul.pt/noticia.php?refnoticia=134868

(google translated)

The Faro Court today postponed to April 2nd reading of sentence Leonor Cipriano, arrested for the murder of her daughter Joana, in the case which is charged with making false statements. A child's mother, who disappeared in the village of Figueira, in Portimão, September 12, 2004, presented different versions of the alleged assault he suffered at the premises of the Judicial Police in Faro that year.

According to judicial sources, the court held that it was necessary to join this process documentary evidence the previous case, in which Leonor Cipriano accused several agents to have beaten during interrogation. Leonor Cipriano - who, like his brother, meets 16 years in prison for murder and concealment of a corpse - was excused from attending today the Court of Faro to hear the reading of the judgment. contradictory statements were made ​​during the trial of the inspectors who investigated the "Joana case" in 2009, which resulted in the conviction of two of the five defendants in the case.

At the judgment, the collective of judges deemed " and relevant flagrant contradictions it incurred "Leonor Cipriano statements that produced the sessions of the trial, although he had the" opportunity to reveal the truth. " The court gave as proven aggression, although without having ascertained the identity of the attackers . Gonçalo Amaral, former coordinator of the Criminal Investigation Department of the PJ of Portimão, was acquitted of the crime of failure to report abuse and sentenced to a year and a half for the crime of making false allegations, were suspended for the same period.

Inspector Anthony Nunes Cardoso was sentenced to two years and three months for forgery of document, sentence suspended for two years. Former agents PJ Paulo Pereira Cristovao Morgado Leonel Marques and Paulo Marques Bom, who were accused of having tortured Leonor Cipriano in interrogations conducted PJ in Faro, were acquitted.

and from http://www.tvi24.iol.pt/7/nacionais/leonor-cipriano-condenada-a-sete-meses-por-mentir-a-justica-leonor-cipriano-prisao/1435391-4996.html

(google translated again)

On Tuesday the Court of Faro condemned Leonor Cipriano to seven
months in prison for making false statements to Justice, TV1 has learned. The
defendant is already serving a sentence of 16 years in prison for the
murder of her daughter Joana. Reading of the judgment was scheduled for
March 14, but the court postponed the date stating the need for
documentary evidence of this process earlier, in which Leonor Cipriano
accused several agents of beating her during interrogation. The mother of the child [who disappeared in the village of Figueira, Portimão,
September 12, 2004] presented different versions of the alleged assault
she suffered at the premises of the Judicial Police in Faro that same
year. Contradictory statements were made ​​during the trial that
investigated the inspectors in the 'Joana case' in 2009, which resulted in the
conviction of two of the five defendants in the case. The
collective judgment considered "egregious and relevant the contradictions
it incurred »Leonor Cipriano statements that produced the sessions of
the trial, although it had the" opportunity to reveal the truth. " The
court gave as proven aggression, although without having ascertained the
identity of the attackers. Gonçalo Amaral , former coordinator of the
Criminal Investigation Department of the PJ of Portimão, was acquitted
of the crime of failure to report abuse and sentenced to a year and a
half for the crime of making false allegations, were suspended for the
same period. António Nunes Cardoso The inspector was sentenced to two
years and three months for forgery of document, sentence suspended for
two years. Former agents PJ Paulo Pereira Cristovao Morgado Leonel
Marques and Paulo Marques Bom, who were accused of having tortured
Leonor Cipriano in interrogations conducted in PJ Faro, were acquitted.
Leonor Cipriano meets as her brother, João Cipriano, 16 years in prison
for murder and concealment of a corpse.

The crucial part to me seems to be: "According to the court, it was proven that Leonor Cipriano lied about how officers beat him and submitted in court different versions of events that occurred during the interrogations he underwent in 2004, after the crime. "

I don't see how any of the convictions (Amaral's included) can be upheld after a court found she lied about being tortured?

[Carana]

I can't find the forensic report online which might clarify matters.

and this ^^^ is the problem with the cipriano case.  There is little available, so all that we can do is trust that the portuguese courts got it right.  I therefore don't understand why Leonor Cipriano gets such support from McCann supporters - well, I do understand why - as it's Amaral bashing - but it's very hypocritical if those same people argue that the Portuguese legal system is right to not charge the McCanns!

I'm bewildered about this case.

"These traces, according to forensics exams, are of human blood and of human and animal blood (cfr. page 235), and although insufficient to establish whom they belong to through the DNA (pages 1780 and following), they reveal that something terrible happened in that living room, something that originated the existence of human blood on the floor and on the walls, which was cleaned with a mop and a bucket; the blood that was on the mop was located on the handle, revealing that the person who used the mop had in turn his or her hands dirty with blood. Therefore, the traces that were collected in the living room reinforce the reliability of the reconstitution."

Snip


"Therefore, we cannot conclude with certainty that the body, or all parts of the minor’s body were placed inside the deep freezer, but that at least they tried to place it in there, results not only from the reconstitution act, but also from the fact that on the 16th of October 2004, human blood samples were collected from the back interior of the freezer’s second drawer (cfr. Page 585), which was again confirmed by the report of the examination that was performed by the LPC [Scientific Police Lab] (pages 1780 and following, with special attention to pages 1786 (item B) and 1792). It is further recalled that witness CC3 explained that the blood traces that were collected from the inside of the drawer were located precisely on the back panel of the freezer’s second drawer. Now if one should consider the possibility that the human blood that was found could have resulted from the handling of the deep freezer by someone who had a cut to his or her hand, the fact that the human blood was found inside the back part of the drawer sets that possibility aside and points towards the conclusion that a human body part was placed there, or an attempt was made.



Without further information, I'm not sure what could not be compatible with a nicked finger... whoever that may have been.

[Carana]

Now if one should consider the possibility that the human blood that was found could have resulted from the handling of the deep freezer by someone who had a cut to his or her hand, the fact that the human blood was found inside the back part of the drawer sets that possibility aside and points towards the conclusion that a human body part was placed there, or an attempt was made.


I haven't found any information to indicate why this would indicate that a chopped-up corpse was in that fridge / freezer. Perhaps there is.

[Carana]

What type of freezer did they have? A stand-alone deep freeze or a standard fridge/freezer combo?

[C.Edwards]

Sorry Carana, I have no idea.

Although the forensics don't look to have been brilliant, it's obvious that what other evidence they had was enough to convict.  Subsequently Leonor Cipriano has been found guilty of lying about being tortured even so it looks less and less like an unsafe conviction to me.

[John]

It's the same in all these Latin countries Sadie, its what they have always known and in fact expect from those in power.  The European Convention on Human Rights is a standing joke in these countries.

[DCI]

Odd how it isn't mentioned, that Joao Grade, was Leonor and Joao Cipriano's lawyer, for 4 years.
Until he was apparently caught taking drugs into the prison, for another inmate.

Joao Grade Lawyer To Leonor Cipriano & The Goncalo Amaral Connection
Dr Joao Grade dos Santos
Former Lawyer To Leonor Cipriano
Leonor Cipriano was convicted with her brother Joao Cipriano, of murdering Leonor's daughter and then disposing her body in the most macabre, spine chilling of ways. Leonor's lawyer was Dr Joao Grade dos Santos. Dr Grade received no financial recompense for representing Leonor and her brother, although legal aid was granted in their case. In Portugal if you are granted legal aid and need a lawyer to be paid out of that grant, the court actually appoints a lawyer, the defendant cannot choose a lawyer of their choice. Dr Marcos Aragao Correia, Leonor's present lawyer, also receives no financial recompense, he is expected to represent Leonor Cipriano for nothing. Leonor cannot pay him, she is very poor and has no money.

 

Leonor Cipriano Arriving At Court For Last Year's Trial
So weak, she Had to Be Helped Along By Two Prison Guards
~~~~~~~~~~~~

With so many miscarriages of justices occurring in Portugal, with the same story of people not being adequately represented, this is probably the reason why!

Dr Grade seemed to be doing a reasonable job of representing Leonor and then all of a sudden that changed, here we will attempt to understand the reasons why that suddenly changed.

In 2005, Leonor Cipriano, along with her brother, Joao, were found guilty of murdering eight-year old Joana Cipriano after she was reported missing in September 2004.

They were found guilty by a court of three judges and four jurors, they received prison sentences of 20 and 19 years respectively, since their sentences have been reduced on appeal to 16 years each.

In April 2008 Joao Grade was arrested as he prepared to visit two prisoners in Odemira Prison, after drugs were detected in two bags he maintains he was carrying in for the two inmates. Amphetamines equivalent to approximately 45 doses street value and also a quantity of ecstasy tablets.
On March 26th 2008, one month before Joao Grade was found to be carrying drugs in his possession, Goncalo Amaral along with four of his lower ranking colleagues PJ inspectors Paulo Pereira Cristovao, Leonel Marques, Paulo Marques Bom and Antonio Cardoso, were committed to jury trial by Joaquim da Cruz, an investigating judge. In May 2009, Goncalo Amaral was found guilty of falso testimunho (perjury) and given an 18 month suspended prison sentence.

Strangely in a country where they beat you up for traffic violations, Dr Grade made a plea to the court that he did not know the drugs were in his possession and the court accepted his plea, what a pity they did not extend the same kind of understanding towards Leonor Cipriano, where on no evidence at all, and nowhere near proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, that woman was convicted of the most heinous of crimes.

Where is the justice?

Where was her "lawyer" Dr Joao Grade?

Why did he not bring to the court's attention the many inconsistencies in the "alleged confession" obtained under torture, aided and abetted by disgraced former detective Goncalo Amaral?

Dr Grade, also said he was confident that he would be able to clear his clients once their appeal was heard, as he believed their guilt had not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Since the guilty verdict was announced, a number of Portugal's leading lawyers and judges have spoken out against the decision. One judge at Leonor's trial insisted on going on record as stating that he thinks Leonor Cipriano is innocent.

After a complaint to the DA was made by the Director of the Prison of Odemira, Dr Ana Maria Calado. Then soon after, Dr Marinho Pinto, who was at the time a journalist and now President of the Bar, made a front page report about Leonor’s torture in the newspaper "Expresso", which forced the investigation to go deeper.

With all of this to go on and the indictment of Amaral
Dr Grade still could not piece together a robust defense for his client, Leonor Cipriano, it was almost as if he was trying to defend Leonor with his hands tied behind his back.

It was alleged by Dr Ana maria Calado, that having been questioned for 48 hours, Leonor confessed only as the result of a serious and vicious assault.


 


Leonor Cipriano's Injuries After She Had been viciously and Brutally Beaten During her Torture in Police Custody.
The Torture Has Since Been Proved In court


This is the woman that Dr Joao grade was supposed to be representing in court.

Is this the same Dr Joao Grade dos Santos, that now holds Goncalo Amaral, an officer he helped to convict in high esteem? So high, that he has now become the disgraced former PJ coordinators advocate and plans to train the convicted criminal to be a lawyer?
Is this the same Dr Joao Grade dos Santos, that has now pledged to testify in favour of Goncalo Amaral at his forthcoming trial, where he will stand trial once again accused of torture, this time the torture of Leandro Silva, Leonor Cipriano's partner?
Is this the same Dr Joao Grade dos Santos, who attended the 50th birthday party of Goncalo Amaral and who dined with another member of the five former PJ inspectors he helped send for trial, Pierre Paulo Cristovoa? The simple answer to those questions is yes!

How can Dr Grade in all honesty testify in favour of Amaral at his trial where he stands accused of torturing another member of the family, he represented and helped to convict by getting them indicted?

How did Dr Joao Grade dos Santos manage to get off of the charge of drug smuggling in a country where they arrest you, take you into a room for questioning and then beat you to within an inch of your life, for even minor misdemeanors?

Strange business this lawyer thing, very strange!

Could it be that Dr Joao Grade dos Santos is in fear of his life and that of the safety of his family?

Until 1974 Portugal was a dictatorship, this was the climate in which the PJ was created and their methods were notoriously brutal.
In a country where brutal treatment of suspects was routine. The mother of one expatriate British woman had been arrested in the late 1980's on suspicion of a petty crime and she was savagely beaten while in custody, she was found to have extensive and deep bruising all over her body. Of course, the police said they hadn't done anything, and they were never called to account.

Leonor Cipriano dispensed the services of Dr Grade and employed the services of Dr Marcos Aragao Correia. Dr Correia has subsequently ran a successful trial in getting Goncalo Amaral convicted and having Goncalo Amaral charged with the torture of Leonor's partner, Leandro Silva.

Against this backdrop in Portugal, perhaps we should not be too surprised that the Lawyer that just successfully had five ex Portuguese detectives accused and charged with various serious crimes, ranging with torture and perjury, in the March of 2008, was himself "apparently" caught in possession of drugs as he "apparently" tried to smuggle them into a prison, just one month later in April 2008. Coincidence? Even the birthday party of Goncalo Amaral could not pass without incident!Leonor's present lawyer and the former "friend" of Amaral and her husband, were aggressed in the street as they stood watching Amaral's firework party! (This is the party that Dr Joao Grade dos Santos also attended as a guest of Amaral's)
Dr Aragao Correia was pulled through his open car window and threatened, while the husband of Amaral's former "friend" was punched repeatedly in the face by people that came from the party, allegedly sent by Goncalo Amaral. The police were called and the incident reported and the three who were attacked, were given incident report numbers, also the Portimao attorney general was informed.

Yet Dr Grade is to testify in favour of Goncalo Amaral?

Strange? You bet!

[C.Edwards]

The crucial part to me seems to be: "According to the court, it was proven that Leonor Cipriano lied about how officers beat him and submitted in court different versions of events that occurred during the interrogations he underwent in 2004, after the crime. "

I don't see how any of the convictions (Amaral's included) can be upheld after a court found she lied about being tortured?

What about this bit from the above article:

The court gave as proven aggression, although without having ascertained the
identity of the attackers.

Also, weren't the original verdicts against Amaral et al upheld on appeal?  Is he going to appeal again?  Does anything ever get settled once and for all in Portugal or is it an on-going thing?  Will Cipriano appeal against this latest court decision?  As I say, it seems bizarre to me.

I would like to see a native portuguese speaker's translation of the original on that before commenting. I suspect there may be an amount of meaning missing in the google translated version.  Don't know really.  As you say, it does seem bizarre but, for me, for different reasons to you!  (that they can find evidence of torture based on photos which could, arguably, have been tampered with or she could have been beaten up by inmates and not officers!

[C.Edwards]

"happy" is not a good word to use in hindsight. Personally I find it unusual that they found she'd been tortured in the way they did at the time but I accept that in the initial trial they did, indeed, find that she had been tortured.

That they've now found her guilty about lying about being tortured is just bizarre unless they are still upholding that she was tortured but now only on the grounds of what - the photographic evidence and interpretation by the self-confessed forensically limited prison doctor?

I don't understand it at all.

[DCI]

"happy" is not a good word to use in hindsight. Personally I find it unusual that they found she'd been tortured in the way they did at the time but I accept that in the initial trial they did, indeed, find that she had been tortured.

That they've now found her guilty about lying about being tortured is just bizarre unless they are still upholding that she was tortured but now only on the grounds of what - the photographic evidence and interpretation by the self-confessed forensically limited prison doctor?

I don't understand it at all.

It is bizarre,  they've now found her guilty about lying about being tortured. Only took them 8 years, to do so.

Why pick the day for her interrogation, when the prison director was on weeks holiday, she would never have allowed her to be picked up at 6 a.m.