There is no doubt that Amaral's position as the Coordinator of this investigation, even if only briefly, did carry more weight than any old hobbledy hoi looking to make a few bob.
The PJ would not allow him to do this while he still worked for them. This should tell us something.
Well, certainly in the court of public opinion as he was supposed to be a seasoned officer who was the head of the investigation - therefore his opinion would count more than the average João on a blog/forum soapbox.
His totally bizarre understanding of the dogs and forensics would pass over the heads of any casual reader who hadn't actually checked what the files actually stated.
ETA: to be fair to Amaral, he did state at some point that what he had stated was limited to what he had access to until he was taken off the case. Ok... and some of the clarification came later. However, if he
hadn't read the files, how could he have known that, e.g., a later Martin Smith statement (after Amaral's departure) had only said that he was 60-80% sure based on the manner of carrying a child? (Amaral chose the 80% end of the spectrum, and then stated that Martin Smith was certain that it was Gerry, but never mind.)
He can't have it both ways. Or perhaps he can in Portugal. Who knows?