Natalee Holloway: Two court decisions

It's been a little while since there's been actual news on Natalee's case. Both of these articles are about court decisions, neither of which are likely to be favorable to the Holloway/Twitty family. I do agree somewhat with the New York judge's reasoning, because she's right, the case has little to do with New York City. Then again, if the suit was filed in Aruba, the location of the crime, there is no guarantee that Natalee's family would win.
First story from http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_215155412.html:

Aug 3, 2006 7:00 pm US/Eastern
Judge Dismisses Lawsuit In Natalee Holloway Case
AS FIRST REPORTED BY WCBSTV.COM
Read The Judge's Ruling
Scott Weinberger
Reporting
(CBS) NEW YORK A New York judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed
by the parents of Natalee Holloway against a Dutch teenager, who was one of
three young men arrested in connection with the Alabama teenager's disappearance
in Aruba in May 2005.
The lawsuit was filed in February in Manhattan state Supreme Court seeking
unspecified monetary damages against Joran van der Sloot, 18, and his father. A
hearing was held in May at which the van der Sloots' attorneys argued the suit
should be dismissed.
Holloway, 18, of Mountain Brook, Alabama, was last seen May 30, 2005,
leaving a bar with Surinamese brothers Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and Satish Kalpoe, 18,
and van der Sloot, a Dutch national. The honors student was hours from ending
her graduation trip.
The wrongful-death lawsuit was filed by Elizabeth Ann Twitty, of Alabama,
and Dave Edward Holloway, of Mississippi, the missing teen's mother and
father.
In her ruling dismissing the suit, Judge Barbara Kapnick said New York
taxpayers should not have to bear the financial burden necessary to try the
case, which had no significant connection to New York, including the cost of
translating thousands of pages of documents from Dutch to English.
Van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers were arrested June 9, 2005, on
suspicion of involvement in Holloway's disappearance. Van der Sloot admitted he
was with the girl but denied any wrongdoing. All were released, and nobody has
been charged.
The lawsuit refers to van der Sloot as "the predator" and says that on at
least three occasions young Aruban women have complained they were the victims
of "date rape" by him and his accomplices.
Van der Sloot left Aruba, where his father still lives, and currently lives
in Arnhem, the Netherlands, court papers say.
The lawsuit says the father, Paulus van der Sloot, was an enabler of his
son's "violent and anti-social lifestyle." Court papers say that on the night of
May 29, 2005, he went with his underage son to a casino to play poker. It was at
that casino that the younger van der Sloot met Holloway, the lawsuit says.
The court papers present a partly speculative version of what happened
after the young people left the casino and went to a bar called Carlos 'n'
Charlies in the early hours of May 30, 2005.
At about 1:30 a.m., court papers say, an intoxicated Holloway left with van
der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers. Several of Holloway's friends saw her in the
car with the youths and asked her to get out, court papers say, but she did
not.
"The next hours of Natalee's young life were marked by torment, terror and
debasement," court papers say, describing an imagined sexual assault. "Natalee
has not been seen or heard from since entering Deepak's car with Joran."
When Twitty talked to The Early Show's Hannah Storm in October, she had
shared her suspicions about what happened to Natalee.
"I know this is really difficult for you to talk about, but you do believe
that she was sexually assaulted. Is that correct?" Storm asked.
"Absolutely," Twitty said.

The second story is probably not as widely known yet, but it is presumably also disappointing to Natalee's family. It comes from a Dutch news organization called Expatica.

Father of Holloway suspect wins damages for detention
3 August 2006
AMSTERDAM — Dutchman Paul van der Sloot, father of the chief suspect in
the Natalee Holloway disappearance case, has been awarded financial
damages.
A court on the autonomous Dutch island of Aruba ruled that Paul van
der Sloot was arrested and detained for four days without due cause last year as
part of the investigation. He was awarded 50,000 Aruban Guilders in
compensation. This is equal to EUR 21,800 or USD 27,900.
His son, Joran, was
the main suspect in the disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway on
the Caribbean island.
Holloway, 18, was holidaying on Aruba in May 2005 with
school friends to celebrate their graduation. She disappeared on the night of 30
May, and extensive searches have failed to find any trace of her.
She was
last seen leaving a bar at 1am with Dutch youth Joran van der Sloot, then 17,
and brothers Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and Satish Kalpoe, 18. They were in Deepak's
car. Holloway was due to fly back to the US the following day but she failed to
arrive at the airport.
The three young men were arrested on 9 June 2005 and
questioned. They first told police that they dropped her off at the Holiday Inn
where she was staying. Subsequently, they admitted that they had agreed to lie.
Joran van der Sloot said he had been alone with Holloway on the beach near
another hotel, about 1 kilometre from the Holiday Inn. He denied having sex with
her or harming her in any way. He claimed he left her on the beach at her own
request. Joran claimed he wanted to go home as he had school the next
day.
The Kalpoe brothers were released from custody on 14 July 2005, but were
re-arrested on 26 August 2005 on suspicion of rape and murder. Joran and the
Kalpoes were released on 4 September 2005 and have not been charged with any
crime in connection with the disappearance.
Paul van der Sloot, a judge in
training on Aruba at the time, was arrested on 22 June 2005 on suspicion of
conspiring on or after the fact with his son. He was released without charge
four days later but still considered a suspect.
He won a civil action for
unjust detention against the Aruban authorities in November of that year and has
now been awarded damages. He is no longer a suspect. The judge in the civil case
stressed his ruling related solely to Paul van der Sloot.
Both father and
his son deny any wrongdoing.
The police handling of the case, coupled with
the failure to find any trace of Holloway, has generated a lot of criticism in
the US. There have been calls for American tourists to boycott the
island.
Natalee's mother Beth Twitty has spearheaded a campaign to keep up
the pressure on the authorities to find her daughter.
On 6 February this
year, Joran and Paul van der Sloot were served with a civil lawsuit by Natalee's
parents in New York. Joran went to the US, against his lawyer's advice, to
do a television interview.

Really, the term "damages" is ironic, because all Paulus van der Sloot has suffered is a bad reputation for himself and his son, which might hurt his job prospects. Natalee Holloway, on the other hand, might have lost her life, and her family is missing a daughter, niece, sister, etc.

If you have any information on Natalee's disappearance, call 1-866-SOS-LOST (1-866-767-5678).
Natalee's website: http://www.natalee-holloway.com
One of probably many blogs about Natalee: http://blogsfornatalee.com
Wristbands to pay for searches for Natalee are still on sale at http://www.bandsonhand.com/products.php?cat=61.
Hope for Natalee ribbon available on Natalee's website.