Libel Trial 25 Feb

by scrants 19.02.14 18:31

Just read on Twitter that the libel trial is due to resume and end on 25 February. Rumours are rife that delay was due to Mccanns wanting to settle with GA but he refused.

by Cristobell 19.02.14 18:34

scrants wrote:Just read on Twitter that the libel trial is due to resume and end on 25 February. Rumours are rife that delay was due to Mccanns wanting to settle with GA but he refused.

Oooh, cheers scrants. smilie

by CynicAl 19.02.14 18:35

Pinch of salt.

Nice if true, though.

by Doug D 19.02.14 18:54

Just outside Lisbon. Something on tv news about trial 'reccuring' or some such word. Didn't catch any date. I'll post again if I can find someone who can interpret.

by gbwales 19.02.14 19:02

Re: that rumour - @bigredflagge on Twitter says that "a Braga regional newspaper is the one reporting this, not sure of the provenance at the moment".

by **sharonl** 19.02.14 19:37

In the UK we have an online service called Courtserve which gives information about cases coming up in the next few days, is there a similar service in Portugal?

by By Numbers 19.02.14 19:44

scrants wrote:Just read on Twitter that the libel trial is due to resume and end on 25 February. Rumours are rife that delay was due to Mccanns wanting to settle with GA but he refused.

"and end"... That's interesting.

by canada12 19.02.14 19:47

What's the betting if the court finds against the McCanns, the UK tabloids will either be stonily silent, or filled with outraged headlines about "bumbling Portuguese courts"....

by tiny 19.02.14 19:57

canada12 wrote:What's the betting if the court finds against the McCanns, the UK tabloids will either be stonily silent, or filled with outraged headlines about "bumbling Portuguese courts"....

you can bet your life on it,Portuguese can do no right in the uk.

by SixMillionQuid 19.02.14 20:13

Lol.

Less than a week to churn out some bogus news headline. I'm sure Operation Grange will have another 'revelation' moment.

by scrants 19.02.14 20:20

By Numbers wrote:
scrants wrote:Just read on Twitter that the libel trial is due to resume and end on 25 February. Rumours are rife that delay was due to Mccanns wanting to settle with GA but he refused.
"and end"... That's interesting.

I seem to remember reading last November that the judge would not announce the verdict in court but would write to each party informing them of her decision. So, I don't know when we will know the outcome.

by Guest 19.02.14 20:21

I have not yet seen any solid confirmation of this Feb 25 date.

by By Numbers 19.02.14 20:27

scrants wrote:
I seem to remember reading last November that the judge would not announce the verdict in court but would write to each party informing them of her decision. So, I don't know when we will know the outcome.

That's also interesting. I haven't kept up with the trial and thought more would become clear after the delays, but I assumed they weren't finished yet so (unless I've inferred that wrongly) wondered if this abrupt finish would have to be the result of conceding defeat (if it is the case that they no longer wanted to put forward further previously-planned evidence). Also, I wonder if the 'letter verdict' will influence what we find out about what the judge's decision really was.

by Guest 19.02.14 20:28

Fingers crossed this date is correct and it will go in Goncalo Amarals favour.

by ultimaThule 19.02.14 20:38

By Numbers wrote:
scrants wrote:
I seem to remember reading last November that the judge would not announce the verdict in court but would write to each party informing them of her decision. So, I don't know when we will know the outcome.
That's also interesting. I haven't kept up with the trial and thought more would become clear after the delays, but I assumed they weren't finished yet so (unless I've inferred that wrongly) wondered if this abrupt finish would have to be the result of conceding defeat (if it is the case that they no longer wanted to put forward further previously-planned evidence). Also, I wonder if the 'letter verdict' will influence what we find out about what the judge's decision really was.

The trial is not over! The 7th January was set aside to hear closing arguments and it's that hearing which was adjourned, due to reasons as yet unknown, to an unspecified date which is now rumoured to be next Tuesday, 25th February.

by ultimaThule 19.02.14 20:39

Châtelaine wrote:I have not yet seen any solid confirmation of this Feb 25 date.

Nor have I, but I would expect an announcement on mccannfiles or confirmation from Ann Guedes prior to next Tuesday.

by Guest 19.02.14 20:39

Can any portuguese speakers confirm if this is a listing of upcoming cases?
It is currently only showing cases for this week as far as I can make out.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

by nglfi 19.02.14 20:44

Here's a possible bogus headline to distract - forget Tractorman. Forget Smithman. What about - the abominable snowman! Aka sasquatch aka bigfoot. Can't believe nobody on this forum has thought of it yet! It makes perfect sense. The abominable snowman, camping out in the hills around Praia da Luz, was lured down by a cacophony of drunken revelry from the tapas 7. On his way down, he came across Maddie, and well, why not? It's more likely than aliens, just?

by Guest 19.02.14 20:46

Châtelaine wrote:I have not yet seen any solid confirmation of this Feb 25 date.

***
Nor for Feb 27, as reported elsewhere.

by ultimaThule 19.02.14 20:49

Bellisa wrote:Can any portuguese speakers confirm if this is a listing of upcoming cases?
It is currently only showing cases for this week as far as I can make out.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

As far as I can see, this is a schedule of civil and criminal appeals which are being heard this week in the 'Supremo Tribunal de Justica' which is Portugal's Supreme Court of Justice.

by By Numbers 19.02.14 20:55

ultimaThule wrote:The trial is not over! The 7th January was set aside to hear closing arguments and it's that hearing which was adjourned, due to reasons as yet unknown, to an unspecified date which is now rumoured to be next Tuesday, 25th February.

So is it just closing arguments left i.e there won't be any more evidence presented?

by ultimaThule 19.02.14 21:03

nglfi wrote:Here's a possible bogus headline to distract - forget Tractorman. Forget Smithman. What about - the abominable snowman! Aka sasquatch aka bigfoot. Can't believe nobody on this forum has thought of it yet! It makes perfect sense. The abominable snowman, camping out in the hills around Praia da Luz, was lured down by a cacophony of drunken revelry from the tapas 7. On his way down, he came across Maddie, and well, why not? It's more likely than aliens, just?

There's not enough snow in them thar hills for bigfoot to survive the Algarve's boiling hot summers.

Could it be that the Pied Piper came to town and Madeleine, the only unattended child awake to hear his enchanting tune, climbed out of the bedroom window, and went dancing off after him to the wild hills around Luz where she's been giving her tuppence worth to a motley collection of gypsies, tramps, thieves, tractormen, spotty men, white van drivers, burglars, ex-MW employees, Victoria Beckham look-alikes, and whoever and whatever TM dredge up to distract attention from resumption of the libel trial, ever since?

by ultimaThule 19.02.14 21:10

By Numbers wrote:
ultimaThule wrote:The trial is not over! The 7th January was set aside to hear closing arguments and it's that hearing which was adjourned, due to reasons as yet unknown, to an unspecified date which is now rumoured to be next Tuesday, 25th February.

So is it just closing arguments left i.e there won't be any more evidence presented?

As all of the witnesses for both sides have been heard, it only remains for closing arguments to be presented before the judge retires to consider her verdict which, according to what has been said upthread, will be conveyed to the plantiffs and the 4 defendants by letter.

On whatever day the final hearing is held, it will be interesting to see if the judge gives any intimation of when she may hand down her judgement.
i

by Guest 19.02.14 21:10

Thanks Ultima Thule,gonna have to brush up on my Portuguese its not as easy as I guessed!
Seen on fb a Portuguese speaker giving a link to courts and said there is nothing showing up. Hopefully not more rumours.

by **sharonl** 19.02.14 21:13

Bellisa wrote:Can any portuguese speakers confirm if this is a listing of upcoming cases?
It is currently only showing cases for this week as far as I can make out.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

That certainly looks like the correct site and under the last tab Funcionalidaes is a automatic translation programme. It seems though, we only have cases up to 5 days in advance which means waiting until the 20th

by justathought 19.02.14 21:25

sharonl wrote:
Bellisa wrote:Can any portuguese speakers confirm if this is a listing of upcoming cases?
It is currently only showing cases for this week as far as I can make out.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

That certainly looks like the correct site and under the last tab Funcionalidaes is a automatic translation programme. It seems though, we only have cases up to 5 days in advance which means waiting until the 20th

Maybe a long shot. But would a Court Official be willing to indicate when the trial is likely to recommence?

Contacts of the Supreme Court
Reference	Phone	Fax	E-mail
Overall (official and / or legal transactions)	21 321 89 00	21 347 49 19	[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

by haroldd2 19.02.14 22:16

Click [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to search Google News for news articles from Portugal in the past week which contain the word "McCann".

by Guest 19.02.14 22:23

Well I'm planning my evening's viewing for the 25th already. No doubt I can look forward to another Crimewatch update updating us all on precisely nothing, followed by some kind of documentary on how we can tell the McCanns are modern saints and perfect parents through the 'science' of body language.

by Okeydokey 19.02.14 22:32

canada12 wrote:What's the betting if the court finds against the McCanns, the UK tabloids will either be stonily silent, or filled with outraged headlines about "bumbling Portuguese courts"....

They'll appeal or launch another action on another basis.

by nglfi 19.02.14 23:13

ultimaThule wrote:
nglfi wrote:Here's a possible bogus headline to distract - forget Tractorman. Forget Smithman. What about - the abominable snowman! Aka sasquatch aka bigfoot. Can't believe nobody on this forum has thought of it yet! It makes perfect sense. The abominable snowman, camping out in the hills around Praia da Luz, was lured down by a cacophony of drunken revelry from the tapas 7. On his way down, he came across Maddie, and well, why not? It's more likely than aliens, just?
There's not enough snow in them thar hills for bigfoot to survive the Algarve's boiling hot summers.

Could it be that the Pied Piper came to town and Madeleine, the only unattended child awake to hear his enchanting tune, climbed out of the bedroom window, and went dancing off after him to the wild hills around Luz where she's been giving her tuppence worth to a motley collection of gypsies, tramps, thieves, tractormen, spotty men, white van drivers, burglars, ex-MW employees, Victoria Beckham look-alikes, and whoever and whatever TM dredge up to distract attention from resumption of the libel trial, ever since?

Actually, the Pied Pier is a much better explanation, hadn't thought of that! He certainly has more of a motive!