LAST DAY OF LIBEL TRIAL 8th July 2014 DISCUSSION AND NEWS

tasprin wrote:

plebgate wrote:

canada12 wrote:I don't actually think the fact (if it is a fact) that Sean mentioned something from GA's book to his mother counts as extreme distress, disharmony or whatever else the McCanns are suing for. If Sean had then gone on to have serious emotional issues, or had failing grades in school, or something like that, then perhaps Kate might have a slim case in suggesting GA's book has led to problems for her kids. As it stands, I do believe if she's going to make statements about her children, she'd really need to back those up by allowing the kids to testify about their emotional states. Otherwise it's just hearsay, and very weak hearsay (IMO). So really it can only be about Kate and Gerry's emotional states as a result of GA's book, and so far I haven't read or seen anything that convinces me they're suffering. I'm hoping the judge is perceptive enough to come to the same conclusion.

A child pyschologist's report would have helped a lot more than hearsay evidence imo.

Yes psychological assessments, medical or school reports would have carried some weight but, in interviews, they've always insisted the twins are fine.

Clay Regazzoni wrote:

worriedmum wrote:

candyfloss wrote:
"We don't know if Madeleine is alive or dead but there is no evidence that she is dead and she is a missing child and she is completely innocent."

??????????????????????

Sticks out a mile doesn't it. What a crashing, jarring comment.

Funnily enough I was party to a strange conversation at work (yes, I do, now and again...) last night.

A colleague is travelling to Lisbon for the Optimus festival. Another colleague said that she would never visit Portugal because of "what happened to that little girl". She then added after a few seconds "Even though the mother did it".

jeanmonroe wrote:Just a 'thought'

WAS GM's 'mention' of a 'SHE' outside court subliminally, specifically, aimed at JT?

SHE was 'supposed' to have been the last one of the holiday gang to have 'seen Madeleine being carried off'

And she's not a liar or fantasist is she?

The McCanns would throw her under the bus, in an instant, wouldn't they?

(to 'save' their scrawny necks)

"SHE was the last one to see Madeleine, not me, m'lady" 'says' GM.

"I had gone back to the tapas, i don't know what Jane did, she said she was going to check her kids, but i can't truthfully swear. 100%, that was what she did m'lady'

"KEEP YOUR GOB SHUT, J!"?

hmmmmm   

Tilly-flop wrote:Posted an hour ago on the OFM Facebook page -




Official Find Madeleine Campaign
about an hour ago
Why do we continue?
There is absolutely nothing to suggest that Madeleine has been harmed.
Madeleine is still missing and someone needs to be looking for her.
She is young and vulnerable and needs our help.
We love her dearly and miss her beyond words.

We still need your help in finding Madeleine. Thank you for continuing to stand by our side and most of all, for caring so much about Madeleine.

~FM Webmaster

Cristobell wrote:

canada12 wrote:I don't actually think the fact (if it is a fact) that Sean mentioned something from GA's book to his mother counts as extreme distress, disharmony or whatever else the McCanns are suing for. If Sean had then gone on to have serious emotional issues, or had failing grades in school, or something like that, then perhaps Kate might have a slim case in suggesting GA's book has led to problems for her kids. As it stands, I do believe if she's going to make statements about her children, she'd really need to back those up by allowing the kids to testify about their emotional states. Otherwise it's just hearsay, and very weak hearsay (IMO). So really it can only be about Kate and Gerry's emotional states as a result of GA's book, and so far I haven't read or seen anything that convinces me they're suffering. I'm hoping the judge is perceptive enough to come to the same conclusion.

I agree, what Sean said is hardly worth a million quid compensation.

Unless the Judge has been living on another planet, she will be fully aware of the McCann publicity machine and the thousands of headlines that have followed this case.  Trying to pin their distress down to the theory of Goncalo Amaral is ridiculous.  The groups and forums started long before Goncalo's book was released, and if indeed the 'search' was damaged, it was because of their arguido status and the release of the official police files.

I don't see any way they can win.

Tilly-flop wrote:Posted an hour ago on the OFM Facebook page -




Official Find Madeleine Campaign
about an hour ago
Why do we continue?
There is absolutely nothing to suggest that Madeleine has been harmed.
Madeleine is still missing and someone needs to be looking for her.
She is young and vulnerable and needs our help.
We love her dearly and miss her beyond words.

We still need your help in finding Madeleine. Thank you for continuing to stand by our side and most of all, for caring so much about Madeleine.

~FM Webmaster

ShuBob wrote:Is Kate effectively saying that up until October last year, Amaral's book hadn't had any ill effect on Sean and Amelie so adding them to the list of litigants in 2010 was disingenuous at best?

Silverspeed wrote:

   Did you ask her why she thought the mother was responsible Clay?

Poe wrote:

Cristobell wrote:

canada12 wrote:I don't actually think the fact (if it is a fact) that Sean mentioned something from GA's book to his mother counts as extreme distress, disharmony or whatever else the McCanns are suing for. If Sean had then gone on to have serious emotional issues, or had failing grades in school, or something like that, then perhaps Kate might have a slim case in suggesting GA's book has led to problems for her kids. As it stands, I do believe if she's going to make statements about her children, she'd really need to back those up by allowing the kids to testify about their emotional states. Otherwise it's just hearsay, and very weak hearsay (IMO). So really it can only be about Kate and Gerry's emotional states as a result of GA's book, and so far I haven't read or seen anything that convinces me they're suffering. I'm hoping the judge is perceptive enough to come to the same conclusion.

I agree, what Sean said is hardly worth a million quid compensation.

Unless the Judge has been living on another planet, she will be fully aware of the McCann publicity machine and the thousands of headlines that have followed this case.  Trying to pin their distress down to the theory of Goncalo Amaral is ridiculous.  The groups and forums started long before Goncalo's book was released, and if indeed the 'search' was damaged, it was because of their arguido status and the release of the official police files.

I don't see any way they can win.

I don't think that they expect to win.

When Gerry first appeared in court demanding to be heard, he knew it was too late.

Despite the requests and appeals, I don't think that the McCanns wanted, or were expecting to be allowed, to make these statements. I think that it was a ploy for sympathy for when they lose. Something along the lines of look at us the poor parents gagged at our own libel trial.

I wonder whether Mr Amaral's insistence that he too wanted to make a statement was also a bluff intended to push the McCanns into appealing to be heard making it impossible for them to back down.

It's possible that by delaying the trial by sacking his lawyer then forcing the McCanns onto the stand to be questioned under oath Mr Amaral has been playing the couple like a finely tuned stradivarius  

Obviously, just purporting a theory   

Tilly-flop wrote:Posted an hour ago on the OFM Facebook page -




Official Find Madeleine Campaign
about an hour ago
Why do we continue?
There is absolutely nothing to suggest that Madeleine has been harmed.
Madeleine is still missing and someone needs to be looking for her.
She is young and vulnerable and needs our help.
We love her dearly and miss her beyond words.

We still need your help in finding Madeleine. Thank you for continuing to stand by our side and most of all, for caring so much about Madeleine.

~FM Webmaster

ultimaThule wrote:

Tony Bennett wrote:Irish newspaper just reported this:


Kate McCann tells libel trial of moment son asked about police chief's claims she hid Madeleine

Jul 08, 2014 12:02 By Paul Byrne

Kate and Gerry are suing Goncalo Amaral, the ex cop who wrote a book about the disappearance of their daughter, writes Paul Byrne in Lisbon

Kate McCann told a Portuguese court today how one of her twin children had asked her about claims she had hidden Madeleine.

Kate and Gerry are suing Goncalo Amaral, the ex cop who wrote a book about the disappearance of their daughter.

He claimed Madeleine had died in their holiday apartment and Kate and Gerry had covered up her death.

At the libel trial in Lisbon today, Kate spent 55 emotional minutes detailing the distress the book and follow-up TV documentary had caused them.

And she revealed the details of his outrageous claims had even reached their nine-year-old young children.

She said: “Sean asked me in October last year: 'Mr Amaral said you hid Madeleine, didn’t he?’

“I just said ‘he did, and he has said a lot of silly things.”

She said her son had heard abut the contents of the book on a radio news bulletin as he travelled on his school bus.

Kate, wearing a black and pink floral dress, also told of the devastating effects the book had had on their family.

She said: “I believe after the book things got worse and were compounded because we were in a more desperate situation and felt defeated.”

As she finished her evidence Kate, 46, said: “I do believe in freedom of speech, but I don’t believe freedom of speech means the freedom to slander.”

Madeleine, who was nearly four, disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3 2007.

Her parents say Amaral’s false allegations damaged the hunt for their daughter and increased their anguish.

But the former cop, 56, insists everything written in the book was already contained in the public police and court case files.

The hearing continues.

I'm curious as to the radio news bulletin Sean heard while travilling 'on his school bus' as I haven't heard any of these brief announcements which have mentioned 'the contents' of 'The Truth of the Lie' in any great detail and every one I've listened to has devoted far more airtime to the McCanns' claims than those of Dr Amaral.  

Pending a transcript of every word KM said in court today, IMO the defence should ask for the date and time of this radio bulletin and request an adjournment in order to obtain a copy in order that they can address this late submission of specific verbal evidence pertaining to the McCanns' claim on behalf of the twins in closing arguments.  

As the twins are long past the age of magical thinking, I am concerned that Sean's question was dismissed in a one-sentence reply which appears to have taken no account of his fears or feelings about his elder sister having allegedly been 'hidden' by his mother (or parents) and which did nothing to provide him with information he could rely on when/if he was questioned by his peers at a later date.

I look forward to Hobs analysis of the  transcript of today's court proceedings in due course and, in passing, I find it significant that KM has apparently used the word 'slander' for that which should more properly be termed 'defamation' or 'libel'.

canada12 wrote:I don't actually think the fact (if it is a fact) that Sean mentioned something from GA's book to his mother counts as extreme distress, disharmony or whatever else the McCanns are suing for. If Sean had then gone on to have serious emotional issues, or had failing grades in school, or something like that, then perhaps Kate might have a slim case in suggesting GA's book has led to problems for her kids. As it stands, I do believe if she's going to make statements about her children, she'd really need to back those up by allowing the kids to testify about their emotional states. Otherwise it's just hearsay, and very weak hearsay (IMO). So really it can only be about Kate and Gerry's emotional states as a result of GA's book, and so far I haven't read or seen anything that convinces me they're suffering. I'm hoping the judge is perceptive enough to come to the same conclusion.

Dont Make Me Laff wrote:I notice GM was not letting Mrs get a word in edgeways on the steps of the court today, after her last episode who can blame him, but there again, he digs a hole big enough for the both of them

And his comment regarding the hecklers "fighting a losing battle" probably speaks volumes as to what he was really thinking (imo)


He has the nerve to state on the OFMC  Why do we continue?
There is absolutely nothing to suggest that Madeleine has been harmed.
Madeleine is still missing and someone needs to be looking for her.
She is young and vulnerable and needs our help.
We love her dearly and miss her beyond words.

We still need your help in finding Madeleine. Thank you for continuing to stand by our side and most of all, for caring so much about Madeleine.

~FM Webmaster

 

Here's your answers Gerry-

there is evidence of a death in the apartment - as per dog

YOU should be looking for Madeleine - oh but you can't do that and scrounge money can you?

ultimaThule wrote:

Tony Bennett wrote:Irish newspaper just reported this:


Kate McCann tells libel trial of moment son asked about police chief's claims she hid Madeleine

Jul 08, 2014 12:02 By Paul Byrne

Kate and Gerry are suing Goncalo Amaral, the ex cop who wrote a book about the disappearance of their daughter, writes Paul Byrne in Lisbon

Kate McCann told a Portuguese court today how one of her twin children had asked her about claims she had hidden Madeleine.

Kate and Gerry are suing Goncalo Amaral, the ex cop who wrote a book about the disappearance of their daughter.

He claimed Madeleine had died in their holiday apartment and Kate and Gerry had covered up her death.

At the libel trial in Lisbon today, Kate spent 55 emotional minutes detailing the distress the book and follow-up TV documentary had caused them.

And she revealed the details of his outrageous claims had even reached their nine-year-old young children.

She said: “Sean asked me in October last year: 'Mr Amaral said you hid Madeleine, didn’t he?’

“I just said ‘he did, and he has said a lot of silly things.”

She said her son had heard abut the contents of the book on a radio news bulletin as he travelled on his school bus.

Kate, wearing a black and pink floral dress, also told of the devastating effects the book had had on their family.

She said: “I believe after the book things got worse and were compounded because we were in a more desperate situation and felt defeated.”

As she finished her evidence Kate, 46, said: “I do believe in freedom of speech, but I don’t believe freedom of speech means the freedom to slander.”

Madeleine, who was nearly four, disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3 2007.

Her parents say Amaral’s false allegations damaged the hunt for their daughter and increased their anguish.

But the former cop, 56, insists everything written in the book was already contained in the public police and court case files.

The hearing continues.

I'm curious as to the radio news bulletin Sean heard while travilling 'on his school bus' as I haven't heard any of these brief announcements which have mentioned 'the contents' of 'The Truth of the Lie' in any great detail and every one I've listened to has devoted far more airtime to the McCanns' claims than those of Dr Amaral.  

Pending a transcript of every word KM said in court today, IMO the defence should ask for the date and time of this radio bulletin and request an adjournment in order to obtain a copy in order that they can address this late submission of specific verbal evidence pertaining to the McCanns' claim on behalf of the twins in closing arguments.  

As the twins are long past the age of magical thinking, I am concerned that Sean's question was dismissed in a one-sentence reply which appears to have taken no account of his fears or feelings about his elder sister having allegedly been 'hidden' by his mother (or parents) and which did nothing to provide him with information he could rely on when/if he was questioned by his peers at a later date.

I look forward to Hobs analysis of the  transcript of today's court proceedings in due course and, in passing, I find it significant that KM has apparently used the word 'slander' for that which should more properly be termed 'defamation' or 'libel'.

Tangled Web wrote:I think it's fantastic that we have this forum (and others) and Facebook groups all seeking justice for Madeleine and some even flying to Portugal to show support for her  

It's good to know that so many of us instinctively want to protect children. If only this could be said for everyone   

Dont Make Me Laff wrote:A few pages back someone posted that the McCs have always stated that the twins are fine. I actually find that to be pretty disturbing, since I could not imagine them being Fine and hardly affected or not showing fear or anxiousness or sadness about their missing sister. I think she would have been better off stating that the twins are very upset and having counselling etc, It probably would have given them weight to their claim. I remember that docu where KM asks what's your sister's name and Sean says Amalie and KN has to prompt him into remembering Madeleine - all very odd.