Tag: Joran Van der Sloot (page 2)

De Telegraaf reporter John van den Heuvel interviewed Joran Van der Sloot at Miguel Castro Castro prison last week. The interview is airing on the program "RTL Extra: Joran Speaks" in the Netherlands this evening. This promo for it is pretty funny, you don't even have to understand Dutch to get the point -- or the hype.

Aside from Joran saying he accepted Natalie Holloway's mother's offer of money because she had made his life miserable for five years, there's not much new.

Joran is locked down 23 hours a day. He teaches English to the prison guards in his cell. He's looking forward to moving to the "foreigner's wing" of the prison soon because he won't be so isolated. He's not fearful of the move. [More...]

In a setback for Joran Van der Sloot, Luz Marina Romero Chinchay, the mysterious attorney who appeared with him when he gave his confession, has surfaced after being sued by his current attorney (background on lawsuit here.)

In an interview to CNN's "In Session," she insists Joran retained her, promising payment from his mother, and that his confession was voluntary.

She also maintains Joran and she conversed in "perfect Spanish," and questions his truthfulness:

She also questioned the truthfulness of van der Sloot. For instance, when he signed some documents after talking to his mother, Romero noticed that he signed very differently than what he signed on the police statement, she said.

"I told him, 'you signed differently' and he winked his eye and made a silence signal with his hands," Romero said.

She denies she was working with the authorities, but doesn't say who arranged for her to meet Joran in the first place.

Sunday morning, Peruvian newspapers reported (Spanish here)that Joran Van der Sloot now has three lawyers, two of whom are not Peruvian, and all three will be going to Peru on Friday. (Another article here, translation here.)The articles named New York attorney Joe Tacopina as one of the lawyers. Joe successfully represented Joran in the Holloway's wrongful death lawsuit, getting it tossed on jurisidictional grounds. I didn't write it up yesterday because I thought it was false so why repeat it?

Now I see a CBS affiliate in Alabama has picked up story. Too bad they couldn't bother to pick up the phone. It's false.

Joe is not going to Peru this Friday. Nor does he have plans to go to Peru any time soon. How do I know? I asked him yesterday and he told me.

It doesn't mean this can't change, but it's not the case now. (If it changes, I'll be glad to confirm it. I think that would be great news for Joran.) How do these rumors get started? This is the second time the MSM (here and abroad) has falsely reported Joe Tacopina is going to Peru as part of Joran's defense team.

If the Peruvian papers are misreporting facts about Joran's lawyers, what else are they misreporting about the case? And just how much of the U.S. reporting on Joran Van der Sloot is an unverified regurgitation of what appears in the Peruvian (or Dutch)press? Does the U.S. media do this on other foreign topics as well? What a disturbing thought.

Joran Van der Sloot has filed a lawsuit against the mysterious Peruvian lawyer who represented him during his murder confession to Peruvian police.

Maximo Altez told The Associated Press he filed suit Friday charging attorney Luz Romero Chinchay with misrepresentation, abuse of authority and conspiracy to commit a crime. Altez said the initial lawyer "pretended to be a public advocate when he is actually a private attorney."

"We have searched the name of Luz Romero Chinchay in the list of public defenders provided by the Ministry of Justice and his name was not on that list. We do not know why the police called this lawyer. We want to know who paid for him because my client did not," Altez said.

Also sued: Col. Miguel Canlla, chief of the police homicide squad, who conducted Joran's interrogation. [More...]

The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama announced today that Joran Van der Sloot has been indicted on extortion and wire fraud charges.

According to the indictment, van der Sloot caused Beth Holloway to wire $15,000 from her bank in Birmingham to his account at a bank in the Netherlands. The indictment also charges that he caused her to wire $10,000 to lawyer John Q. Kelly in New York so that Kelly could later carry that money to Aruba and deliver it to van der Sloot in person. The indictment identifies Kelly as an advisor and legal representative of Beth Holloway who served as her intermediary with van der Sloot.

[More...]

El Comercio Peru reports that Joran van der Sloot has a mysterious visitor at Miguel Castro Castro prison:

He is visited by a foreign woman in the Castro Castro prison twice a week. According to prison authorities revealed maximum security to local media, the mysterious visitor takes canned food and groceries, allegedly on behalf of the Netherlands citizen mother, Anita van der Sloot.

According to the press , the swarthy-skinned woman has been seen visiting the confessed murderer of Stephany Flores during the last week. Police officers have come to examine in detail the food that leads to murder suspect.

This is an open thread for all topics related to Joran Van der Sloot.

The 20th Criminal Court of Lima, in a decision by Judge Wilder Casique Alvizuri, rejected Joran Van der Sloot's habeas petition today. (Miserable google translation is here.)

Another spanish version is here, google translation here. A Dutch article on the ruling is here, translation here.

Joran's lawyer has said if the petition is rejected, he will appeal to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Costa Rica. Here is the Court's website.

Update: I think CNN's headline that Joran's lawyer is seeking his release is a bit off. In an interview with the Dutch media today, his lawyer was asked what's next if he wins the habeas: (Google translation here):

The process should be back to square one. In Peru there are just two reasons to dictate detention: one is in flagrante delicto, that is, at the time of the offense, and the other is by court order. In the case of flagrante delicto Joran has not been because they have not caught when he allegedly committed the crime. There has been an injunction based on research that has been made fraudulently. Then the prosecution would be null too. Not that Joran van der Sloot will go free, because once you take your statement with all the guarantees of the law, and he is back to his arrest.

[More...]

In his interview with De Telegraaf (google translated version here), Joran Van der Sloot says he was lured to Peru from Aruba by Uruguayan/Albanian poker player Elton Garcia, who invited him to play in the tournament and paid for his trip. Why would Elton do that? [More...]

The Peru Penal Code and the New Code of Penal Procedure address the rights of defendants and defense counsel, provide for the insanity defense and explain the procedure for taking statements during the investigation phase of the case. For those interested in the Joran Van der Sloot case in Peru, the details may prove interesting. (For those not interested, just scroll on by.)

The full penal code is here. The new code of penal procedure is here.

Peru provides many rights to the defendant, including the right to remain silent and the right to have a lawyer present during questioning.

I'm reprinting portions below that I think are relevant to Joran Van der Sloot, both as to the insanity defense, the right to remain silent and to have a lawyer present during questioning, and the proscription against coerced confessions. [More...]

The court in Lima handling the case of Joran Van der Sloot issued a press release on yesterday's proceedings. (Google English translation here.)It ends with a call for the media to report responsibly and accurately.

Also according to the press release, the judge ordered additional psych reports today:

Dr. Córdova Morales also ordered the implementation of psychological and psychiatric expertise to the principal defendant, and the necropsy ratificaciónde and all expert reports made in the preliminary stage (fingerprint, forensic psychology, criminal roadworthiness, toxicological, etc.), the specialists to explain the reasons for their opinions.

CNN says it has obtained a copy of a psychological report performed and reports the details. Since the press release refers twice to psych reports, it seems the Court ordered additional ones today and also ordered it be provided any prepared during the police investigation. If so, the police version is not the only one the Judge will be reviewing. Hopefully the experts appointed by the Court will be more discreet.

Are there sanctions in Peru for improper leaking of police documents to the media? Probably not, since CNN presumably has lawyers whose job it is to know these things. But there should be. CNN seems to think because there are no juries in Peru, there's no prejudice to the defendant and all is fair game. I guess CNN is now competing with the Enquirer.

Bump and Update:: Joran Van der Sloot's meeting with the Judge has concluded. According to Peruvian news, he said nothing. (English Google translation here.)

Radio Programs reported, the judge stayed for nearly an hour inside the prison, and finally had to put on record the refusal of the Netherlands in a joint report with the prosecutor.

Original Post: Dutch Report: Joran Van der Sloot Says Tricked Into Confessing

According to the Dutch Newspaper Der Telegraaf, which says its reporters interviewed Joran Van der Sloot in his prison cell, Joran now says he was tricked into signing the confession. (Google translation here.) From the translation:[More...]