By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
In what hopefully will become the conclusion of an oppressive years long ordeal, Italy’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, overturned the murder convictions against Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.
The news came as somewhat a surprise considering the zeal at which the prosecution fought to ensure the defendants be imprisoned for over two decades. The subsequent court drama and media circuses made it seem an almost foregone conclusion her fate would ultimately rest upon an extradition hearing within the purview of American courts.
We discussed in length the various issues in the murder of Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy. (HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE and HERE)
Ahead of the Friday Verdict, Knox’s lawyers said there were errors of “colossal proportions” in the guilty verdicts which were ruled for the second time last January.
After the verdict Knox spoke to reporters outside the Seattle home of her mother, Edda Mellas. She was accompanied by her mother and her fiancé, Colin Sutherland.
She stated “Right now I’m still absorbing what all this means and what comes to mind is my gratitude for the life that’s been given to me,” stating further that she was thankful “for the justice I’ve received and for the support I’ve had from everyone -from my family, from my friends, to strangers … I’m so grateful to have my life back.”
Responding to a question about what she would like to say to the Kercher Family, she stated “Meredith was my friend. She deserved so much in this life. I’m the lucky one.”
Co-defendant Rudy Guede’s conviction remains and he continues his incarceration.
Of course, the Italian legal system rescued itself from a potentially embarrassing situation if it ruled against Knox and had a U.S. District Court refuse extradition, declaring that Italy made Colossal Constitutional Errors and violated the civil rights of Amanda Knox.
By Darren Smith
Source:
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
So says the ill fitting pill popper.
And as for my ‘pill popping’, I guess my BP pill and the pill for my thyroid makes me suspect. I think you need to get a grip buddy.
Factchecker, you seem to have great need to control other’s behavior here. Authoritarian problem? There hasn’t been any incivilty here except for your own. This blog has an emphasis on free speech, your obvious desire to control the speech of others makes you an ill fit for RIL.
If Ingannie is incapable of maintaining the civility required of this site, she should be admonished to do so. From what others have written about you, it is quite apparent that you take quite a few pills. Nothing on this site is too upsetting, but your inability to remain civil to others is, indeed, astonishing.
Factchecker, take a chill pill. If the threads here are too upsetting to you perhaps you need to grow a pair.
Hell completely froze over. Reading this thread, I realized I agree with the comments from Squeeky Fromm and Pogo Hears a Who.
As far as “gut feelings” go, a retired FBI supervisor who looked into the Knox case said they need to be allowed to die a natural death when the evidence simply does not support them. The Italian prosecutor did not do that, and when the evidence continued to lead away from Ms. Knox he continued to come up with increasingly bizarre sex/satanic theories to keep the focus on her.
As to her behavior during interrogation, I would ask what the hell people expect from a sheltered 20 year old female college student in a foreign country looking at a murder rap and subjected to marathon question sessions without a lawyer. The police demanded she name a potential suspect…so she did what they told her to do(and she got slapped literally and rhetorically with a calumny conviction after trying to comply with a police demand)
In any event, she wasn’t an US Army vet with SEAR school training to resist interrogation, and the aformentioned FBI supervisor said most any person would likely do as bad as she did under the circumstances and the only mystery was that she didn’t actually do worse. That is why we have a 5th Amendment…
Good artlcle about how the Italian justice system needs to be reformed:
http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21647486-overdue-acquittal-amanda-knox-exposes-glaring-flaws-italys-criminal-justice-system-innocente
How small must one’s life have to be that the only satisfaction one receives is that absorbed by berating strangers on the internet? Is Ingannie so lacking in knowledge and intelligence that she must resort to personal attacks? Perhaps Darren, the moderator, should admonish her, and others, that this behavior will no longer be tolerated. Speak your piece, regarding the topic, and do not use this platform to boost poor self-esteem. It is no wonder that people have left the site.
Ingannie accusing me of creating drama is the epitome of the pot calling the kettle black. I created no drama, but the eye that distorts, distorts all.
Do tell, oh great one, how is it that I created drama? By speaking my mind? By refusing to wallow in the gutter with you when you level personal attacks, consistently, time after time? As I said to Paul, the absence of certain people created a much different vibe here, until, of course, they appeared. Good things, I suppose, never last.
“Factchecker” created some drama of his very own, done even without the presence of certain commenters. He reminds me of someone who is supposed to be in the vacation destination of Catalina Islamd, or some such place, lol. Where is YoMama?
A presentation by Judge Mike Heavey to his local Rotary Club. You can skip to 04:30 where he get’s going on this presentation. The judge is a neighbor to Amanda Knox. Amanda is also a friend to his daughter. He has 40 years of experience, He gives a unique perspective you won’t hear in the media.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLth55xZReU
BBC interview with author Nina Burleigh who wrote The Fatal Gift of Beauty.
Paul S – the book you refer to, I believe, may be The Monster of Florence
Deb – you may be correct. If the authors end up in jail that is the one. 🙂
Politicians make a mockery of our own legal system. They appear to be immune from consequences.
Hillary Clinton just admitted that she wiped her server clean after choosing which emails she would turn over. Now, are those the actions of an innocent person??? She’s like Teflon. Nothing ever sticks to her, which has emboldened her to be even more blatant in flouting the law. The only way she could be held accountable would be if a special prosecutor dragged her to court. In today’s political climate, how likely is that to happen? We, the people, have created a ruling class of government employees because we are so jaded we just accept this behavior.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/28/us/politics/no-copies-of-hillary-clinton-emails-on-server-lawyer-says.html?_r=0
less of this compared to in Italy***
factchecker
The amount of justice one gets is generally scaled based on a variety of factors. Our justice system has facilitated the largest peace-time prison population the world has seen. Are we Americans just more criminal than others?
That among the thousands of procedural questions and practical application questions that should be asked. Instead of pounding your chest, lets get to work on our own problems. There are grave injustices across our country due to the criminal law. That shouldn’t excite you because there is less of this in Italy.
Mr. Schulte,
Statistics are not published directly by federal courts (but State Courts generally are). I’m retrieving numbers from a slew of studies and law review articles done by many of JT’s colleagues.
So, all we get out of this is ‘act innocent’. If she were a he, Ed Norton would be a great actor to play him/her.
BarkinDog
I’m not questioning the credentials of the newly appointed judge. You still have not addressed HOW this new face will change anything in the City of Ferguson’s municipal court. To my knowledge, if defendants are incapable of paying fines, they will have an opportunity to be placed on a payment schedule. This is nothing new. This existed before, when the the previous judge was on the bench. Ferguson is no more guilty of collecting money associated with traffic violations and other minor offenses than is any other municipal court in this region. Ferguson is just in the limelight right now. Do you recommend that all municipalities be deprived of appointing their own judges? What about prosecutors? Clerks?
Individuals should not be allowed to drive vehicles without having passed a driver’s exam. Many people in these courts are there because they have no valid driver’s license. Some because they lost their driving privileges, others because they never had a valid license. I currently represent a client, who is in his 40’s, who has been driving for since his teens, with a driving record full of violations, and he has never even taken a driver’s exam. No, he is not illiterate. He chooses to drive, not take the exam, not purchase insurance and not get his unsafe vehicle to pass inspection. The courts have every right to demand that these individuals get in compliance. Fines and court costs are greatly reduced or dismissed when they do so. Personal responsibility, which is short supply, would go a long way.
When you finally realize that these courts are not the enemy, since we all share the road with incompetent drivers, who are either driving erratically, driving under the influence, driving without a valid license, driving with an unsafe vehicle, etc., you understand that all drivers are given some level of protection when those who violate the rules of the road are held accountable.
The Missouri Supreme Court has appointed one of the appellate court judges from the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, to sit in and hear cases in Ferguson. This is a step up. The Judge is of good standing and will do well. But Ferguson needs to be deprived of the right to appoint their own judge and perhaps the right to issue traffic tickets for which they can fine people.
@PaulCS
I tried to find more about this on Italian news, but it seems that they are also calling it one fine day for justice. Here is one of the broadcasters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1woH96ROG-c
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter