One of the most anticipated legal battles of 2012 is set to go to trial this Friday, but as Vinnie Politan discovers on HLN's Special Report, it may be over before it even begins.
Joran van der Sloot’s attorney Louis Jimenez Navarro now says the Dutch man may plead guilty to lesser charges for the 2010 death of 21-year-old Stephany Flores. Flores was found beaten and strangled in van der Sloot’s Peru hotel room.
Jimenez spoke to In Session Producer Mayra Cuevas about his plans for Friday’s court date.
“Joran is going to walk into that courtroom in front of that panel of three judges and he’s going to plead to two of the charges,” Cuevas tells HLN Special Report. “He’s going to plead guilty to the robbery charge, that’s a maximum of two years, and he’s going to plead guilty to simple homicide.”
Van der Sloot’s original charge of qualified murder carries with it a maximum sentence of 28 years. With a possible plea deal, van der Sloot would go from a maximum of 30 years in prison for both charges to just 20 years behind bars for the homicide charge and two years for theft. In Peru, prisoners could wind up only serving a third of their sentence for good behavior. So if the plea is accepted by the prosecution, van der Sloot may only serve seven years in prison for the death of Flores.
“What the defense attorney is saying is that there was no intention of cruelty and ferocity, meaning that Joran did not mean to make Stephany suffer at the moment that he killed her,” says Cuevas. “And that’s going to make a big difference whether it’s going to be simple homicide or qualified murder.”
While the prosecution could always reject a plea deal from van der Sloot’s team, the talk of a guilty plea before the case goes to trial is a blow to Stephany Flores’ family. They have been fighting for more serious charges to be brought against van der Sloot for months. The Flores family asked a panel of judges for an aggravated murder charge in the case, which brings with it a life sentence. But their request was denied and the original indictment of murder and robbery will go to trial for the prosecution.
Van der Sloot was also a suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. She's the Alabama teen who vanished in 2005 after partying with van der Sloot in Aruba. He's not been charged in Natalee's case and her disappearance remains unsolved.
Attorney Tanya Acker tells HLN’s Special Report that if this plea deal goes through, it’ll end all hope for the Flores family’s chance at a higher charge.
“The notion that now we’re talking about some reduced charge,” says Acker, “rather than the much more serious charge that the family was asking for that now they may not have the chance to press for is really just appauling.”
Van der Sloot confessed to strangling Stephany Flores on June 6, 2010. But his attorneys unsuccessfully tried to get that confession thrown out, saying police coerced him into confessing and the interpreter was not qualified.
“It will be up to the judges whether they are going to accept his confession to the charges or whether they are going to go forward and try to push those charges of qualified murder,” says Cuevas.
Cameras will be inside the courtroom for the proceedings. Tune in to HLN Special Report weeknights at 5 pm E.T. on HLN for full coverage.
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