error getString() --> decodeUTF8 / java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: 5

Greetings,

I have function that returns a refcursor. When I call it in plpgsql
shell, it returns all the rows correctly. But, When I call it in JDBC,
when it tries to decode a string in specific row (7) it throws the
following exception:

java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: 5
at org.postgresql.core.Encoding.decodeUTF8(Encoding.java:254)
at org.postgresql.core.Encoding.decode(Encoding.java:165)
at org.postgresql.core.Encoding.decode(Encoding.java:181)
at
org.postgresql.jdbc1.AbstractJdbc1ResultSet.getString(AbstractJdbc1ResultSet.java:97)

My refcursor returns the following list (the characters are in
portuguese language):

id | class
----+-------------
1 | Avenida
2 | Bairro
3 | Cais
4 | Estrada
5 | Largo
6 | Lugar
7 | Praça
8 | Rotunda
9 | Rua
10 | Sítio
11 | Travessa
12 | Urbanização

The row number 7 (Praça) [character 'C' with cedilla] is throwing the
above exception. How should I retrieve my string which has portuguese
characters, in JDBC?

thanks,
Pedro Salazar.
--
PS
pedro-b-salazar(at)ptinovacao(dot)pt
PGP:0E129E31D803BC61