Joseph Tacopina: Where is the van der Sloot Love Now?

17 Jun

Filed Under Joseph Tacopina, Joran van der Sloot | 7 Comments

Joe Tacopina

Who did Joran van der Sloot once publicly declare his affection for? In a 2007 GQ interview, van der Sloot sang hotshot lawyer Joseph Tacopina’s praises. “I love the guy,” he said. “If I do get any money from any of these civil suits, I plan to give it all to Joe.”

At the time, Tacopina was the media darling of criminal defense attorneys and was presumably threatening to pursue false prosecution or libel damages on behalf of Natalie Holloway’s suspected murderer. As he said of Van der Sloot, “Three countries have investigated this disappearance and three countries have not found one shred of evidence that points to Joran. This kid is a victim too. He is an 18-year-old kid and his life has basically been ruined.”

Given the mounting evidence pointing to the the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores in Peru, van der Sloot will not likely escape justice in his fourth country. Van der Sloot’s first Peruvian lawyer Maximo Altez will no longer have anything to do with him, quitting the case after receiving death threats. Where does this leave Tacopina back in New York?

While Van der Sloot was on the run from Peru, Tacopina stated that he had not heard from his client and seemed to support his innocence in the following statement made on June 2, “Joran van der Sloot has been falsely accused of murder once before. The fact is he wears a bull’s-eye on his back now and he is a quote-unquote usual suspect when it comes to allegations of foul play.” Other than this statement, Tacopina has been laying low. Out of the media spotlight and probably wondering if those potential civil suits were as a good gamble as Joran’s poker playing in Peru…