Natalee Holloway - Aruba

[plainsong]

I'm with H2Andy and MoonWrasse on the lethal mix of alcohol and drugs.

I'm guessing when Natalee met one of the three guys, the night before, questions like these were answered: How long have you been here? When will you leave? Got any plans until then? The guy then told his friends of the potential "fun". When at the secluded place with some crazy stuff already in her system plus some alcohol, she probably said "No" when someone suggested a "fun fest". So in trying to change her mind they fed her more alcohol which took the mix in her system to the lethal level.

 

[MoonWrasse]

I think you are right.

While CNN was reporting that the teen in custody was taking them to the spot/location up on the beach where she was or was killed, FoxNews was
reporting (on TV) from their "live person" that when they heard the teen
was taking the police there, that they went up and down the beach
area in question and didn't see any "search" being done. The California
lighthouse area had it's usually crowd of teenagers hanging out, a lone
police vehicle near by just sitting there, but no large search for the spot
that the other news agencies were reporting that the teen in custody
was taking them to.

I think the news media now days pretty much are more concerned with
"making themselves heard" instead of reporting the news correctly, or
even retracting an incorrect story.

Too often that's true now. I've seen that this year with the tsunami in Thailand for example, all media including the BBC got caught making up crap. Fox may be one of the worse in this respect.

However, in this case it may be they are merely reporting what the police told the API reporter. There is for sure indications of confusion and conflict within the police and judicial system there, no surprise IMO.

BTW the 3 (judge's son, 2 buddies) are being further detained. Evidently there's enough evidence thus far to convince a judge today to do so.

 

[mike_s]

Too often that's true now. I've seen that this year with the tsunami in Thailand for example, all media including the BBC got caught making up crap. Fox may be one of the worse in this respect.

However, in this case it may be they are merely reporting what the police told the API reporter. There is for sure indications of confusion and conflict within the police and judicial system there, no surprise IMO.

BTW the 3 (judge's son, 2 buddies) are being further detained. Evidently there's enough evidence thus far to convince a judge today to do so.

I have no clue why it was reported that they had a confession and then retracted that. To me, it's media reporters trying to get their name on a story instead of trying to report the story accurately.

As for the teens being held, it's interesting how to learn about how their legal system works.

They can hold a suspect for up to 146 days w/o charging them of a crime. Now they have to appear in front of a judge at several different times during this time period to see if evidence warrants holding them further. Probable cause is not required either, just indication of involvement. They can be initially held for 72 hours without being brought before a judge. They also don't have to count weekend days in that 72 hours since they aren't "working days".

If you are held for something, police can question you for up to 6 hours before they allow you legal counsel (a lawyer).

Their court system doesn't have jury trials. All trials are decided by a judge.

You are considered innocent until proven guilty though in their justice system.

There is no "double jeporady" clause though. If you are found innocent, the governement can appeal and take you back to trial. But the defendant also
can appeal with a 'novo' or a "do-over" trial.

One other thing I noticed while in Aruba, they do have a large jail/prison down
on the east side of the island almost overlooking the ocean.....


One more thing... Their government is flying in a judge from nearby Curacao
to hear this case. I guess this is to make sure the case is heard fairly as
one of the teens involved was the son of an Aruba Judge and most likely
"knows" the other judges somewhat or at least the other Judges know
his parents. I think to be impartial, they would remove themselves from
this case eventually.

 

[Corigan]

I guess all "fact checking" jobs have been abolished in the new world. "Lets run with it! We'll check the facts later, and if worst comes to worst we'll just print/make-up a retraction." It's no wonder nobody believes what they hear/read anymore.

Matt

 

[CSD1129]

agreed...it's kind of disgusting that the media can get away with such inaccurate information.

For example,
After September 11th my Dad was working at ground zero. He would call home every once and a while so we would know where he was etc... the news people who claimed to be "right on the scene" were in reality 7 blocks away...

I suppose there is no such thing as honest journalism anymore. It must be really hard on her friends and family members that aren't down in aruba. They probably don't know what to believe since the media is claiming different things on different stations.

 

[CaliforniaDiver.com]

Too often that's true now. I've seen that this year with the tsunami in Thailand for example, all media including the BBC got caught making up crap. Fox may be one of the worse in this respect.

However, in this case it may be they are merely reporting what the police told the API reporter. There is for sure indications of confusion and conflict within the police and judicial system there, no surprise IMO.

BTW the 3 (judge's son, 2 buddies) are being further detained. Evidently there's enough evidence thus far to convince a judge today to do so.

It was CNN that first reported she was dead and that they were being lead to the body. But Fox also said "Something Bad Happened" and had an actual quote from one of the Police Spokesman from Aruba about her. The police spokesman than said he made a mistake and it was due to "mis-information".

Either way, both have messed up.

 

[mike_s]

well the media reports are going to get worse.

"Geraldo investigates Natalee’s mysterious disappearance and retraces her last steps that fateful night she went missing."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96577,00.html

Of course this is the idiot the military kicked out of Iraq for drawing a map in the sand on live TV showing US troop movements.

 

[H2Andy]

geraldo rivera is a joke... oh well...

*someone* must watch him, or he wouldn't be on

 

[mike_s]

geraldo rivera is a joke... oh well...

*someone* must watch him, or he wouldn't be on

The above post about how news reporters say they are one place and they aren't actually I've seen before.

Well, what also made me think of him was that when he was in the Persian Gulf with troops, he reported that they were "somewhere" very deep inside enemy territory near some place (I can't remember the place). Anyway, after he broadcast this, one of the other news channels broadcasted they his reports were inaccurate and that there was no way that he was anywhere near what he stated, which was a 10-12 hour drive away because they had seen and talked to him at their hotel that morning....

I just think he's "full of himself".

 

[CaliforniaDiver.com]

well the media reports are going to get worse.

"Geraldo investigates Natalee’s mysterious disappearance and retraces her last steps that fateful night she went missing."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96577,00.html

Of course this is the idiot the military kicked out of Iraq for drawing a map in the sand on live TV showing US troop movements.

This is too much...Geraldo.... :jestera: things are going to get worse ---- media I mean!