Aruban Brothers Want Natalee Holloway Lawsuit Dismissed
LOS ANGELES —A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles against two Aruban brothers by the parents of missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway should be dismissed on grounds the case has no connection to California, the siblings’ lawyers argue in court papers obtained Tuesday.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George Wu will consider the motion brought on behalf of Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, but no date was immediately set. The next scheduled hearing in the case is April 2.
The brothers’ attorney, Kristina M. Beck, filed court papers last Tuesday in support of the dismissal.
The Kalpoes and another Aruban resident, Joran van der Sloot, have been the subject of scrutiny by Aruban authorities and the U.S. media. All three were arrested in connection with the Holloway case and later released.
Beck’s court papers state that an important ruling occurred Jan. 24, when another Los Angeles Superior Court judge, Edward A. Ferns, ruled that the wrongful death claim of the teen’s parents against the Kalpoes is substantially different from the siblings’ defamation case against “Dr. Phil” McGraw.
“These actions do not arise from the same or substantially identical transactions, happenings or events…,” Ferns wrote, in ruling that both cases should not be kept before the same judge.
The Kalpoes sued McGraw and CBS Television on Dec. 13, alleging they were defamed in a Sept. 15, 2005, show dealing with the still-unsolved case. Although the Kalpoe brothers had been released from Aruban police custody, the “Dr. Phil” episode suggested they gave Holloway a date rape drug and had non- consensual group sex with her, according to their lawsuit.
The episode also implied the siblings helped kill Holloway and dispose of her body, according to the lawsuit.
The Kalpoes and van der Sloot have maintained that they were not involved in her disappearance and did not have sex with her.
In addition to defamation, the Kalpoes’ suit alleges invasion of privacy, emotional distress, fraud, deceit and civil conspiracy.
Natalee Holloway’s parents, Elizabeth Ann Twitty of Alabama and Dave E. Holloway of Mississippi, filed a wrongful death suit against the Kalpoes the next day, even though their daughter’s body has never been found and Aruban authorities have not determined if she is dead or alive.
Natalee Holloway was vacationing with friends on the Caribbean island resort when the 18-year-old disappeared the night of May 30, 2005.
Twitty and Dave Holloway, who are divorced, maintain that by bringing an action against McGraw in Los Angeles, the Kalpoes voluntarily submitted themselves to the Los Angeles Superior Court jurisdiction.
But in her court papers, Beck argues that Twitty and Holloway are not part of the defamation case; that the alleged misconduct by the defendants in the lawsuits occurred in two entirely different locations—Aruba and California; and that one suit involves wrongful death and the other defamation.
In support of her motion, Beck attached to her court papers a declaration by the Kalpoe brothers’ mother, Kemwattie Ramirez, stating that her sons live with her in Aruba and have no ties to California.
“Neither Deepak nor Satish has ever traveled to California, or anywhere within the United States, for business or pleasure,” according to their mother, who also said her sons have no business, employment of financial ties to California.
Twitty and Dave Holloway also filed a wrongful death suit last year in New York against van der Sloot and his father, but a judge there also threw it out for lack of jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, a motion is set before Judge Ferns on Thursday in the defamation case.
Hat Tip – BFN Member Sindalle