Can a convicted defendant ever catch a break? Well, maybe sometimes. Especially if she may be innocent. Amanda Knox has always claimed that she is innocent. She is the U.S. college student who was convicted last month of the murder of her British roommate in Perugia, Italy. Her appeal may have taken a turn for the better after the Prosecutor was convicted himself for abusing his office in an unrelated case. As a consequence, Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini faces a 16-month suspended jail sentence for allegedly abusing his position during a 1985 investigation into the death of a doctor alleged to be part of a satanic group. Smiles were visible on the face of Anne Bremner, a Seattle attorney who represents the family and friends of Knox. Since the prosecutor's interrogation techniques in the Knox case are in question, this is a positive development for the Knox defense team.
Philadelphia attorney Ted Simon, a high-profile expert on defending Americans convicted in foreign jurisdictions, is handling the Knox appeal. U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., announced last month that she plans to call on the U.S. State Department and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to investigate possible violations of international law. Mignini maintains that the conviction should have no impact on Knox's conviction for killing Meredith Kercher. The Knox appeal may take two years. Mignini's conviction stems from his wiretapping of several journalists and a police official in the "Monster of Florence" case. That case involved a killer who stalked lovers in the Italian countryside between 1968 and 1985. Pietro Pacciani, Mario Vanni and Giancarlo Lotti were arrested and convicted in 1993 in connection with the case, but were later cleared of all charges by the Italian Supreme Court. Thomas Harris, the author of The Silence of the Lambs, allegedly studied the case for inspiration to create the character, Hannibal Lecter.
Knox and her former Italian boyfriend were convicted last month of Kercher's murder. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in jail, while her co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito, received a 25-year sentence. Both maintain that they are innocent. A third man, Rudy Guede, was convicted separately in the case and sentenced to 30 years (reduced to 16 years on appeal.) Mignini's attorney, Marco Rocchi, will also seek an appeal.
Update 5-10-10: Harry Rag provides interesting commentary on the alleged evidence in the case. For his opinion, see Comments! For those further interested in the case, Barbie Latzu Nadeau has written a book titled: Angel Face the True Story of Student Killer Amanda Knox. Apparently Nadeau sat through the trial and was not surprised by the verdict.
Update 8-9-2010: Judge Massei's decision can be found here: http://www.perugiamurderfile.org/viewtopic.php?p=53735#p53735
Update 8-17-10: TJ Holme presents another view of the alleged evidence here: http://www.injusticeinperugia.org/. No matter which side of the fence you are on, this case seems to scream for additional scrutiny by all involved. Equally clear, the family of the victim deserves to know the truth so that they may find closure. Perhaps it is best to wait for all of the appeals to conclude before anyone comes to any firm conclusions.
Update 11-9-10: Amanda Knox, convicted of murdering her British roommate in Italy, now faces a trial on slander charges. She will be represented by attorney Luciano Ghirga. Amanda and her parents are accused of defaming Italian police involved in her arrest for the killing of Meredith Kercher. A recent hearing determined that there is enough evidence for the prosecution to proceed. The slander arises out of alleged police mistreated during Amanda's custody. Amanda's parents are charged with repeating the allegations. Knox will attempt to have the proceedings moved to Florence.
Amanda's alleged statements were not recorded and thus it will come down to a battle of credibility. The defamation trial is set to begin May 17, 2011. Knox, 23, is still proceeding with her appeal of her murder conviction and 26 year sentence. Knox's former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, is serving a 25-year sentence. A third person, Rudy Guede, a is serving a 16-year prison sentence.
Update 5-8-11: The appeal is well on its way; however forensic experts want more time to review DNA evidence on the victim's bra clasp and on the alleged murder weapon. For more details, see comment of this same date.
Update 6-18-11: Mario Alesso. a convict, testifies in the Appellate Court that he knows Amanda Knox did not commit the murder. The convicted child murderer testified that a fellow inmate had told him the American student had nothing to do with her roommate's death.
Update 10-4-11: The murder conviction of Amanda Knox was vacated on oppeal. Apparently the defamation charge remains; however Amanda is now FREE!
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19 comments:
I think this prosecutor may have a screw loose. Not everything is related to a satanist cult!
We are so lucky to live in our country! This whole trial seemed like a kangaroo court. I feel for her parents.
Italian justice... you can't always see it but you always feel it!
Are all foreign courts such that they give the presumption that an Americano can not get a fair trial?
Is the "Monster of Florence" case the only case that Mignini has been charged with or alleged to have commited misconduct?
What's a little cheating within the system among comrades?
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito repeatedly told the police a pack of lies in the days after Meredith's murder.
On 5 November 2007, Knox and Sollecito were confronted with proof that they had lied and were given another opportunity to tell the truth. However, they both chose to tell the police even more lies.
Sollecito's new alibi was shattered by computer forensic evidence and his mobile phone records.
Knox accused an innocent man, Diya Lumumba, of murdering Meredith despite knowing full well that he was completely innocent. She didn't recant her false and malicious allegation against Lumumba the whole time he was in prison.
Knox's account of what happened on 2 November 2007 is contradicted by her mobile phone records.
Rudy Guede's bloody footprints lead straight out of Meredith's room and out of the house. He didn't lock Meredith's door, remove his trainers, go into Filomena's room or the bathroom that Meredith and Knox shared.
Rudy Guede didn't scale the vertical wall outside Filomena's room or gain access through the window. The break-in was clearly staged. This indicates that somebody who lived at the cottage was trying to deflect attention away from themselves and give the impression that a stranger had broken in and killed Meredith.
Guede had no reason to stage the break-in and there was no physical evidence that he went into Filomena's room.
The scientific police found a mixture of Amanda Knox's DNA and Meredith's blood on the floor.
There was no physical evidence that Rudy Guede went into the blood-spattered bathroom. However, the scientific police found proof that Knox and Sollecito tracked Meredith's blood into this bathroom.
Amanda Knox’s DNA was found mingled with Meredith’s blood in three different places in the bathroom: on the ledge of the basin, on the bidet, and on a box of Q Tips cotton swabs.
Sollecito left a visible bloody footprint on the blue bathmat.
Amanda Knox left a bloody shoeprint on the pillow under Meredith's body.
Knox's and Sollecito's bare bloody footprints were revealed by luminol in the hallway. Knox’s DNA and Meredith’s DNA was found mixed together in one of the bloody footprints.
An abundant amount of Raffaele Sollecito's DNA was found on Meredith's bra clasp. Sollecito must have applied considerable pressure to the clasp in order to have left so much DNA. The hooks on the clasp were damaged which confirms that Sollecito had gripped them tightly.
Amanda Knox's DNA was found on the handle of the double DNA knife and Meredith's DNA was found lodged in a tiny groove on the blade. Sollecito knew that Meredith's DNA was on the blade which is why he twice lied about accidentally pricking her hand whilst cooking.
The defence experts were unable to prove that there had been any contamination. Alberto Intini, head of the Italian police forensic science unit, pointed out that unless contamination has been proved, it does not exist.
Amanda Knox voluntarily admitted that she involved in Meredith's murder in her handwritten note to the police on 6 November 2007. She stated on at least four separate occasions that she was at the cottage when Meredith was killed. She also claimed that Sollecito was at the cottage.
Thanks Harry. Please feel free to post a link.
The English version of Judge Massei's sentencing report can be downloaded from here:
http://www.perugiamurderfile.org/viewtopic.php?p=53735#p53735
Update: 8-9-2010: Thanks to Harry Rag, Judge Massei's decision can be found here: http://www.perugiamurderfile.org/viewtopic.php?p=53735#p53735
Wow. How refreshing to come upon a legal blog that doesn't even make a pretense of being fair or unbiased.. Finding Harry's bald face lies here doesn't surprise me. That name spews baseless anti-Amanda propaganda from one end of the blogosphere to the other. To highlight it as "good commentary" is telling, however. In the interest of truth in advertising, why not just change the name of the blog to "Lynch Mob Pub" and be done with it ? For anyone that happens to stumble on this post and is actually curious about the true facts of the case as they're understood in 08/2010, see -
http://www.injusticeinperugia.org/
Update 8-17-10: TJ Holme presents another view on the alleged facts here: http://www.injusticeinperugia.org/ . No matter which side of the fence you are on, this case seems to scream for additional scrutiny by all involved. Equally clear is that the family of the victim deserves to know the truth so that they may find closure.
Legal Pub suggests that all wait for the appeal process to end before forming any conclusions.
Over 20 judges have looked at the evidence, including the judges at the Italian Supreme Court. They all agreed that the evidence against Knox and Sollecito is overwhelming.
Judge Matteini, Judge Micheli, and Judge Massei have all written reports which have been made available to the public.
Knox, Sollecito and Guede are automatically granted two appeals.
The Italian legal system has plenty of checks and balances in place to ensure that justice is served. It is far more rigorous and transparent than the American and British legal systems.
If the trial had taken place in America, there's a real possibility that Knox and Sollecito would be sitting on death row.
Knox's and Sollecito's sentences will be confirmed at the appeals.
People need to apply a little common sense and start living in the real world.
Innocent people don't give multiple conflicting alibis and lie repeatedly to the police.
The DNA didn't grow wings and miraculously deposit itself in the most incriminating of places.
If you have any criticisms of Judge Massei's report, I'd like to hear them.
I wouldn't rely on Bruce Fisher's blog for your information because it's riddled with factual errors.
Bruce Fisher recently published the "summaries" of Knox's and Sollecito's appeals. However, he tampered with these documents by adding his own beliefs and conclusions which was an act of inexcusable dishonesty. It tells you everything you need to know about the man.
Sounds like the Appellate Process is a good place to start. That does not, of course, prevent others from reading the Judges opinion and forming their own opinions. It's a free world... or so it should be.
Update 11-9-10: Amanda Knox, convicted of murdering her British roommate in Italy, now faces a trial on slander charges. She will be represented by attorney Luciano Ghirga. Amanda and her parents are accused of defaming Italian police involved in her arrest for the killing of Meredith Kercher. A recent hearing determined that there is enough evidence for the prosecution to proceed. The slander arises out of alleged police mistreated during Amanda's custody. Amanda's parents are charged with repeating the allegations. Knox will attempt to have the proceedings moved to Florence.
Amanda's alleged statements were not recorded and thus it will come down to a battle of credibility. The defamation trial is set to begin May 17, 2011. Knox, 23, is still proceeding with her appeal of her murder conviction and 26 year sentence. Knox's former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, is serving a 25-year sentence. A third person, Rudy Guede, a is serving a 16-year prison sentence
Independent forensic experts want more time to review DNA evidence in the appeals trial of Amanda Knox. The court-appointed experts are looking into DNA traces on the knife used to kill Meredith Kercher, a 21-year-old Briton who shared an apartment with Knox. DNA traces found on the clasp of the bra Kercher was allegedly wearing are also at issue. Knox was convicted of sexually assaulting and killing Kercher and sentenced to 26 years. Her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, was convicted of the same charges and sentenced to 25 years.
They both deny any wrongdoing and their appeals are under way in Perugia.
Update 6-18-11: Mario Alesso. a convict, testifies in the Appellate Court that he knows Amanda Knox did not commit the murder. The convicted child murderer testified that a fellow inmate had told him the American student had nothing to do with her roommate's death.
Appellate hearing is winding down. It may finish this week.
Update 10-4-11: The murder conviction of Amanda Knox was vacated on oppeal. Apparently the defamation charge remains; however Amanda is now FREE!
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