Villalobos Update: Trial On Schedule For Feb 5
The Grupo UCCR reports in its newsletter that the planning session (pre-trial hearing) between the parties held Monday morning, as scheduled, took a little over an hour and that the trial date of February 5, 2007, was not changed as it might have been given the Villalobos change of lawyers late last week.

Present at the hearing were only two of the three judges, judge Isabla Porroz Porroz, could not be present but sent a representative from her office. The judges asked that a fourth judge, "an alternate", be appointed to the case, so that in the event of an illness or other emergency, the trial could continue.

The UCCR reports that it was noteworthy that only 10 of the litigant lawyers were present at the hearing and any reason for such a low turnout would be speculation on their part. It is important to note that the attendance at the planning session is not an absolute requirement, but rather a custom respected by lawyers.

Some expected the judges to postpone the trial date to give the new Villalobos lawyers a chance to familiarize themselves with the complicated cased. However, that was not the case yesterday.