Our domestic lawyer, Juan Carlos Gutiérrez, has said clearly and unequivocally to us that the case outcome is already predetermined and that there is not even a small light shining through to suggest that right now there is any hope of anything other than a conviction and a very lengthy prison term for Leopoldo López.
Unfortunately, we expect the court of appeals to decline to accept the decision of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, but Leopoldo has said that he will not return to the trial physically until the appellate court issues that decision one way or another.