The court in Italy has cleared Amanda Knox of murder, she is free to go.
An Italian appeals court has thrown out Amanda Knox’s murder conviction and ordered the young American freed after nearly four years in prison for the death of her British roommate.
Knox collapsed in tears after the verdict was read out Monday. Her co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito, also was cleared of killing 21-year-old Meredith Kercher in 2007.
The Kercher family looked on grimly as the verdict was read out by the judge after 11 hours of deliberations by the eight-member jury. Outside the courthouse, some of the hundreds of observers shouted “Shame, shame!”
Interesting. The Italian people see about as interested in vengeance regardless of guilt as Americans are, but the courts are a bit more forgiving.
By the way, there is probably an interesting story behind the name “Patrick Lamumba.” Any guesses?
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Why be surprised? Twenty three CIA thugs are still roaming free in the US after being convicted in Italian courts. And let’s not forget the murders of two Italian agents who saved the life of Giuliana Sgrena. The US soldiers who shot them indiscriminately have never faced charges.
One good thing of note: Italy does not have “double jeopardy”, so Knox can be retried. The question is, will Italy’s government have the balls to prevent her from fleeing the country? I highly doubt the US would extradite her back if Italy demanded it.
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Same name as the assassinated first post-independence president of the Congo. Actually – “Patrick” is apparently a nickname, not his actual name.
Good start. assum he was born in Zaire and is named after Lamumba.
Now, why is he called Patrice Lamumba?
So, P Smith, I assume you think she is guilty then?
I’ll concede that I’m not a lawyer and have no access to any evidence in the trial, only what I see in the media. My observations and opinions are worth no more than, but also no less than, yours or anyone else’s who has no involvement in the case.
Italy is not a backwards country with a questionable third-rate legal system. It is as capable of running a fair trial as any, and I have no doubt that she got one and that the conviction was legitimate. Too much of the appeal is about her age and her looks rather than what she did, as if it were some sort of “injustice” to lock up a young person.
From what I’ve seen, her conviction stands up as well as Scott Peterson’s, the only difference being she was never in danger of execution because Italy doesn’t kill prisoners. For the record, I’m against the “death penalty” in all cases, including scum like Scott Roeder.
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All I know about this case is I’ve been sitting in an airport subjected to this “breaking news” about a cute white girl in trouble for three fucking hours of continuous coverage.* I don’t give a rat’s ass about her. Thousands of black men subjected to police brutality: not news. White chick has legal trouble: international crisis.
*The most interesting thing about said coverage is how little they’ve actually said. It’s still not clear to me what happened here, even after 3 hours of bloviation.
Given the current state of the art in justice these days even in the West, that doesn’t in any way protect the Italian system from charges of fucking up an investigation to the point where DNA evidence (which could have established guilt or innocence) had to be tossed out of court. (which is what this appeal was all about, not her age or cuteness!)
And as is usual in these cases, the cops will contend that their investigation was perfectly fine, so that whomever else may have been responsible walks.
I agree, my opinion is based on what I’ve read in the media, but to my eyes, the girl got railroaded and convicted in the media before she ever set foot in a court. It is like they looked at her youth and looks and decided that they would be determined that they would NEVER allow that to keep her from being brought to justice, and they promptly allowed that pendulum to swing way too far in the other direction.
The facts of this case, at least to the court, don’t stack up to putting this girl, and her co-defendent in jail for the rest of their natural lives. That indicates to me that the cops probably screwed the investigation up royally – more than likely heavily influenced by the media to show that her age and good looks would not “get her off the hook”.
I am glad that she was released, and I hope that she is on the very next flight out of that country. I am sure that she has learned all the Italian she ever wants to learn!
P Smith – utter bullshit !!! The DNA evidence just didn’t stand up.
My observations and opinions are worth no more than, but also no less than, yours or anyone else’s who has no involvement in the case.
It is quite possible that yours are worth more than mine. All I know is that I saw a Frontline or some other such TV show on this a couple of years ago which was clearly designed to convince you that she was innocent. Then guilty. Then innocent. Then guilty. Then nobody knows. With commercials in between. I have no opinion on the matter other than a) a jury cleared her and b) sometimes people get cleared even when they are guilty but that is not such a big deal compared to the reverse, despite our current cultural shift towards believing that the world will stop spinning on its axis if a single deed goes unpunished severely.
White chick has legal trouble: international crisis.
But at least there was a black guy accused of the crime for a little while!
Which brings us back to Pagrice Lamumba.
I’ll give you’all a hint: All I need to know is his name, and from that I know when he was born to within 9 months.
All I know about this case is from watching half the Lifetime Network movie of the week on this case. So I can hardly give an informed opinion.
Really, that’s it! I really do have nothing to say.
Isn’t it refreshing that a person with almost no basis to back up his position declines to take a position?
Yeah, great, Francisco, me too. But nobody seems to be biting on this Lamumba thing!
It is absolutely fascinating, and it may be that I’m one of only a few people who know it out side of Africa, even though it is quite big.
I might save this for an article for the Atlantic or something.
It’s ironic. A white female was originally convicted by circumstantial evidence in Italy and through an appeal, and 2 years later, she is released. A black male was originally convicted by circumstantial evidence in the U.S. and his appeal is rejected 20 years later before he is eventually executed.
I almost have this feeling that the U.S. justice system has regained its taste for lynching . . . except for white American females.
It bothers me that so much media attention is on this case and so little media attention on the cases of Troy Davis and Todd Willingham.
OK, I’ll bite. Why should there be such a narrow timeframe? Mnay people continued to admire Patrice Lumumba long after he was deposed and murdered. He had surviving family. I don’t know if Lumumba was a common name in the Congo – perhaps the barman is a relative. Even if so, what is so odd about it?
And as is usual in these cases, the cops will contend that their investigation was perfectly fine, so that whomever else may have been responsible walks.
Another man who already confessed is in prison. These two were convicted as accomplices as far as I recall, but got longer sentences because they didn’t plead guilty.
I almost have this feeling that the U.S. justice system has regained its taste for lynching . . . except for white American females.
The U.S. justice system had nothing to do with this case.
Alethea:
After Lamumba was killed, his supporters put out the word that patriots (Lamumba was the elected president) who were pregnant woman should name their children after him. Then, after a couple of decades or so, when they grew up to be men, they would form an army and overthrow the Mobutu government.
I knew a lot of people in Zaire, when I lived there, named Patrice Lamumba, but their names were secret. Or at leat the Lamumba part was secret.
Eventually, these men formed an army and overthrew the Mobutu government. In part.
I really didn’t have a horse in this race either way, but after hearing about how a few Italian seismologists are being prosecuted for failing to predict an earthquake, I’ve started to have serious doubts about the Italian legal system.
You do realize, of course, that the Italians were key players in the invention of our current legal system!
Thanks Greg, that does sound like a fascinating story. I hope you do write more about it some time.
This case and Casey Anthony’s seem to make the following point: Apparently, if you are young, female, attractive and white…. you CAN get away with murder.
The evidence against Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito is overwhelming. They gave completely different accounts of where they were, who they were with and what they were doing on the night of the murder. Neither Knox nor Sollecito have credible alibis despite three attempts each. All the other people who were questioned had one credible alibi that could be verified. Innocent people don’t give multiple conflicting alibis and lie repeatedly to the police.
The DNA didn’t miraculously deposit itself in the most incriminating of places.
An abundant amount of Raffaele Sollecito’s DNA was found on Meredith’s bra clasp. His DNA was identified by two separate DNA tests. Of the 17 loci tested in the sample, Sollecito’s profile matched 17 out of 17. Professor Novelli pointed out there’s more likelihood of meteorite striking the courtroom in Perguia than there is of the bra clasp being contaminated by dust.
According to Sollecito’s forensic expert, Professor Vinci and Luciano Garofano, Knox’s DNA was also on Meredith’s bra.
Amanda Knox’s DNA was found on the handle of the double DNA knife and a number of independent forensic experts – Dr. Patrizia Stefanoni, Dr. Renato Biondo, Professor Giuesppe Novelli, Professor Francesca Torricelli and Luciano Garofano – categorically stated that Meredith’s DNA was on the blade. Sollecito knew that Meredith’s DNA was on the blade which is why he lied about accidentally pricking her hand whilst cooking.
According to the prosecution’s experts, there were five instances of Knox’s DNA or blood with Meredith’s blood in three different locations in the cottage. Even Amanda Knox’s lawyers conceded that her blood had mingled with Meredith’s blood. In other words, Meredith and Amanda Knox were both bleeding at the same time.
Knox tracked Meredith’s blood into the bathroom, the hallway, her room and Filomena’s room, where the break-in was staged. Knox’s DNA and Meredith’s blood was found mixed together in Filomena’s room, in a bare bloody footprint in the hallway and in three places in the bathroom.
Rudy Guede’s bloody footprints led straight out of Meredith’s room and out of the house. This means that he didn’t stage the break-in in Filomena’s room or go into the blood-spattered bathroom after Meredith had been stabbed.
The bloody footprint on the blue bathmat in the bathroom matched the precise characteristics of Sollecito’s foot, but couldn’t possibly belong to Guede. Knox’s and Sollecito’s bare bloody footprints were revealed by Luminol in the hallway.
It’s not a coincidence that the three people – Knox, Sollecito and Guede – who kept telling the police a pack of lies are all implicated by the DNA and forensic evidence.
Amanda Knox voluntarily admitted that she was involved in Meredith’s murder in her handwritten note to the police on 6 November 2007. After she was informed that Sollecito was no longer providing her with an alibi, she stated on at least four separate occasions that she was at the cottage when Meredith was killed. At the trial, Sollecito refused to corroborate Knox’s alibi that she was at his apartment.
Knox accused an innocent man, Diya Lumumba, of murdering Meredith despite the fact she knew he was completely innocent. She didn’t recant her false and malicious allegation against Lumumba the whole time he was in prison. She admitted that it was her fault that Lumumba was in prison in an intercepted conversation with her mother on 10 November 2007.
If you want to understand the reasons why Amanda Knox was convicted of murder, I recommend reading the Massei report. It can be downloaded from the Perugia Murder File website:
http://www.perugiamurderfile.org/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=259