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Judge has ruled on the latest motion in the Kalpoes vs Dr. Phil case. Seems the judge believes Dr. Phil should have access to the case files as they relate to the Kalpoes. Any bets on what Aruba will actually release?

http://cbs2.com:80/local/local_story_255140039.html

Sep 12, 2007 10:57 am US/Pacific

Judge Gives Dr. Phil, CBS Access To Holloway Files
(CBS) LOS ANGELES Lawyers for CBS Television and “Dr. Phil” McGraw can have access to e-mails and Aruban documents about two brothers arrested, then released, in the disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, according to a ruling obtained Wednesday.

Deepak and Satish Kalpoe allege they were defamed in a Sept. 15, 2005, “Dr. Phil” show during which it was alleged that they gave Holloway a date-rape drug and had non-consensual group sex with her. The episode also implied the siblings helped kill Holloway and dispose of her body, according to court papers.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Edward A. Ferns issued a 12-page ruling Friday that upheld the tentative ruling he reached in favor of CBS and the celebrity doctor before he took the case under submission Aug. 30.

“The documents are relevant to the most fundamental issues in this case,” Ferns stated. “There is no other (information) which can substitute for the documents sought by the defendants due to the nature of this case.”

Ferns stated it is not important that the majority of the documents sought by CBS and McGraw attorneys are in the hands of Aruban authorities.

“Most, if not all documents originated in Aruba, simply because that is where Natalee Holloway went missing and where the criminal investigation arose,” Ferns stated. “The competing policies of California and Aruba would not be undermined by production (of the documents).”

Attorneys for CBS and McGraw maintain they need the information to refute the Kalpoes’ defamation suit filed last Dec. 13. But lawyers for the brothers say much of the information the defense wants is in the hands of Aruban authorities, who they say have refused to release it until the investigation is complete into Holloway’s disappearance.

Holloway was vacationing with friends on the Caribbean island resort when the 18-year-old vanished the night of May 30, 2005.

The Kalpoes and another Aruban resident, Joran van der Sloot, were arrested in the girl’s disappearance but later released.

The Kalpoes and van der Sloot have maintained that they were not involved in her disappearance. They denied rumors and allegations they had sex with her.

Attorneys for CBS and McGraw claim documents exist showing the Kalpoes admitted to both Aruban authorities and to van der Sloot that they had sex with Holloway.

In a separate declaration to Aruban police, van der Sloot said “that he thought ... Deepak Kalpoe had raped the girl and thereupon murdered her,” according to the defense’s court papers.

The CBS/McGraw lawyers also want copies of all e-mails between the Kalpoes and other people regarding the case.

Edmund J. Siegert, an attorney for the Kalpoes, said during the Aug. 30 hearing that he is “between the old proverbial rock and a hard place” because his ability to comply with Ferns’ order is dependent upon what Aruban authorities decide to give him.

“No one wants to thumb their noses at any of the institutions here,” Siegert said. “I’m trying to balance ... and not get anyone in trouble with any tribunal.”

But defense attorney Charles L. Babcock said during the same hearing that the lawyers for the Kalpoes were being “duplicitous” in their arguments because Aruban authorities have often discussed the Holloway case in the media.

“When it helps them they will solicit statements from authorities in Aruba about this case,” Babcock said.

In another ruling today Ferns has now made final, the judge denied a motion by the CBS/McGraw attorneys to dismiss the estate of private investigator Jamie Skeeters as a defendant in the lawsuit.

The Kalpoes allege that associates of McGraw sent Skeeters to Aruba to develop material for a segment of the show dealing with the Holloway case.

Skeeters, using a family friend and co-worker of Deepak Kalpoe, gained his confidence by saying he could help exonerate both Kalpoes of any wrongdoing in the Holloway case, the suit states.

Skeeters then secretly videotaped and recorded an interview with Deepak, according to the suit. Part of the interview was broadcast during the “Dr. Phil” segment, including statements the suit maintains were “significantly manipulated and altered.”

Skeeters died Jan. 24.

In addition to defamation, the Kalpoes’ suit alleges invasion of privacy, emotional distress, fraud, deceit and civil conspiracy.

The CBS/McGraw lawyers maintain the Kalpoes are public figures who are obligated to show the defendants knew the statements during the “Dr. Phil” episode were false, or that they acted in reckless disregard for the truth.

A case management conference is set for Nov. 7.

On June 1, another judge dismissed a wrongful death case against the Kalpoes by Holloway’s parents, ruling the Los Angeles Superior Court did not have jurisdiction. The parents maintained the brothers conceded jurisdiction when they filed their lawsuit in Los Angeles against CBS and McGraw.