Murder trial in Mauritius

My name is URL

Has anybody being following this? It's mad how things are done over there. Apparently some of the TV stations have been running a poll asking people who they think is guilty of the murder, and her husband John has come out on top =/

wtf like. Our own judicial system isn't all that great but you'd not get away with running a poll like that and including people that aren't even under suspicion in it. Can you imagine that happening here while a trial was still underway?

Some of the stuff being brought up in court is truly bizarre too, and of little or no relevance to the case. If it keeps on going in this direction I can't see anyone being convicted.

Ficheall

You couldn't give us a link of some description, could ya?

mikemac1

Pat Kenny show give daily updates
RTÉ sent a reporter there

There on itunes or here
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/todaywithpatkenny/

It's a good way to keep up



From what I remember one suspect claims he was beaten into a confession
I think it's entirely possible he was beaten but I don't know if he is the man or not

Pushtrak

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0522/michaela-mcareavey-murder-trial-set-to-begin-today.html

The 27-year-old Co Tyrone woman was killed while on her honeymoon last year. The only daughter of Tyrone Gaelic football manager Mickey Harte was found strangled in her luxury hotel room. She had momentarily left her husband at the poolside to return to their room at the five-star Legends Hotel.

Her body was discovered a short time later in the bath. At 6.30am Irish time today, two defendants were brought in prison vehicles to courtroom number 15 at the Supreme Court in Mauritius. There were chaotic scenes outside the courtroom as the two accused arrived. Security has been ramped up around the old French colonial court building for what is one of the most high-profile criminal cases ever held on the island. Avinash Treebhoowoon, 30, was a room attendant at the hotel, while Sandip Moneea, 42, was a floor supervisor.

John McAreavey and relatives of the accused were also jostled as police struggled to control the flow of people into the courtroom. Mr McAreavey will be one of the 30 prosecution witnesses in the trial. He travelled to Mauritius with his father, Brendan, his sister Claire and his brother-in-law, Mark Harte. Nine jurors have been selected. The six men and three women will vote to select a foreman. Mr McAreavey sat in court for a short period but was then asked to leave because he is a witness in the case.

Though most Mauritians speak a variant of French as their first language, court proceedings are being heard in English.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18202919

At the trial in Mauritius on Friday, a defence barrister questioned a police officer who had removed a number of items from John McAreavey which included the couple's smart phones, a laptop and a book - a guide relating to sexual matters. The barrister robustly questioned the officer about the contents of the book. A prosecuting lawyer strongly objected, banging files on the desk in protest. When challenged as to why they were going along with this line of inquiry, the defence lawyer claimed the guide went to "the crux of the defence case".

Earlier, the court heard that two days after her death, Michaela McAreavey's husband, John, had to return to their hotel room to be photographed by the police. The details emerged as the sergeant in charge of the police photographer who catalogued the murder scene was cross-examined at Mauritius Supreme Court. He said John McAreavey was pictured pointing at the bath where he had found his wife and at the floor where he had laid her body to try to revive her.

During his cross-examination, the police sergeant told the court that he had accompanied Mr McAreavey to the murder scene for a photo reconstruction on 12 January 2011. There was sniggering in the public gallery when the officer mistakenly said bath tube instead of bath tub. On Thursday, there was loud laughter in the court from members of the public, police officers, law students and a number of jurors in response to the flamboyant style of questioning from defence barrister Ravi Rutnah.

BBC reporter Natasha Sayee said members of the Harte and McAreavey families appeared visibly distressed by the atmosphere in court. John McAreavey is not allowed to attend the proceedings because he is being called as a prosecution witness, but his sister Claire and Michaela's brother Mark Harte were in the public gallery. The case has been adjourned and to due to resume in Mauritius on Monday.

[AH]Bath tube heh heh[/AH]

Micky Dolenz

The whole thing seems to be a right shambles. I have great sympathy for her family having to endure that bullshit. Talk about adding insult to fatal injury.

fasttalkerchat

The crap that has went on should be factored into the sentencing IMO.
Lawyers repeatedly asking about a sexual book found in the hotel just to hurt the victims family and put off the family from speaking.
People sniggering in the public gallery when Mark Harte was present.
There is no way that the case hasn't already been compromised by the media.
The police beating defendants hasn't done the Hartes any favour either.

Leslie91

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

The whole thing seems to be a right shambles. I have great sympathy for her family having to endure that bullshit. Talk about adding insult to fatal injury.

Totally agree......

jester77

The whole thing sounds like a pantomime. I feel really sorry for the family having to sit through that, cannot imagine what they must be going through. There are people in there laughing and cheering and the defense lawyers seem to be playing to the crowd. Awful stuff

wes

Really awful carry on imho. Mauritius is hugely dependant on tourism, so this idocy will back fire on them imho. Surely, the court should take into account the feelings of the victims family.

pcardin

Been there. Despite it's beauty its quite idiotic place to live.

mikemac1

and a book - a guide relating to sexual matters. The barrister robustly questioned the officer about the contents of the book. A prosecuting lawyer strongly objected, banging files on the desk in protest. When challenged as to why they were going along with this line of inquiry, the defence lawyer claimed the guide went to "the crux of the defence case".

WTF

How is the book even relevant
He sounds a right useless lawyer and is turning the trial from a serious affair into a sham

My name is URL

mikemac1 wrote: »

WTF

How is the book even relevant
He sounds a right useless lawyer and is turning the trial from a serious affair into a sham

The judge, the highest and most qualified in the land, doesn't seem to pushed on taking control of the matter either.

It's a clusterfcuk of epic proportions. Considering the main source of revenue is tourism, you'd think they'd treat the matter with the gravity it deserves.

Micky Dolenz

mikemac1 wrote: »

WTF

How is the book even relevant
He sounds a right useless lawyer and is turning the trial from a serious affair into a sham

Yeah, they were on their honeymoon of all things, if they had set a sex dungeon up in the room it's no one's business but there own.

snubbleste

I'm sure boards.maur had similar threads in relation to our court cases such as the C case or X case or various laughable tribunals.

I can't get over the amount of attention this case is getting. Sure there was an Irishman murdered in Boston last year, no President attended his funeral nor was he related to a GAA manager.

Micky Dolenz

snubbleste wrote: »

I'm sure boards.maur had similar threads in relation to our court cases such as the C case or X case or various laughable tribunals.

I can't get over the amount of attention this case is getting. Sure there was an Irishman murdered in Boston last year, no President attended his funeral nor was he related to a GAA manager.

Of course high profile people are going to get attention. It is also a weird case, getting murdered in the middle of the afternoon in a 5 star hotel on a paradise Island,while on honeymoon.

later12

My name is URL wrote: »

Has anybody being following this? It's mad how things are done over there. Apparently some of the TV stations have been running a poll asking people who they think is guilty of the murder, and her husband John has come out on top =/

wtf like. Our own judicial system isn't all that great but you'd not get away with running a poll like that and including people that aren't even under suspicion in it. Can you imagine that happening here while a trial was still underway?

Some of the stuff being brought up in court is truly bizarre too, and of little or no relevance to the case. If it keeps on going in this direction I can't see anyone being convicted.

In fairness to the Mauritian media, they are being honest about the sham of a trial/ investigation that has been underway, and are regaling their readership with the less-than-flattering Irish and UK comments about the trial; they're not defending anything; even the judge commented how the lack of professionalism among police and at the bar has not gone unremarked abroad.

http://www.lexpress.mu/meurtre-de-michaela-harte.html

grey_so_what

That poor guy. My heart goes out to him. What a farce/spectacle he (and both their families) are going through. Just terrible. I hope he gets justice but looking at the reporting so far you wouldn't count on it.

stupidusername

What is the supposed motive for the accused having killed her?

forfuxsake

stupidusername wrote: »

What is the supposed motive for the accused having killed her?

I think robbery gone wrong.

They were robbing the room and she interrupted and they panicked and killed her. allegedly.

grey_so_what

stupidusername wrote: »

What is the supposed motive for the accused having killed her?

As far as I understand she interrupted these guys in the room and was raising the alarm when they tried to silence her and, ultimately, (allegedly) killed her. The poor girl. On what should have been such a happy time.

GAAman

mikemac1 wrote: »

WTF

How is the book even relevant
He sounds a right useless lawyer and is turning the trial from a serious affair into a sham

I would bet everything I have that the defence is going to try and paint her death as a sex game gone wrong, auto erotic asphyxiation or something similar. Unreal stuff

stupidusername wrote: »

What is the supposed motive for the accused having killed her?

Apparently she went to the room after a meal to get biscuits to have with their tea and found them robbing the place. That is one thing that has stuck with me since it happened, for the sake of some biscuits she would still be alive today

snubbleste

GAAman wrote: »

Apparently she went to the room after a meal to get biscuits to have with their tea and found them robbing the place.

It was chocolate biscuits and a whole packet no less.

stupidusername

Well I suppose the reason is probably as unreliable as it's coming from the guy who confessed, which is supposedly invalid now.

grey_so_what

I think the explanation came from her husband who was waiting downstairs for her. Wrong place wrong time.

stupidusername

grey_so_what wrote: »

I think the explanation came from her husband who was waiting downstairs for her. Wrong place wrong time.

well i mean the assumption is they were robbing the place...

grey_so_what

I doubt they were in there making the bed. Can you imagine the panic that girl felt? Paradise how are you....

zagmund

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Of course high profile people are going to get attention. It is also a weird case, getting murdered in the middle of the afternoon in a 5 star hotel on a paradise Island,while on honeymoon.

Most cases are as weird. The victim is normally doing something routine. That's the way these things go.

Would it be any different if it was in a 2 star hotel ? Or Inis Meann ? Or the car park of a 7-11 in Seattle ? The victims circumstances are normally incidental other than where they are actually an element of the target (like a security guard).

z

Big Nasty

GAAman wrote: »

Apparently she went to the room after a meal to get biscuits to have with their tea and found them robbing the place. That is one thing that has stuck with me since it happened, for the sake of some biscuits she would still be alive today

Sounds like she really did risk it for a biscuit.:o

Mod

MCMLXXV Infracted for this comment.

suzzi

The poverty on those islands is unreal. I spent a month in a hotel years ago on one of those "dream paradises" and by the time I left I was sick with what was the norm. The waste every day, the searching of the employees every morning and evening in and out of the place, the wages they got (compared to what you were paying!) was just awful. Never again could I go there and see how a guy had to run after you to rake the beach to make it look pristine and get a couple of dollars a week.....Oh God, it was just wrong. I know they need the money and have a job but the exploitation of the whole scenario was awful.

That's why this young girl was robbed. They see how much people pay to be there and it is beyond their wildest dreams to spend so much on a holiday so they pilfer.....this time with tragic results.

funnilenough

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Sounds like she really did risk it for a biscuit.:o

wat?

Plazaman

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Sounds like she really did risk it for a biscuit.:o

WTF ?? :rolleyes:

Anyway, seemingly the court is full of law students following the case. I'm assuming they're third level students and not teenagers but seem to be giggling and acting like teenages laughing a mispronunciations such at "bath tube" instead of "bath tub" and someone leaning against the light switch in the court.

Considering the judge is meant to be the top dog, don't know why he doesn't clear the place. Must be heartbreaking for the families. Defence and prosecution will go all out due to the high profile of the case trying to make a name for themselves so I predict it will descend rapidly and if there's a conviction at the end of it instead of a mistrial, I'll eat my hat.

seamus

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Sounds like she really did risk it for a biscuit.:o

Considering how popular her and her family are in this country, Im fairly sure that there would be friends and possibly even family members using boards.

Just because the Mauritian legal system doesn't show this matter the decorum it requires, doesn't mean we should follow suit.

ejmaztec

They'll probably go round and round in circles, go through the motions, then convict the pair of them, which is probably what they wanted to do in the first place. They're probably thinking of future tourism.

grizzly

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Sounds like she really did risk it for a biscuit.

Like school in summer.

grey_so_what

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Sounds like she really did risk it for a biscuit.:o

Not Funny.

hondasam

Would it not be normal practice to hold on to the phones and laptop until after the trial?
I dunno why they are putting so much emphasis on the sex guide book but I suppose it's to be expected, no lawyer is going to miss this opportunity.
I only hope her family get some answers after the trial.

woodoo

Given the way these things often go in micky mouse countries. If i was the husband i'd be out of that country incase they try to pin it on him.

kelle

I wonder if things would have been different if her husband had gone up to the room instead? Being a footballer, he might have been able to tackle them.

We'll never know.

A few weeks after Michaela's murder, her father called to my husband's uncle's house to sympathise with us at his wake. It was impossible to know what to say to him At least our uncle had lived a reasonably long life with a lovely wife, children and grandchildren - Michaela was a healthy young beautiful woman in the prime of her life, snuffed out at the hands of someone else.
And what he's going through now is just horrendous, along with the rest of her family.

SunSet357

woodoo wrote: »

Given the way these things often go in micky mouse countries. If i was the husband i'd be out of that country incase they try to pin it on him.

And what if he did it?

Mint Sauce

Plazaman wrote: »

WTF ?? :rolleyes:

Anyway, seemingly the court is full of law students following the case. I'm assuming they're third level students and not teenagers but seem to be giggling and acting like teenages laughing a mispronunciations such at "bath tube" instead of "bath tub" and someone leaning against the light switch in the court.

Considering the judge is meant to be the top dog, don't know why he doesn't clear the place. Must be heartbreaking for the families. Defence and prosecution will go all out due to the high profile of the case trying to make a name for themselves so I predict it will descend rapidly and if there's a conviction at the end of it instead of a mistrial, I'll eat my hat.

Although have heard this evening that the judge has asked that there be no teenagers in the court room from monday.

THe defence team do appear to be trying everything in the book to get their men off, including the comments on the 'sex book', the three mobile phones, and now something about a laptop that wasn't included in the items taken for evidence, so its internet history could be checked. Its like they are trying to pin something on the husband.

hondasam

irish-stew wrote: »

Although have heard this evening that the judge has asked that there be no teenagers in the court room from monday.

THe defence team do appear to be trying everything in the book to get their men off, including the comments on the 'sex book', the three mobile phones, and now something about a laptop that wasn't included in the items taken for evidence, so its internet history could be checked. Its like they are trying to pin something on the husband.

I think it's no one under the age of 18 while the police officer is been questioned. There could be more about the sex book.
We have no idea what might come up.

GAAman

stupidusername wrote: »

Well I suppose the reason is probably as unreliable as it's coming from the guy who confessed, which is supposedly invalid now.

As said, it was her husband who told the police why she went to the room. He was waiting downstairs for her

Varied

Know the family, I cannot imagine what it is like sitting at your own sisters murder trial, to have a bunch of sweaty, smelly goons making a laugh and joke out of it.

Even more amazing, people in this thread are doing the usual "*shrug* no big deal lolz!!!11". I wouldn't have the patience to sit there and take that ****.

fasttalkerchat

Varied wrote: »

Even more amazing, people in this thread are doing the usual "*shrug* no big deal lolz!!!11". I wouldn't have the patience to sit there and take that ****.

Its the after hours trolling section. I would like to think that the majority here don't really think what they are saying here.

ArmaniJeanss

irish-stew wrote: »

THe defence team do appear to be trying everything in the book to get their men off, including the comments on the 'sex book', the three mobile phones, and now something about a laptop that wasn't included in the items taken for evidence, so its internet history could be checked. Its like they are trying to pin something on the husband.

In fairness it sounds like the defence team is doing exactly what they should be doing, in other words, doing their job. Pick holes in the evidence of the prosection, and put forward some other alternate theories, however loose they may be. A two pronged attack.

Long term it's better they get the best possible defence rather than a poor defence being used a ground for appeal.

getzls

woodoo wrote: »

Given the way these things often go in micky mouse countries. If i was the husband i'd be out of that country incase they try to pin it on him.

He can't leave. He will be called as a witness.

omgitsthelazor

From the sounds of things they're turning this trial into a Phoenix Wright game. Sad for the family.

aidan24326

snubbleste wrote: »

I'm sure boards.maur had similar threads in relation to our court cases such as the C case or X case or various laughable tribunals.

I can't get over the amount of attention this case is getting. Sure there was an Irishman murdered in Boston last year, no President attended his funeral nor was he related to a GAA manager.

Well done on a really stupid post. This case was always going to be high profile. You have an Irish girl murdered on her honeymoon in one of the top honeymoon destinations in the world. It would have made headlines regardless of her GAA connections.

SunSet357 wrote: »

And what if he did it?

He didn't, and there has never been any suggestion of that. The poor guy is going through enough without morons like you posting that sort of nonsense. Like others have said bear in mind that some extended members of the Harte and McAreavey families may read these boards. They've enough to contend with without this sort of crap. He's not a suspect and never has been, and if the defence try to steer it in that direction it will be a new low for the law profession.

scholar007

irish-stew wrote: »

Although have heard this evening that the judge has asked that there be no teenagers in the court room from monday.

THe defence team do appear to be trying everything in the book to get their men off, including the comments on the 'sex book', the three mobile phones, and now something about a laptop that wasn't included in the items taken for evidence, so its internet history could be checked. Its like they are trying to pin something on the husband.

Why did they have 3 phones? Why would you need a book on sex on your honeymoon? Its when you get home after the honeymoon that you need a book to read up on to keep herself interested.

As much as I hate defence lawyer tactics they gotta do what the gotta do. We'll never know the details of the prosecution evidence either. If the family, given where they're from, apply the same standards to the police in Mauritius as they do at home I doubt they could support any verdict in this case.

scholar007

scholar007 wrote: »

Why did they have 3 phones? Why would you need a book on sex on your honeymoon? Its when you get home after the honeymoon that you need a book to read up on to keep herself interested.

Jesus I've read some stupid **** in my time but I can actually see the drool dripping from every word of that.