On a more serious note ... cracking already it seems .... Scots Dad's probably just clocked up the bill so far .... and says he won't be back till the trial ! He probably now realizes his daughter looked him in the eye and lied about not taking drugs so now he doesn't know what to believe.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...Y-case-indefensible.html?ICO=most_read_module
Finally some common sense prevailing here and he's dead right. In the case of these girls being found attempting to fly with cocaine in their luggage is similarly conclusive evidence of guilt of what they have (as predicted) been charged with. They may put forward a mitigation case to reduce their penalty but they will not dodge the conviction and it is hard to see how "not guilty" could possibly be the appropriate plea.
They will have to plead guilty else they will be found guilty and their mitigation will likely not be given much credit on account of not pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity. Plus if they cannot deliver another head for the block by the time of any trial or hearing they will likely get no credit at all for their misfortune. Where a person is
de facto guilty of doing something inadvertently and cannot prove it was entirely not their fault beyond doubt - the onus is on them to do so rather than on the prosecution to disprove their story.
I have not even seen it reported anywhere that "not guilty on the basis of coercion" is a permissible plea under Peruvian Law. Michaella's lawyer protesting "innocence" and that his client would plead "not guilty" without even defining a charge or meeting his client is actually the aspect of what's been reported that troubles me most ! Seems this is the 1st reported case in Peru he's been involved in. Look at the results of his week's work. Can't see any evidence of the guy doing anything more than help his client understand a process, getting paid to learn on the job himself, whilst encouraging her down the track of getting herself deeper and deeper in the sh!t.
Still, no doubt he's entitled to his fees & expenses - and will have an armoury of plausible explanations for how much he's helped. We don't know what he discussed with his client or what he advised but his media coverage is not exactly inspiring. Couldn't even keep his mouth shut until he'd ascertained all the facts. Sadly I've seen far too many instances of lawyers aggravating sensitive situations and leading people down a road to a more serious outcome. I bet the costs and expenses so far in this case have easily topped £11k already - and so far all that's been achieved is to get both defendants sent down to a harsher prison than co-operative foreigners on the basis of a case even Melissa's Dad doesn't feel they can defend ! Meanwhile the lawyers tender their fee notes and go home to their families. It's a high price to pay for having the comfort of someone who speaks your native tongue present whilst you try to overcome a fear of the unknown.
Whatever they have or haven't done it's hard to conceal how little time I have for the "lawyers". It's not the defendants who are going to wind up picking up the tab it's their families. Talk about fuel to the fire ....
