Meredith Kercher murder trial court rejects evidence review opening way for earlier verdict
Denied: The Court of Assizes of Perugia rejected a review of evidence requested by the defense of Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox
A judge last night rejected defence requests for an independent review of evidence in the Meredith Kercher murder case.
The decision means that a verdict in the trial will come by early December as an independent review could have taken up to a month delaying the decision.
Yesterday lawyers for Knox and Sollecito argued that the review should be held because of errors in the police investigation and the way evidence was collected.
Key to the case is a 30cm black handled kitchen knife on which DNA from Knox was found on the handle and that of Meredith on the blade.
Prosecutors say the knife, which was found in the kitchen of Sollecito's flat, is compatible with the murder weapon - which has never been found.
Knox's lawyer Carlo Della Vedova said that too many discrepancies had emerged in the examination of the knife by forensic scientists.
He pointed out that an official report was marked 'low copy number' with regard to the amount of DNA found on the knife.
He insisted that there had been evidence of contamination during the examination and he also asked for a review of a bloodied footprint found by Meredith which the court heard matched Knox's size.
Sollecito's lawyers had also asked for a review of a bloodied bra clasp found at the scene which had his DNA on it.
They pointed out that the clasp had been found during an initial police search in one point and then 'lost' for six weeks before being found else where in the room.
His lawyer Giulia Bongiorno said: 'The clasp was photographed and filmed in one part of the room.
'Then it was not seen again until 45 days later, a metre and half away from where it was last seen, under a carpet.
'We say this could have affected the test. We also say that from the footage we can see that so called single use gloves used by forensic officers were used more than once.'
Ms Bongiorno said that this as a result could have led to contamination and that another review was essential.
Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini had argued that: 'There is no need for a review as the evidence was gathered in a very professional way by qualified persons.'
Last night after a two hours consulting with the jury judge Giancarlo Massei ruled that he was rejecting the requests for a review.
He also set out a calendar for the summing up and sentence requests and said that he would retire to consider sentence and verdict on December 4.
In his ruling judge Massei said: 'The court has heard from several consultants who have brought several elements and which rule out the need for any further proof.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1219393/Court-rejects-review-evidence-Meredith-Kercher-murder-trial.html#ixzz0TXba1KRQ
... that was the problem.
