Again. it is remarkable that the McCanns and their lawyers would like internationally accepted criminal law and procedure changed just for them! Under UK law, for example, the procedure is referred to as "advance disclosure". This means that once a suspect has been charged and has representation his solicitor may apply to the Crown Prosecution for disclosure of all statements upon which the prosecution intend to rely at trial. The procedure is NOT and NEVER HAS BEEN available for suspects who have not, as yet, been charged with any offence. This is for very obvious reasons. It could damage the police investigation, and allow a proposed defendant to pervert the course of justice by telling lies and "briefing" "witnesses" for their defence or threatening or otherwise interfering with proposed prosecution witnesses. There is also provision under UK law for the prosecution to refuse to disclose certain statements if, it is felt, that the defendant may seek to pervert the course of justice or interfere or harm the prosecution witness in any way. These rules are entirely similar in Portuguese law and will not allow the McCanns to interfere with proposed prosecution witnesses, or start working on their defence case before they have even been charged. If you want to look in more detail at the rules in UK law please see:
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/section14/chapter_a.html
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From the Daily Star
MCCANNS’ NEW EVIDENCE PLEA
ABOVE: The McCanns face Christmas without Maddie
23rd December 2007
By Jonathan Corke
Your Shout
KATE and Gerry McCann have made fresh demands for access to the police file against them.
Their renewed campaign was revealed yesterday after the couple broadcast an anguished appeal for the return of their missing daughter Madeleine. Despite asking Portuguese police in September to let them see their dossier as suspects in the disappearance, they have yet to be shown any evidence. And they are becoming increasingly desperate to try to clear their names and persuade police to focus on finding their four-year-old daughter. A friend of the couple said: “Kate and Gerry need to be given the chance to correct any misconceptions. “They are more than willing to be reinterviewed, as are the friends they were dining with when Madeleine vanished. “The police need to be concentrating their efforts on finding Madeleine alive, rather than any wild theories that Kate and Gerry were involved.” The couple’s spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: “We are trying to get access to the police file. “Kate and Gerry’s lawyers are working on it.” Maddie disappeared from the McCanns’ holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 as the couple and their friends dined nearby. Reports in the Portuguese press have claimed the parents feel so guilty that they are “punishing themselves” and are not even buying Christmas presents for each other. But Mr Mitchell rubbished the reports. He insisted: “Nobody regrets more than they do leaving Madeleine. “They will never forgive themselves for that. “But they are not into some sort of self-flagellation. It’s simply not true.” The Reverend Rob Gladstone, vicar of Rothley, Leicestershire – where the McCanns live – said: “The churches in the village particularly want to express their support for Kate and Gerry and their family. “We continue to pray that Madeleine will be safely reunited with them very soon.” In yesterday’s broadcast – aired in countries including Portugal, Spain and Morocco – the McCanns pleaded for Maddie’s return in time for Santa. Kate told the little girl herself to continue being brave. The appeal was screened along with a video that featured the little girl opening her presents last Christmas.
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