Amanda Knox to make final plea of innocence

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[h=1]Amanda Knox to make final plea of innocence[/h] Family of Meredith Kercher will be in court to hear outcome of appeal by US student and her former Italian boyfriend




  • John Hooper in Perugia
  • guardian.co.uk, Sunday 2 October 2011 16.34 BST Article history
    Amanda-Knox--007.jpg
    Amanda Knox attended mass on Saturday in the prison where she has been held for almost four years. Photograph: Franco Origlia/Getty Images

    Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend will make a last attempt on Monday to persuade the court hearing their appeals that they had nothing to do with the 2007 murder of Knox's then-flatmate, the British student Meredith Kercher.
    Members of the victim's family will fly into Perugia for the keenly awaited outcome, but were expected to arrive too late to hear the final pleas of Kercher's convicted killers. Their presence, just feet away from the relatives of the two appellants, will add an extra layer of tension to a case already brimming with drama and expectation.
    The Kerchers' legal representatives at the appeal have unequivocally aligned themselves with the prosecution's case that Knox slashed the British student's throat as she was held immobile by Knox's then boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, and Rudy Guede, a small-time drugs trafficker from the Ivory Coast. But the family's lawyer, Francesco Maresca, told the Guardian: "Just as they respected the verdict at the trial, so they will respect the outcome of the appeal."
    Knox attended mass on Saturday in the prison near Perugia where she has been held for almost four years since her arrest. The prison chaplain, Father Saulo Scarabattoli, said she had played guitar during the service, as she did every weekend. "You can imagine how she is," he said. "But Amanda evinces great strength and hope."
    In June, two independent court-appointed experts dismissed as unreliable key forensic evidence against the University of Washington student and her former lover. Since then, a widespread expectation has built up in the US that their appeals will be upheld.
    In Italy, public opinion – once largely hostile to Knox, seen as an angel-faced killer – has become more divided. One of the country's most widely read magazines, Oggi, has campaigned to draw attention to the weaknesses in the prosecution case. And an MP for Silvio Berlusconi's party, Rocco Girlanda, who visited her on Saturday, has become an important advocate of her cause.
    But what little evidence there is suggests most Italians believe Knox and Sollecito were involved in Kercher's murder. In a viewers' poll conducted by Sky Italia after the prosecution wound up its case, only 27% of respondents thought the couple were innocent.
    If that balance of sentiment is reflected among the six lay judges who will help to reach Monday's decision, it could tell against Knox and her former boyfriend, even if the two professional judges are convinced of their innocence. The court president, Claudio Pratillo Hellmann, has two votes to cast; the other full-time judge, Massimo Zanetti, one. But the lay judges also have a vote each, and can therefore decide the outcome.
    According to a local paper, Corriere dell'Umbria, clandestine bookmakers – betting is a state monopoly in Italy – were so uncertain of the outcome that many were refusing to take bets. Those who did were offering identical odds of 2 to 1 against both a conviction and an acquittal. The shortest odds – evens on a reduction of the appellants' sentences.
    Whether that would allow Knox and Sollecito to walk free would depend on how much was lopped off their sentences and the amount of remission they were granted. In any event, both the prosecution and defence can opt for a final appeal to the court of cassation in Rome, though it normally rules only on points of law.
    Knox, who arrived in Italy less than a month before the killing, was sentenced to 26 years at the trial two years ago. Sollecito, who had known Knox for just six days, was given a 25-year sentence.
    Their lawyers have argued Kercher was killed by Guede alone during a break-in. They have poured scorn on the prosecutors' theory of a sex game that got out of hand.


 
[h=2]Amanda Knox has been dramatically acquitted of the murder of Meredith Kercher, despite a last-ditch appeal from the British student’s family to uphold the conviction.[/h]
 
Hmm, Niliifuatilia hii kesi kwa muda mrefu sana, kimazingira inaonyesha kabisa Amanda knox alihusika ila ndo hivyo tena..sasa msala wote atatupiwa Rudy Guide kwa vile ni mtu mweusi.
 
Yule Mswahili naona wamemlamba jela miaka 16 wamepunguza kutoka 30yrs
 
Hmm, Niliifuatilia hii kesi kwa muda mrefu sana, kimazingira inaonyesha kabisa Amanda knox alihusika ila ndo hivyo tena..sasa msala wote atatupiwa Rudy Guide kwa vile ni mtu mweusi.

Implication ni kwamba Rudy Guede ndiyo muuaji pekee yake, wakati ushahidi unaonyesha kuwa Amanda Knox na Raphael Sollecitto walihusika kwa namna moja au nyingine.
 
Duh! Imenisikitisha sana nilivyomwona yule Black America man alivyokuwa anabubujika machozi. Na ndiyo hivyo kalambwa 16yr.
 
Duh! Imenisikitisha sana nilivyomwona yule Black America man alivyokuwa anabubujika machozi. Na ndiyo hivyo kalambwa 16yr.

Yule Black ni mhamiaji toka Ivory Coast anaishi Italy. Amesikitisha sana maana hakuwa na wa kumtetea. Wote, Amanda, Raffaelle na Rudy Guele inaonekana walishiriki mauaji lakini hatimaye huyo black kafungwa kwa sababu ya umasikini na rangi yake tu.
 
Hmm, Niliifuatilia hii kesi kwa muda mrefu sana, kimazingira inaonyesha kabisa Amanda knox alihusika ila ndo hivyo tena..sasa msala wote atatupiwa Rudy Guide kwa vile ni mtu mweusi.

Hivi tutaacha lini kutumia rangi yetu kama kisingizio? Hii kesi mliifuatilia vizuri? Huyo mtu "mweusi" alikiri mwenyewe kuwa alihusika na hayo mauaji. kwenye murder case ushahidi wa kimazingira na hatari sana. You have to prove beyond reasonable doubt kuwa walihusika. You have to know the whole case relied heavily on the DNA evidence which was shown to have some problems in the way it was gathered.

When that "black" baseball player, O. J Simpson, was aqcuited of mudering his wife, weusi walishangilia ingawa ushahidi wa kimazingira ulionesha kuwa alihusika. Sasa what is soooo different in this case?
 
Hivi tutaacha lini kutumia rangi yetu kama kisingizio? Hii kesi mliifuatilia vizuri? Huyo mtu "mweusi" alikiri mwenyewe kuwa alihusika na hayo mauaji. kwenye murder case ushahidi wa kimazingira na hatari sana. You have to prove beyond reasonable doubt kuwa walihusika. You have to know the whole case relied heavily on the DNA evidence which was shown to have some problems in the way it was gathered.

When that "black" baseball player, O. J Simpson, was aqcuited of mudering his wife, weusi walishangilia ingawa ushahidi wa kimazingira ulionesha kuwa alihusika. Sasa what is soooo different in this case?

Ndugu yangu inaonyesha wewe ndio hujaifuatilia vizuri hii case,nenda youtube utapata mwenendo mzima wa case.Huyu jamaa mweusi ni kweli alibaka,lakini wote watatu watatu walikuwepo kwenye tukio,forensic test zinaonyesha kabisa dna za amanda na bf wake zipo, kwenye mwili wa victim pamoja na kwenye kisu kilichotumika kuua,Wewe mwenyewe jiulize roomate wako auawe kwenye nyumba ambayo na wewe unaishi humo,halafu usionyeshe hofu yoyote? Angalia siku ya kwanza polisi walipokwenda kwenye eneo la tukio,huyu demu na bf wake wanavyo behave, kimazingira inaonyesha wanahusika,basi tu kwa vile anatoka taifa kubwa.Na hakuna sehemu huyu jamaa black alipokili aliua.
 
Ndugu yangu inaonyesha wewe ndio hujaifuatilia vizuri hii case,nenda youtube utapata mwenendo mzima wa case.Huyu jamaa mweusi ni kweli alibaka,lakini wote watatu watatu walikuwepo kwenye tukio,forensic test zinaonyesha kabisa dna za amanda na bf wake zipo, kwenye mwili wa victim pamoja na kwenye kisu kilichotumika kuua,Wewe mwenyewe jiulize roomate wako auawe kwenye nyumba ambayo na wewe unaishi humo,halafu usionyeshe hofu yoyote? Angalia siku ya kwanza polisi walipokwenda kwenye eneo la tukio,huyu demu na bf wake wanavyo behave, kimazingira inaonyesha wanahusika,basi tu kwa vile anatoka taifa kubwa.Na hakuna sehemu huyu jamaa black alipokili aliua.

Hivi kweli unaamaini ulichokiandika? yaani watu waachiwe huru just because wanatoka taifa kubwa? Unajua ni kwanini yule "black" man alichagua kesi yake iendeshwe peke yake?

Kuna utaratibu wa kukusanya ushahidi unaokubalika. Hao polisi hawakufuata huo utaratibu kitu kilichopelekea uwezekano wa DNA kuwa contaminated and could not be reliable in a court of law.

Hivi kweli unataka watu waamini kuwa mtu ni muuaji just because hakuonesha hofu yoyote au the way she behaved on the first day?

For someone to be convicted of murder, you must prove beyond reasonable doubt that they committed the crime. You can not send someone to prison for life just because they did not show any emotions.

By the way I am not saying that she is not guilty, all I am saying is that There is no sufficient evidence to convince me that she is guilty
 
The reason Amanda has walked free has nothing to do with her color or the fact she is from USA. She has walked free because the police failed to do their work properly. Tuache kukimbilia rangi ya mtu kama kisingizio.
 

[h=1]Kercher murder case: a revolving door[/h] The sensationally lurid details leaked from the prosecution had already created a world of guilt around the accused




  • Editorial
  • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 4 October 2011 22.15 BST Article history
    There were no winners in the Perugia courtroom. Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito have just lost four years of their lives for a crime they insist they did not commit. The family of the British student Meredith Kercher are no nearer to establishing who participated in her gruesome murder. Their conviction, backed by previous court rulings, that it was more than just one man, Rudy Guede, who was sentenced to 16 years for his role, remains undented. But there are plenty of losers. Chief among them is the Italian criminal justice system itself.
    The first of the charges to be levelled at it is the pace at which it limps along: the accused were in prison for a year before the first proceedings began. The appeal took 11 months but consisted of only 20 sittings. This alone hands a weighty power of incarceration to investigating magistrates. It is all too open to question whether Giuliano Mignini, who is himself appealing against a 16-month sentence for abuse of office and who believes he too is a victim of a conspiracy from his investigation of earlier high-profile cases, was the right man to investigate this case.
    The appeal itself hinged on the trustworthiness of the forensic evidence against Knox and Sollecito. The bra clasp which tested positive for Sollecito's DNA was not discovered until 47 days after the murder took place. Videos show how investigators passed it around with contaminated gloves. Evidence central to the prosecution's case could easily have become contaminated. The professionalism of the forensic team left much to be desired.
    The ruling of the appeal court was just act two in a legal opera which will carry on and on. As Knox flew home, Mignini vowed to appeal and expressed confidence that the court of cassation, Italy's highest appeal tribunal, would overturn this verdict. If there is a central failing of the Italian justice system, it is that it rarely comes to a definitive conclusion. One hearing simply opens the door to another, orchestrated by a media and publishing frenzy. The Kercher case has already spawned 11 books and a film.
    All criminal justice systems have their failings, not least our own. But Silvio Berlusconi's full-throated attack on Italian magistrates – when he talks about a sick system – may not be without some foundation. He, though, is the last person to fix it, and when he puts through reforms he is their chief beneficiary. The big problem in this case was that well before the trial began, the sensationally lurid details which leaked from the prosecution's case had already created a world of guilt around the accused. The case, as they say, continues. A high percentage of convictions overturned on appeal always do. But is this justice?


 
[h=1]Amanda Knox case is typical of Italy's inconclusive justice[/h] Knox's case highlights one of the many failings of the Italian court system – it never delivers door-slamming certainty




  • Amanda-Knox-at-her-appeal-007.jpg
    Amanda Knox at her appeal hearing, in which she was cleared of murdering Meredith Kircher. Photograph: Olycom SPA/Rex Features

    Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito last night won their appeal against their conviction for the murder of Meredith Kercher. But if many doubted the first verdict, just as many will doubt this one. It's one of the many failings of Italian justice that it never delivers conclusive, door-slamming certainty. What usually happens is that the door is left wide open to take the case to the next level, first to appeal and then to the cassazione, the supreme court. The score in the public imagination, at the moment, is simply one-all.
    It's always been that way. There's barely one iconic crime from the post-war years that has persuaded the country that, yes, justice has been done: the murder of Pier Paolo Pasolini, the Ustica crash, the Bologna railway station bombing, the Piazza Fontana atrocity, the Monster of Florence murders, the murder of Luigi Calabresi, the "caso Cogne" … none has ever been satisfactorily, convincingly resolved. Instead the country seems to split into innocentisti and colpevolisti (those who believe in the innocence or guilt of the accused) and the heated debates continue for decades.
    Part of the reason that the Knox trial has captivated media attention isn't just the "Foxy Knoxy" thing, the fact that Knox was attractive and allegedly sexually adventurous. It isn't just because of the cosmopolitanism of the crime, the fact that here was a foreign victim and, it was thought, a foreign assassin. Its appeal, if that's not too gruesome a word, lies in the fact that there was sufficient doubt about both the prosecution and defence cases. Italy is divided down the middle, meaning that the case is, in a way, perfectly set up for a media circus, for debate and deconstruction. Already the Kercher case has spawned, at the last count, 11 books and a film.
    Dietrologia – literally "behindery" or conspiracy-theorising – is a national pastime precisely because the courts don't offer convincing verdicts. It allows every journalist, magistrate and barfly to try their hand. The result is that everyone with an active imagination has a go at explaining the truth behind the mystery, and inevitably the truth only gets further buried beneath so many excited explanations. The media plays an active role in keeping the circus going: in no other country are cronache nere – "black chronicles" – so much the mainstay of the evening news. There's always a case on the go. Between 2005 and 2010, the seven national channels aired, in the evening news alone, 941 stories about the Meredith Kercher murder in Perugia, 759 about the Garlasco murder, 538 about the murder of little Tommaso Onofri and 508 about the murder in Cogne. Often studio shows in the afternoons talk about the ins and outs of these cases for hours, interspersing expert witnesses with short location reports. And because such cases often have one trial then another, they're like stories that never end, so that the speculation and the spectacle can continue untramelled. As one journalist recently wrote in La Repubblica, these cases are popular because they "generate anxiety but, at the same time, they reassure. They brush up against us, but touch others. It's like leaning over the edge of a precipice to step back at the last moment. You feel giddiness. Anxiety. But also relief. It's a subtle pleasure".
    It's a truism that fact and fiction often overlap, but in Italy it really is the case. Two of the best crime novelists – Giancarlo De Cataldo and Gianrico Carofiglio – have both worked as judges and draw on real life; and the godfather of Italian crime writing, Loriano Macchiavelli, has often revisited real crimes like Ustica and the Bologna bombing. Occasionally writers even get caught up in the weird wheels of Italian justice: the great writer Massimo Carlotto was accused of murder back in the 1970s and the American novelist, Douglas Preston, has been vociferous in his defence of Knox because the prosecutor in the case had previously turned his ire on Preston when he was writing about the Monster of Florence case. In Italy, true and fictional crime stories blur into one another and, as Luigi Pirandello warned almost a century ago, in this land of illusionism you could go mad searching for the missing truth.
    There are also, however, more mundane reasons that Italian justice never seems to resolve anything. It's partly a question of meritocracy: in a land in which appointments are invariably made through nepotism rather than competence, it's perhaps inevitable that any investigation has holes in it and that decent lawyers are able to find them. A fair trial is often impossible because there's no jury (at least not in the sense that we understand the term) and there's no sense of sub judice: the juiciest bits have always been leaked to the press long before trial. The judiciary, no one really doubts it, is in desperate need of reform. The trouble is that the one man most desperate to reform it, the prime minister, is coincidentally the man most desperate to avoid it.

 
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