The 24-year-old Dutch national indicated on Friday that he was willing to make a "confession" in the 2010 killing of Stephany Flores, but that he did "not agree with the aggravating factors" as defined in the murder charge levied against him.
Given this statement, the panel of three judges decided to give van der Sloot until Wednesday to make a final decision. There is no jury.
This was the latest twist in a case that has made international headlines, in part because of the circumstances of the killing but also because van der Sloot was arrested twice, but never charged, in the 2005 disappearance of U.S. teenager Natalee Holloway.
Police say van der Sloot killed Flores in his Lima hotel room in May 2010, then took money and bank cards from her wallet and fled to Chile, where he was arrested a few days later.
His lawyer, Jose Luis Jimenez, said he expects van der Sloot to enter a guilty plea known as an "anticipated conclusion of the process." This means that he would admit guilt and accept all the charges made against him by the prosecution.
The hope is that this strategy will result in a substantial reduction in the 30-year prison sentence he faces, Jimenez said.
Peru awaits van der Sloot conclusion
Odd turns ahead of van der Sloot trial
Van Der Sloot friend speaks out on trial
A 'bored' van der Sloot postpones pleaHe is charged with "qualified murder" and simple robbery in the killing of 21-year-old Flores.
If he pleads not guilty, then the trial will resume before the all-female judicial panel. If he pleads guilty, the sentencing phase would begin.
On Friday, prosecutors went over all the evidence and witnesses they had and gave a summation of the case against van der Sloot.
During the hearing, a judge criticized van der Sloot for yawning, slouching and showing disrespect to the court.
What people don't know is that he had been transferred to the courthouse at six in the morning and kept in a hot holding cell for four hours, wearing a bulletproof vest and jacket the whole time, Jimenez said. He hadn't slept well because he was nervous about the process and was handcuffed the entire time, he said.
The lawyer asked the court to handle van der Sloot's arrival differently Wednesday, but there were no assurances of that, he said.
The case of Holloway, who vanished in 2005 while on a graduation trip to the Caribbean island of Aruba, is part of the Peru case as well. Holloway was last seen leaving a nightclub with van der Sloot and two other men. Van der Sloot was arrested twice but never charged in Holloway's disappearance, which is still unsolved.
Jimenez pointed out last week that the fatal attack on Flores occurred exactly five years after the Alabama teenager went missing. It has been widely reported that van der Sloot killed the woman after he believed she saw something on the Internet relating to Holloway.
"He is a young man ... who has practically lived persecuted for a crime he says he did not commit ... or for a disappearance that he cannot explain," the lawyer said. "Movies and books have been made ... At that age, and with other characteristics of his psychological profile ... in that moment, he felt threatened and reacted in a brutal manner."
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.
Besides the Flores murder trial, van der Sloot also faces possible 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, Beth.
He was allegedly 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment