Libel actions have the potential to open floodgates, or possibly, close them in cases where the claimant wins.
The suspending of next week's McCann .v. Goncala Amaral libel trial could well prove to be a turning point, in this saga. Negotiations are currently under way (though an agreement was reached last Friday) and the result will be known within 6 months.
I can't see it taking that long actually. They are due to face their English nemesis, Tony Bennett in Court on 5th and 6th February, less than two weeks away.
At that hearing, the Judge will be placed in an untenable position. What with potential floodgates, etc. If he decides that the Libel trial must be heard before he can making a ruling in this case, then the McCanns will have no option but to pursue the libel trial. Something I suspect, they have little appetite for.
The fact that they have not pursued the libel action against GA to the Court room, has the potential to unleash much that has thus far, remained under cover. Basically, those who felt threatened in the past, may now feel free to speak out as they have seen that the McCanns have backed down at the door of the Court. With social networking such as it is, this news cannot be hidden.
Speculating on the settlement. If it is in the mccanns favour, then GA must withdraw his book from sale - they can accept nothing less, if their case is not to be seen as vexatious. Far be it for me to give their desperate spinners any ideas, but they could take the compassionate stance, and say that 'enough is enough' - they simply want to withdraw from public attention and grieve. Of course, if they choose this route, it must also include dropping their action against Tony.
However, in both hypothetical situations, the settlement must include a gagging order against GA, if it doesn't, they have lost and floodgates could open.
Anyone with more than a passing interest in this case, would agree GA had the upper hand in this libel action, having succeeded in two higher Courts that have ruled the book is not libellous. He also has the support of the Portuguese public. Public opinion is vital, and the McCanns do not appear to have had any success in getting them back on side. The book didn't help.
Whoever it was, that made the decision to pursue the libel case against GA having lost two previous trials to get his book banned, must have been certifiable. But that is a whole other story.
Excellent post.
ReplyDeleteThank you Anna.
DeleteFollowing the libel victories against The Express, the newspapers shut down all negative news regarding the McCanns. Much will now depend on 'who caved'.
Good blog. I try to avoid commenting on Mr Bennett as I do not like or respect his methods. However,Dr Amaral is another case. The xenophobic smearing of all things portugese by TM has been contrived to distract a gullible uk public from questioning the parents stance. I hope the settlememt favours him.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. I stay independent - that way I can upset more people :)
DeleteGoncala's is a good book, and much can be revealed about an author simply by reading their work. He is a man of honour, and I wish him well.
I believe Tony to be passionate and sincere, he works tirelessly for justice, and that I can only applaud.
Christ..GA said a hundred times on tv that he would PROVE the McCanns were involved in their daughter's disappearance..all he proved was he had a harem of misguided and unintelligent people who fell for every word he said..why? because they hated the McCanns...thats it in a nutshell I hope he loses everything he owns and as for the attention seeking lawyer, well he appears to be for the high road! I mean court.
ReplyDeleteWhy fixate on GA? He was part of a team, who all reached the same conclusion. The case was shelved because of insufficient evidence. The McCanns could have kept the case open and the search going, by co-operating with the police.
DeleteThe Portuguese people were wonderful in the early days, Anon, searching for the child day and night. In fact the McCanns stayed on in PDL and the people prayed with them in the local church. If, as you say, the people hate them, then I would ask why?
I didn't say the Portuguese people hated the McCanns...but those who fall over every word said by Amaral...he's already been convicted by a Portuguese court for beaking the law whilst serving as a Police Officer.
DeleteAs for the McCanns not asking for the case to remain open...they couldn't solve it while it remained open (and of course due TO Portuguese secrecy laws no news was given out..except those who like to make up stories and tip off the media)..at least the McCanns could get to see what information and leads they might have received (although they will never know ALL the information because much of it was discarded or lost through carelessness, bad policing and atrocious filing system)How would you feel if your son or daughter went missing and the police refused to tell you bugger all? After over a year it had to be handed over to someone else and as it couldn't be handed over unless the Portuguese closed it then why would you ask for it to stay open knowing it would be more of the same?
Fiction, and indeed fact, tells us that tenacious, dedicated, policemen are often flawed. The stereotype, scruffy, ex-alcoholic, investigator, striving to find the truth is almost cliche. But they are the heroes. The good guys in the end.
ReplyDeleteTaking GA out of the equation for the moment, the facts of this case are all over the internet, and easy enough for people to research and form an opinion. The flow of information we have now, is unprecedented in history. The mighty are falling.
The rumours around this case will continue until a conclusion is reached one way or the other. Even then, some will continue to wonder.
This case has never sat comfortably with some people from Day 1. I was not one of those people btw, I was shocked and horrified at what had happened, and watched out for all the updates. The facts became apparent immediately. The tapas bar was much further away and their leaving 3 toddlers alone, led me to research further.
I know all of these things have been explained away, many times, but my brain cannot accept this information. Indeed, an abductor would be the last thing on your mind. Simply, because you would be stricken with fear over the plug sockets, sharp corners, anything reachable, and the terror your children would feel if they woke up and you were not there. And I hasten to add, I am far from a perfect parent, my kids' safety was sacrosanct.
Apart from all of the above, I am sceptical about the accusations towards the PJ. The culture of Portugal is such, that the loss of a small child would tug on the heart strings of macho cops, many of whom, probably have children of their own. Actually, it is the same in all cultures, but probably more dominant in family oriented catholic societies.
Besides which, all the early reports we heard on this case, were full of praise for the PJ and the Portuguese people.
Most all parents are good parents,a few are not but none of them are perfect..I watched live on tv as one of the sky reporters walked the distance between the tapas and the apartment..52 seconds it took..too far for me and for most parents but lulled into thinking they were in a safe family enviroment I still dont think I would have done it but like I said..not perfect,--but that doesn't make then bad parents..in all other aspects of parenting they showed up to be a loving and caring family unit..and unfortunately the culture in Portugal is much and such the same as most parents..how do you meansure love in a parent? they dont love their kids any more than British or French parents and I'm sure there are plenty bad parents there just as there are here and anywhere and certainly your faith has nothing to do with it be it Catholic or Hindu....but hey...it's a project for you to jump onto so why spoil a good thing in getting your name out there..it all helps..lets face it if the Portuguese had one single thing to charge them with they would have done so but they didn't and that was shown when they discharged them as Arguido's slong with Morat..."there is NO evidence to support Mr & Mrs McCann remaining Arguido's" not "insufficient evedence" thats just what anti McCanns would prefer to think ...after all, they need to believe in something.
ReplyDeleteThis case is one of my interests, has been since the beginning. I study human behaviour, and this case has been fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI don't often speak out about this case, nor do I make any judgements,I am aware that I am a target for those who support the parents without question. However, I was disturbed to see a pro forum ripping into the victims of the Savile abuse, almost as if kids in care do not matter. I was quite shocked.
Might I suggest they read Teresa Cooper's story of Kendall House. The kids there were drugged, 9 of them have gone on to have babies with birth defects.
Returning to the matter in hand, the closing of the case effectively stopped the search. The McCanns had, and still have power to clear up any discrepancies. By discrepancies, I mean answer the 48 questions and do the reconstruction. This would provide the new evidence the PJ need to re-open the case.
I swear that last paragraph made me laugh..
ReplyDeleteReturning to the matter in hand, the closing of the case effectively stopped the search.( I HATE TO TELL YOU BUT THE SEARCH STOPPED A LONG LONG TIME BEFORE THEY CLOSED IT)
The McCanns had, and still have power to clear up any discrepancies. By discrepancies, I mean answer the 48 questions and do the reconstruction. This would provide the new evidence the PJ need to re-open the case.(SORRY, BUT THE MCCANNS HAVE NEVER BEEN ASKED TO RETURN TO PORTUGAL AND I BELIEVE IT WAS THE MCCANNS WHO OFFERED A RECONSTRUCTION (WITHIN DAYS OF THE ABDUCTION) WHICH OF COURSE WAS REFUSED...SILLY REALLY WHEN YOU CONSIDER ALL THE EMPLYEES WERE STILL THERE AND MANY OF THE SAME HOLIDAYMAKERS) AS FOR THE 48 QUESTIONS..WHY NOT ASK THEN A YEAR BEFORE? WHY NOT ASK THEM BEFORE THEY WERE MADE ARGUIDO'S WHEN LEGALLY THEY HAD TO ANSWWER THEM..BUT NO..THEY WANTED TO ASK THEN AFTER THEY WERE MADE ARGUIDO'S AND WHEN THEY DID NOT HAVE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS...NOW WHY WOULD THAT BE? NOT ONE OF THESE QUESTIONS WERE TO HELP FIND MADELEINE...i BELIEVE GERRY CARRIED ON AND DID ANSWER THEM.(BUT YOU CAN CHECK THAT IN THE FILES) MRS MCCANN'S SOLICITOR (AFTER SHE WAS MADE AN ARGUIDO)..TOLD HER NOT TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS AND SEEING AS HOW NOT ONE OF THEM HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH FINDING MADELEINE...I DONT BLAME HER SOLICITOR ONE BIT. You really need to look at the case dispassionately to see the woods from the trees because only then can see see how the McCanns were being set up for the fall..
ReplyDeleteI have heard all of the above before, many times. No-one disputes that mistakes were made in the past. However, in a nutshell, they need to rule themselves out of the investigation to stop the questions and any criticism.
What will happen if the case is re-opened, as they say is their hope. Will they maintain the stance they took prior to the shelving, or will they answer questions etc?
Incidentally, I always look at the case dispassionately.
Have you actually read the 48 questions? How do you think this question would help in finding out what happened to Madeleine?
ReplyDeleteQuote
36. Have you ever done shift work in any emergency services or other services?
Unquote
With the application of just a tiny amount of common sense, it's obvious to anyone that many of the questions had already been asked and answered previously. And if they were so vital - why didn't Amaral ask them the day before when Kate spent 11 hours being interrogated as a Witness not an Arguido, which meant under Portuguese law she would have been obliged to answer them. They chose not to ask them them so they couldn't have been that important could they?
As for the reconstruction, all members of the group fully expected to be taking part in a reconstruction shortly after Madeleine disappeared and were quite willing to do that. It was the PJ who decided not to go ahead with it. The next requests came after they had watched Amaral do his best to pin this crime on the McCanns and themselves. Do you really think they had any trust whatsoever in the PJ after that. Incidentally the McCanns themselves have never refused to take part in a reconstruction.
The McCanns do not need to 'clear up' anything. Their status is no different to any other British citizens who have never been charged with a crime. Unlike Amaral - they do not have criminal records.
Perhaps some research other than Havern's Forum of speculation and misinformation might be something you should consider.
With respect, it is not up to an arguido (suspect) to cherry pick the questions they want to answer, or to decide what is, or isn't relevant. It is up to the investigating police force.
ReplyDeleteIf the McCanns consider themselves clear on all levels, then why all the libel cases? Clearly, many are not yet convinced.
I have done a great deal of research, thank you.
Rosalinda, Kate was advised by her lawyers not to answer those 48 questions. The PJ of that time were very bad men and were trying to frame the parents of Madeleine McCann. Have you heard about Snr Amaral and what he did to the mother of that little girl Joana? They were not nice men you know.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Madeleine will be found very soon and I would not wish her dead like some do. That I find incomprehensible.
Yes I have heard about Joana Cipriano, I believe her mother and Uncle were convicted of murdering her and dismembering her body.
ReplyDeleteNo matter who investigates the Madeleine case, the facts remain the same.
Nobody wishes Madeleine dead, that is absurd.
The ONLY evidence Amaral had re the Cipriano case were the confessions. It has since been legally established that those confessions were obtained by torture. Amaral was found guilty of covering up the torture of a defenceless woman i.e. attempting to pervert the course of justice by lying. The fact that even with that knowledge you find him to be an 'honourable' man is incomprehensible to me.
ReplyDeleteIf you had read the PJ files and then his book you would know that he has not followed the info in the files, he has changed statements and dates to suit his own agenda and blatently lied. One lie being the claim that Jane Tanner identified Robert Murat. She did not and you will find no statements in the files or mention in the AJs Final report which says that she did.
Perhaps you should read Kate's book. One thing is certain and that it will have been scrutinised by Amaral hoping to find something he can hold up as proof that Kate lied. She states categorically that his claim that JT identified Murat is completely untrue. He has not challenged that statement nor explained why the AG did not mention this 'momentous' piece of evidence from JT amongst the reasons listed in the Final Report which led up to Murat being made an Arguido. If it was true then the witness statement of JT positively identifying the man who abducted Madeleine would have been top of the list. Such a statement does not exist.
I would be interested to know how you came to the conclusion that Amaral is an 'honourable' man. Perhaps you should do a blog about him.
Incidentally, Arguidos ARE able to 'cherry pick' which questions they answer. Witnesses do not have that option and must reply.
Whilst I appreciate your valiant attempts to influence my thinking on this case, if we go into the minutiae, we will end up in a perpetual cycle.
ReplyDeleteScotland Yard have all the evidence, so too, the Portuguese Review team.
At the moment, I am more intrigued by the hoax sighting in Brazil, and its source,
Anon, I have some questions for you:
ReplyDeleteWhat makes you conclude people want Madeleine dead?
Why are all the Tapas statements so erratic, confusing and different to one another if the case is as straightforward as 'stranger abducts child'? Surely if your child was taken when you were out with good friends, their statements would at least correspond with one another? How hard can it be?
Why do you believe and trust every word that comes from team McCann when their behaviour suggests the polar opposite of what their PR is saying?
Why did Gerry state "confusion is good"? Surely confusion is hindering them from finding Madeleine, and is therefore far from good?
As the McCann's have not employed any private investigators since March 2012 and informed us they have concluded searching since Scotland Yard is going to conclude the truth/find their child, why are the McCann's still asking for money?
Also, why would anyone stop searching for their little girl when they have tried to convince people "she is alive and findable"?
Why, during all the litigation team McCann have brought against people, why have they never tried to sue the private investigator who ripped them off for £500,000? Is the loss of such a large percentage of the Find Madeleine fund not tantamount to harming their search?
It's so easy to put it down to people simply hating the McCann's isn't it, but when nobody will/can satisfactorily answer these and thousands of other commonsensical questions, what does anyone expect? To not question is unhealthy, how would we know the real truth if it was never asked for?
If you had retired parents in their 60's who were sent a letter asking them to transfer the deeds of their £80,000 house to a company who will let them live there for the rest of their lives, and that they'll give your parents £30,000 every year to spend on whatever they like, would you ask questions or would you believe the company implicitly and encourage your parents to take up the amazing offer?
What if the company made the small print too confusing, or hired lawyers to tell you you had to believe what they say, despite the confusing small print, and that your parents would be sued if they spoke to anyone about it?
I'm sure some of the McCann's supporters will regard my questions with derision and ridicule me, and maybe ultimately put them down to me being a 'hater' but I think the questions are easy, basic and valid enough to have straightforward answers. Yet they have never been answered, at least not with any degree of the sincerity one would expect from two people desperately grieving and leaving no stone unturned whilst tirelessly searching for their child.
I don't hate anyone, I just prefer to ask relevant questions until I understand enough to allow me to form my own opinions, rather than being told what to think, despite not all being as it seems.
One more, are the McCann's really the world's unluckiest couple in every aspect of their lives, as they purport themselves to be?
I await your honest reply as I've been nothing but 100% honest with my post to you.
Court hears Joana’s horror story
ReplyDeleteOnlookers in the public gallery screamed abuse at the mother and uncle of Joana Cipriano as they were ferried to and from court.
The case, which has shocked the nation with its account of incest, murder and desecration, took just three days to be tried. The Public Ministry has pressed for jail terms of 24 years for the defendants, who are charged with qualified murder, as well as desecrating and concealing a body.
Joana disappeared, presumed murdered, in the Algarve village of Figueira, near Portimão. She was last seen buying food from a nearby café on the evening of September 12 last year. Prosecutors charge that she came home to find her mother, 34-year-old Leonor Cipriano, and her uncle, 32-year-old João Cipriano, having sex. Fearful that Joana would relate the incident to her stepfather, they allege that the couple decided to kill her. The prosecution also said that the couple had repeatedly mistreated Joana, recounting that she was little more than a “servant” in her own household.
The court heard a catalogue of horrifying details, including an earlier video taped confession from Joana’s uncle in which he related the circumstances of his niece’s murder. This video testimony is now the subject of an appeal from the defence team who claim it should be excluded because the couple exercised their right to remain silent during the trial. In the taped confession, João Cipriano said he and his sister hit Joana who then banged her head against a wall before collapsing, unconscious, onto the floor. João Cipriano claimed that he had wanted to call an ambulance but that his sister prevented him, telling him instead to go to Joana’s stepfather and inform him that she had disappeared.
Her mother made subsequent public appeals for her daughter’s safe return, claiming that she had been kidnapped. But authorities began to suspect the couple after villagers noted their allegedly offhand reaction to Joana’s disappearance. Local shopkeeper NÃdia Rochato remembered that Leonor neither cried nor seemed unduly concerned. When she commented on this to her, Leonor reportedly replied that she believed that her daughter was still alive.
The absence of a corpse delayed the arraignment process but the Public Ministry were able to indict the couple following statements from neighbours. Investigators also gathered forensic evidence at the house where Joana lived with her mother, stepfather and two brothers.
Pinheiro castigated Joana’s mother for her “emotional instability, insensitivity and disregard for other people’s needs”. Only when Pinheiro announced that he was pressing for a 24-year jail term for both defendants did Leonor show emotion, sobbing uncontrollably. (cont.)
(...)Pinheiro explained why his team was pressing for such a long sentence. “The defendants’ guilt is heightened by their cold and calculating behaviour after their child’s death, as well as the devious manoeuvres they adopted to conceal the crime,” he said.
ReplyDeleteThe trial included key testimony from Joana’s stepfather, António Leandro, who related that Leonor had confided to him that she had had a sexual relationship with her brother. He also told the court that during this conversation, which took place a few days after Joana’s disappearance, at judicial police headquarters, Leonor had admitted that she and her brother had killed the little girl.
A key element of the prosecution’s case rests on the fact that the couple dismembered the girl’s corpse. António Leandro, confronted with photographs of tools allegedly used by the couple, said he recognised a saw he had kept at home. In the video taped confession, João Cipriano admitted that the body of the girl was dismembered and placed in a refrigerated trunk. A doctor involved in the case, Albino Santana dos Santos, conceded that body parts, matching the size of a girl of Joana’s height, could have been stuffed inside the trunk.
The couple received 16 year sentences.
What the report doesn't say is the mother waited 2 days before she notified the police.
During that time she washed her house down with petrol.Blood was found in the freezer belonging to Joana which the mother claimed came from a nose bleed after she had given Joana a beating.
- just to clear the lies from Anonymous on 21 January 2013 01:52
None of these details are known by the majority of the British public, so thank you. And bless Joana. Pictures of Leona allegedly beaten have accompanied negative GA articles. Wo cleans with petrol?
DeleteLibel actions have the potential to open floodgates, or possibly, close them in cases where the claimant wins structured settlement quote
ReplyDelete