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Van Der Sloot Plea

January 12, 2012 by · Comments Off on Van Der Sloot Plea 

Van Der Sloot PleaVan Der Sloot Plea, After Joran van der Sloot pleaded guilty Wednesday to the 2010 murder of a Peruvian woman he met at a Lima casino, his lawyer argued that the killing was tragically triggered by fallout from the very event that originally brought his client notoriety.

The “persecution” suffered by Van der Sloot after the unsolved disappearance of U.S. teenager Natalee Holloway five years earlier scarred him psychologically with a kind of post-traumatic stress disorder, defense attorney Jose Jimenez told the three female judges who are to sentence his client Friday.

The young Dutchman has been the prime suspect in the Holloway case since she disappeared on Aruba five years to the day before the killing of the 21-year-old Peruvian woman, business student Stephany Flores.

With the evidence against him in the Peru killing strong, Van der Sloot entered a guilty plea Wednesday at his lawyer’s urging, hoping for a reduced sentence.

“I truly am sorry for this act. I feel very bad,” the 24-year-old defendant said, showing no emotion in a brief admission of guilt in fractured Spanish. He did not use the Dutch translator provided for the proceeding.

Prosecutors are asking for a 30-year prison sentence under charges that carry a 15-year minimum.

Van der Sloot, physically imposing at well over 6 feet tall, bowed his head minutes later as his lawyer argued that he killed Flores in a “severe emotional reaction to extreme psychological trauma” related to the Holloway disappearance, “something he says he never did and for which no evidence at all exists.”

Van der Sloot did not exhibit signs of remorse, and he briefly smiled while conferring with Jimenez before leaving the courtroom.

The judges have 48 hours to render a sentence and the presiding magistrate, Victoria Montoya, said the panel would reconvene Friday to do so.

Van der Sloot’s trial opened last week but was adjourned until Wednesday after he asked for more time to decide how to plead. He said then that he did not accept the aggravated murder charges the prosecution sought.

Van der Sloot, who wore faded jeans and an untucked light-blue button-down shirt, had confessed to the May 30, 2010, killing long ago.

He told police shortly after the murder that he killed Flores in a fit of rage after she discovered his connection to the disappearance of Holloway on his laptop while they played poker online.

Joran Van Der Sloot Plea

January 6, 2012 by · Comments Off on Joran Van Der Sloot Plea 

Joran Van Der Sloot PleaJoran Van Der Sloot Plea, Joran van der Sloot on Friday asked for more time to “reflect” on what plea he will make during his murder trial. Earlier in the day, his attorney said van der Sloot was expected to plead guilty to all charges, but when it came time to tell the court, he asked instead for more time.

When asked for a plea by the magistrates, van der Sloot said he wanted to give a “sincere confession” — a type of guilty plea that can qualify him for a reduced sentence — but did not agree with all of the charges against him. When the judge asked for clarification, he said he needed more time to decide his plea.

The trial is postponed until Wednesday, when van der Sloot is expected to finally give his plea. He is charged with “qualified murder” and simple robbery in the killing of 21-year-old Stephany Flores.

On Friday, prosecutors went over all the evidence and witnesses they had and gave a summation of the case against van der Sloot.

The Dutch national was considered the prime suspect in the case of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, who vanished in 2005 while on a graduation trip to the Caribbean island of Aruba. She was last seen leaving a nightclub with van der Sloot and two other men. Van der Sloot was arrested twice but never charged in connection with Holloway’s disappearance, which is still unsolved.

He now stands accused of killing Flores in his Lima hotel room in May 2010. Police say he took money and bank cards from her wallet and fled to Chile, where he was arrested a few days later.

Van der Sloot faces a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Flores’ family later tried — unsuccessfully — to convince three judges from the superior court of Lima to impose an even more serious slate of charges that could have included a life sentence.

The victim’s family, including her father, Ricardo Flores, had pushed for stiffer charges and said that van der Sloot hasn’t looked “remorseful” in court appearances.

“He had an indifferent and prideful attitude. He looks as if he has everything under control. He looks better than when he appeared on TV after he was arrested,” Ricardo Flores told CNN last year.

Three judges are presiding over van der Sloot’s trial, and there is no jury.

Besides the Flores murder trial, van der Sloot also faces extradition to the United States. In June 2010, a federal grand jury in Alabama indicted him on charges of wire fraud and extortion after allegations surfaced that he tried to extort $250,000 from Holloway’s mother. He was given a total of $25,000, and authorities believe he used that money to travel to Peru and participate in a poker tournament, where he met Flores.

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