Meredith Kercher murdered-Amanda Knox Conviction Overturned #22

[3doglady]

Now the PR campaign has come to an end, you will see more opposite opinions. It is easy enough to cheer for 'an innocent locked up far away', it is another thing to have 'a <modsnip> who got away with it' walking free on the streets.


http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20534097,00.html

I seem to remember NG's similar opinion of the Duke Lacross players. The public certainly doesn't agree with her in that case. Look who's in jail now. I take NG with several grains of salt. She's all about ratings and will never admit when she's wrong. Heck she won't even fess up to the "toot" on DWTS.

 

[kalekona]

Now the PR campaign has come to an end, you will see more opposite opinions. It is easy enough to cheer for 'an innocent locked up far away', it is another thing to have 'a <modsnip> who got away with it' walking free on the streets.


http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20534097,00.html

Nancy Grace isn't the end all be all of right and wrong-

<modsnip> the PR campaign crap- it is an exaggeration and has nothing to do with her being free.

Had it not been so important for the Italian Police and the British press to paint Amanda as Satan's bride there never would have been a PR firm in the first place.

 

[SMK]

I seem to remember NG's similar opinion of the Duke Lacross players. The public certainly doesn't agree with her in that case. Look who's in jail now. I take NG with several grains of salt. She's all about ratings and will never admit when she's wrong. Heck she won't even fess up to the "toot" on DWTS.

Bravo (or Brava, as your name indicates you are female); You are on the mark about Nancy Grace.

 

[SMK]

Some very good quotes within this article, listed at the end:

http://www.examiner.com/headlines-i...uble-believing-it?CID=examiner_alerts_article

 

[wasnt_me]

It is entirely possible that Rudy had accomplices. There was an unidentified car parked outside of the cottage, and there was an unidenified blck man (not Rudy) seen running from the area.

If there was a group that comitted the crime, you should look for Rudy's accomplices within his friends and associates -- not the victims.

Amanda said that she turned her cell off -- Raffaele just had no activity.

IIRC, the lamp was never tested for DNA. So not finding any of Amanda on it is not surprising.

In all this time I never associated the other black man running as having been with RG that night. That's a good point. and if they'd thrown a rock and climbed on each other's shoulders, they'd be in the house much more easily.

 

[mdana]

I do agree that false confessions happen but, you would never get me "confused" enough to make up a story about some crime I knew nothing about. Possibly out of fear of extreme physical punishment or death but, not from a whack on the head and exhaustion. I would be arrested for beligerence and punching the lady back before I gave some made up story. Amanda was a smart girl so not sure I buy the confused bit. I'm not saying she is guilty. The evidence was lacking so I agree with her release. I just think she's a curious individual and it will be interesting to see how she behaves now out of prison.

<modsnip>

<modsnip>

As I have posted numerous times before Spain and Italy are known for abusing suspects and witnessess.

<modsnip>. How people react in reality is completely different. Even Doug Preston, who was in his 50s when the Perugian police took an interest in his writing, was extremely intimidated by their behaviour. He left Italy ASAP, but Amanda was denied a lawyer, a valid interpretor, and other rights at the time of her interrogation.

<modsnip>

 

[celticthyme]

Amanda was a young, 20 year old exchange student, new to a foreign country. She found herself unfortunately, in a situation she could never imagine, finding her room mate dead, . . not knowing the language, culture. She had no knowledge of how their legal system works & what the Italian system could do to her. Hopefully, one day we will hear the story of what she had to endure throughout this process. A lesson to be learned for parents of students who study abroad. My own daughter studied in Italy for a year. It is a great country, but their government and legal system is an unbelievable mess. The Italians will readily admit this. Thank God she is safely home in the US.

 

[MsFacetious]

I believe Amanda is innocent.

I think she cracked under days of questioning without a break... a lawyer... sleep... etc.
I think many people who think that they would NOT crack under that pressure should actually be put in that situation.
I don't think I would, because I know how LE works... but until I am actually put in that situation I am not going to judge someone else.
I also wouldn't join a cult and didn't put up with abusive relationships. I don't judge others for doing those things either.

I do think it is possible that she was not 100% emotionally healthy at the time this all happened.
I think that MIGHT be why people still aren't sure that she is genuine.
She got very close a guy very quickly. That can indicate several different things.

IF she did have some sort of personality disorder/mental illness that was manifesting itself at the time... she was in a foreign country... away from family... that could also cause her to come across as less than genuine.

I also think that the shocking, overwhelming, unbelievable nature of the whole situation would definitely make her emotions out of whack.
I'm not surprised she still seems a bit "off" right now. :twocents:

 

[mdana]

Like I said, I agree false confessions happen.

Actually, I think they are both innocent and I think the evidence points only to RG. However, there is something different about Amanda. It's odd and I don't quite know what it is but, I think her confession and her statements to LE were because of her personality and less about confusion. I think it's what started this entire debacle and led anyone to question her involvement.

I think some people just want to help or have a need to be liked and will say anything they think will be helpful. Some people exploit that normally positive trait for cynical means. I agree with your contention that part of her problem in these areas was her personalty (overy trusting others, need to be liked, etc.)

 

[wasnt_me]

Posted on JREF: One of the jurors speaks to press:


Celebrity publicist Max Clifford said the Seattle student, who spent four years in an Italian jail, could earn between £5m and £20m from her story. He suggested that she give some of the money to the Kerchers to avoid the impression she was profiting from the victim's death. The Kerchers, who were due to fly out of Italy on Tuesday night, expressed bewilderment and frustration at the outcome. Lyle Kercher, Meredith's brother, wanted to know "how a decision that was so certain two years ago has been so emphatically overturned now".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/04/amanda-knox-juror-speaks-ou

It's absurd to suggest AK give money to the kerchers so they won't think she's profiting off MK's death. If Ak wants to give money that's good, but AK suffered her own hell for 4 years off being falsely accused and convicted. If she wants to get rich off THAT, then that's her business.

 

[emyr]

<modsnip>

I think Mignini might have been over-sensationalized in this case as well. It seems like the police latched onto a theory and he followed them down the rabbit hole. As opposed to him being the mastermind bent on her destruciton.

I just read the wikipedia article on the case and I find it comprehensive and without factual inaccuracy. It's a good place for people to read the facts without bias or drama.

Earlier there were some people saying that the cell phones being turned off were suspicious, and the computer records were suspicious. Lumamba expected Amanda to be at work at 10pm, and Raffaelle had plans at midnight. That is independently corroborated and factual. There's simply no way this was a pre-meditated murder.

The fact that they happened to turn off their cell phones that night is an example of extroadinarily bad luck, bad luck that actually intensified the police's suspicions that they were murderers. I remember a quote from a policemen that "they deliberately turned off their cell phones to make sure they could not be tracked." It was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Aditional bad luck: Sollecito didn't have a roommate, and had a single bedroom apartment, also rare. Because he was wealthy he could afford privacy. If he had not had privacy, he would have had a roommate come home and be able to report he was there.

Also, in the Massei report it states that it was proven that the police overwrote Raffaelle's file of "Stardust" so that it's last played date could not be shown. Massei himself said there was lost data from the laptop.

 

[Madeleine74]

The media has such power that we humans are easily swayed by emotion and powerful storytelling. The more salacious, the better. It gets the juices pumping, the imagination spinning. The media and the 24/7 news cycle makes it seem like we all know the people portrayed on our TV screens and computer screens. We imagine every trait. Evil, yes. Yes, she/he looks evil. Yes, yes, they must have done it. Innocent people don't get arrested, and certainly not in a foreign country!

The truth, however, is much more mundane. What people imagine as evil is within their own imagination. The imagination is a powerful thing. We don't know Amanda Knox. To say she is a witch, is evil, is a she-devil, is merely spewing that which Mignini spewed for years and the media repeated. It's salacious and it captures the imagination.

But truth? I think not.

When confronted by 'stories' vs. science, I pay more attention to what the science says first. And the objective scientists who reviewed all the evidence found it to be lacking and not inculpatory. And that is the scientific truth.

What AK looks like or acts like or is like, despite my never having met her or her family will not be determined by salacious rumors spread by a ratings-hungry media and fueled further by the numerous media bloggers. The science and facts stand as the true test. The rest of it is just mean-spirited ramblings based on nothing but personal biases and beliefs.

Not Guilty.

 

[wasnt_me]

I never understood the logic behind turned off cell phones equaling evidence of guilt. If the murder was preplanned then just leaving the phones behind would help with an alibi. If it wasn't planned, then why would two young people turn off their phones before going out?

I would think that turning off the cell phones would be more in-line with a planned night in.

Just MOO

plus, as I've said before, why keep them off ALL night? if the murder was over with at least by midnight, why not turn them back on and make some calls? If the murder was indeed by 10pm, RS could have gotten his father's 11pm something text message, especially since it was the opposing theory that they didn't clean up till the next morning.

 

[luvlife]

Amen......prayers were answered! Amanda is home and free for something she DID NOT do........I am thrilled.......God Bless

 

[emyr]

A Knox juror has spoken out and said that they made their decisions based on the forensics and the emotional appeals were neither here nor there. It was the reams of data they recieved on the evidence that convinced them of innocence. So he says.

For what that's worth.

 

[luvlife]

Amanda and her <modsnip> were NEVER the killers........They know who killed Meredith.....He is where he belongs......Amanda was young and dumb for some of her actions, but did not deserve to be charged with murder......imo

 

[Allusonz]

<modsnip>. From the same article...



http://www.mirror.co.uk/sunday-mirror/2007/11/04/italy-murder-details-emerge-98487-20058122/

We have no idea if the reporter mixed up the nights in her reporting like she mixed up Washington state with the city.

With all that has been happening I had truly forgot about this article. This though is not the only article that stated so much as fact when it was not. I am as well sure it won't be the last article we see that is shoddy in the reporting. Why this article is still being quoted after it has been debunked so many times is telling

 

[Allusonz]

I seem to remember NG's similar opinion of the Duke Lacross players. The public certainly doesn't agree with her in that case. Look who's in jail now. I take NG with several grains of salt. She's all about ratings and will never admit when she's wrong. Heck she won't even fess up to the "toot" on DWTS.

So do I and I often have compared the prosecutor from the Duke case to this one. Too much power and not enough checks and balances. Nifong wound up in jail and my hope is that Mignini will as well

 

[gitana1]

Wow. Another incredible article, this one posted in the Guardian UK:

The overturning of the murder convictions of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of British exchange student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, came as no surprise. The appeals trial showed that virtually all the crucial evidence used in the original trial to convict Knox and Sollecito was faulty, erroneous, worthless, or manipulated...

But big questions remain. How could two innocent people be convicted of such a heinous crime, backed up by a 400-page opinion, spend four years in prison, and then have their convictions so resoundingly overturned?
The answer lies in the Italian concept of face, la faccia, whose deep and pervasive power most Anglo-Saxons who have not lived in a Mediterranean country have a hard time appreciating.

The story begins almost a decade ago, long before Meredith Kercher's murder, when the pubblico ministero (public prosecutor) of Perugia, Giuliano Mignini, opened an investigation into the mysterious death of a doctor whose body was found floating in Lake Trasimeno in 1985.


<modsnip>


Furthermore, Guede had been involved in a string of crimes, for which he had never been prosecuted by the Perugian police. An enduring mystery is why Guede was repeatedly released after committing serious crimes, such as breaking and entering while in possession of a knife. If it turned out Guede had murdered Kercher alone, hard questions would be asked of the Perugian police and prosecutors about why they had repeatedly released him...


Crucial evidence that could have exonerated them was lost or mishandled. For example, the hard drive on Sollecito's computer, which could have shown he was on his computer during the time of the murder, was "fried'' by investigators as they supposedly tried to copy it.

<modsnip>

Much more at link. It explains a lot about the system over there: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/04/knox-acquittal-only-possible-verdict

Oops! I'm sorry Salem. For some reason I thought we could quote 30% and we're safe! Lesson learned.

 

[Allusonz]

I do agree that false confessions happen but, you would never get me "confused" enough to make up a story about some crime I knew nothing about. Possibly out of fear of extreme physical punishment or death but, not from a whack on the head and exhaustion. I would be arrested for beligerence and punching the lady back before I gave some made up story. Amanda was a smart girl so not sure I buy the confused bit. I'm not saying she is guilty. The evidence was lacking so I agree with her release. I just think she's a curious individual and it will be interesting to see how she behaves now out of prison.

I do wonder then why it took 30 PLE officers signatures on her statement? (they had to add a page just for that )