What's Happening on The Legal Side Of Things

Mum had a lengthy conversation last night with John Rochlin (who has been mentioned in previous posts) and who is an Australian lawyer operating in Barcelona. John has just completed a 2 hr meeting with Kim. John was accompanied by a female Spanish lawyer who has considerable experience in criminal matters.

Mum was impressed with John and found him to be quite compassionate.

He said that Mum could call him as often as she wanted and he wouldn't charge for the time taken during those calls (quite unlawyerly!).

The long and short of it is that we feel comfortable having John and his colleague represent Kim in the pending trial. (Thanks to Marta for the comments she left on a previous post in respect to finding a lawyer)

John mentioned that the seized cocaine was currently being tested for its purity. If its pure content falls below 5kg (even by a few grams) then this could lead to a significantly reduced sentence (4-5 years). So keep your fingers crossed for crap drugs!

John also remarked that the centre was professionally run and a reasonably pleasant place to be (insofar as prisons are concerned). This echoes comments made by the embassy and Kim's visitors. He also remarked on Kim's calm demeanor.

We may also have the chance to meet John in the second half of November as he will be in Sydney for a legal conference.

Following is the email that John sent to Mum prior to their conversation ...

[Dear Mrs Salter,

We went to see Kim today.

We had an appointment with the Director of the prison first, and she gave her permission for me to go in with the lawyer and to go in on future occasions. The Director is a very pleasant woman, who told us that Kim is a model prisoner, and has not caused any problems, and has settled in very well.

Kim explained the whole story to us and said that she did want to change lawyers.

We will contact the court-appointed lawyer and advise him that we will be taking over, and get the papers he has. We then need to go to the court where Kim appeared and get the papers there. We'll then go back and see Kim.

She is certainly adjusting to the life and is remarkably cheerful and philosophical about her situation. She is using this as an opportunity to learn Spanish.

If you would like to phone me tomorrow (Friday) at 11 am, which is 7 o'clock in the evening your time, I could explain more.

Regards

John Rochlin]

We'll take our good news where we can find it and we count securing the services of John as good news.

Scott