Van der Sloot confession to Stephany Flores murder ruled valid

Lima - In less than a week, a judge in Peru ruled that Joran Van der Sloot's confession to murdering Stephany Flores, is valid, thereby denying Joran's and his defense attorney's claims that he made it under duress.

Peruvian Superior Court Judge Wilder Casique Friday denied a motion by Joran Van der Sloot's defense attorney to void his confession in the murder of a 21-year-old Lima student. The New York Daily News in an Associated Press story reports that Joran's claim that he only confessed because the attorney representing him at the time was state-appointed had no validity. Meanwhile, Van der Sloot is sitting in jail in Lima, pending trial on charges of first-degree murder and robbery in the May 30 death in his hotel room of Stephany Flores, whom he met playing poker in a casino. He also continues to be the sole suspect in the unresolved disappearance of U.S. teenager Natalee Holloway on the Caribbean island of Aruba in 2005. Judge Casique pointed out during the hearing that Van der Sloot had, in addition to his lawyer, been given access to a Dutch-Spanish interpreter approved by the Dutch Embassy. During a jailhouse interview with the Dutch newspaper, De Telegraaf, Van der Sloot recanted his confession, telling the reporters it was made under duress. Maximo Altez, Van der Sloot's lawyer says he plans to appeal Casique's decision to a higher court. But a criminal law expert, Jose Balcazar, told AP that Van der Sloot that even if van der Sloot and his attorney continue the appeal

"That will not hold up the case against him."

The chief judge of Lima's Superior Court, Cesar Vega, told reporters that Peruvian laws allow up to six months for murder trials. But a legal expert Mario Amoretti said that big cases like Van der Sloot's can last 18 months. Balcazar said the defense if it goes ahead with the appeals is likely to try to draw the trial out. If convicted, Van der Sloot faces between 15 and 35 years in prison.