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View Full Version : Amanda Knox Convicted of Murder



boozehound
12-05-2009, 08:02 AM
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/05/italy.kercher.react/index.html

The American girl in Italy was convicted of murder today, despite there being no evidence that she was ever in the room in which the victim was murdered.

I haven't been following the case very closely, but one thing that I remembered was hearing that the prosecutor for this case has a litany of charges pending against him for all manner of impropriety while serving as prosecutor, yet he was still allowed to try to case because he hadn't been convicted. Apparently he had been dragging his trial out for years so that he could continue to practice law.

I don't know if I think she was guilty or innocent, but from all the stories I had heard it seemed like there was a lack of substantial evidence. We may be getting a different spin on the story here in American than in Italy or England though.

I've seen a couple of new stories on this case and it seems like the Italians really liked the story, with the sex and drugs and depravity. It appeared to be very sensationalized.

As messed up as our justice system can seem at times, I don't think that there is anywhere else that I would rather go on trial.

Cheesehead
12-05-2009, 08:34 AM
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/05/italy.kercher.react/index.html

The American girl in Italy was convicted of murder today, despite there being no evidence that she was ever in the room in which the victim was murdered.

I haven't been following the case very closely, but one thing that I remembered was hearing that the prosecutor for this case has a litany of charges pending against him for all manner of impropriety while serving as prosecutor, yet he was still allowed to try to case because he hadn't been convicted. Apparently he had been dragging his trial out for years so that he could continue to practice law.

I don't know if I think she was guilty or innocent, but from all the stories I had heard it seemed like there was a lack of substantial evidence. We may be getting a different spin on the story here in American than in Italy or England though.

I've seen a couple of new stories on this case and it seems like the Italians really liked the story, with the sex and drugs and depravity. It appeared to be very sensationalized.

As messed up as our justice system can seem at times, I don't think that there is anywhere else that I would rather go on trial.

They also don't have the same burden of proof as our system. They don't have the beyond a reasonble doubt requirement.

Fred Garvin
12-05-2009, 06:59 PM
this thread should have to bear the burden of being interesting.

GuyFawkes38
12-05-2009, 07:02 PM
They also don't have the same burden of proof as our system. They don't have the beyond a reasonble doubt requirement.

I think they do have a reasonable doubt requirement.

The entire episode seems strange. If at worst, she was involved, you have to feel bad for someone who became friends with some awful people.

Random fact: she attended a jesuit high school.

BandAid
12-05-2009, 07:06 PM
I think they do have a reasonable doubt requirement.

The entire episode seems strange. If at worst, she was involved, you have to feel bad for someone who became friends with some awful people.

Random fact: she attended a jesuit high school.

So did Fidel Castro. What of it?

boozehound
12-05-2009, 07:07 PM
this thread should have to bear the burden of being interesting.

Are you sure that is a road that you want to go down? If they held every post on this board to that standard you would have like 10 posts...

GuyFawkes38
12-05-2009, 07:10 PM
So did Fidel Castro. What of it?

I said it was random, meaning that it's not really relevant. Just random.

Fred Garvin
12-05-2009, 07:11 PM
Are you sure that is a road that you want to go down? If they held every post on this board to that standard you would have like 10 posts...

wow, what a riposte.

boozehound
12-05-2009, 07:27 PM
wow, what a riposte.

... Says the guy who sent me a PM at 1am threatening me and calling me a 'vaginal blood fart'???

Fred Garvin
12-05-2009, 07:29 PM
Yawny, yer a great musician.

golfitup
12-06-2009, 01:00 PM
Does anyone really trust the Italian court system?

XU 87
12-06-2009, 01:12 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/05/italy.kercher.react/index.html

The American girl in Italy was convicted of murder today, despite there being no evidence that she was ever in the room in which the victim was murdered.



I hink at one point she admitted to the police that she was at the apartment when the muder took place but then blamed it on some guy who had nothing to with the murder. She ended up being sued for defamation.

bobbiemcgee
12-06-2009, 01:45 PM
I hink at one point she admitted to the police that she was at the apartment when the muder took place but then blamed it on some guy who had nothing to with the murder. She ended up being sued for defamation.

As Vinny would say, "her story didn't hold waaater". Ruined her credibility when she blamed the pub owner with no facts. Don't think she actually cut the roommate, but she knows what happened.

XU 87
12-06-2009, 01:55 PM
And it really tells you about her character when she wrongfully accused an innocent person of murder.

JimmyTwoTimes37
12-06-2009, 05:08 PM
I definitely think she was involved.

A young woman was very brutally murdered, with 23 wounds to her body, her windpipe crushed and a fatal stab wound to her neck. Her killers left her to slowly and painfully die by choking on her on her own blood and then came back later to move Meredith's body, rearrange the crime scene so it would look like a burglary gone wrong. There is some evidence against Amanda Knox and Rafael Sollecito including Amanda's DNA on the handle of a knife with Meredith's on the tip, Amanda and Rafaele's footprints set in Meredith's blood, Rafael's DNA on Meredith's bra, witnesses who saw them near the house when they claimed to be elsewhere all night. They changed their stories several times and never had any alibi.

Amanda accused an innocent man of the murder and he sat in jail for 2 weeks before being released and found unconnected to the crime. Amanda's family protests her innocence in the face of so much evidence and now the American media has been convinced of this, claiming the trial was a miscarriage of justice and slandering the Italian justice system.

Amanda was given top lawyers to defend her, had the chance to speak up and the defence was given the last word. She had a fair trial in my opinion.

Also, factor in that Amanda was doing cartwheels, the splits, smiling, sitting in her boyfriend's lap, and laughing during police interrogation. Appearances can be deceiving

xu 89
12-06-2009, 08:09 PM
I was with her father on a business trip shortly before Amanda left for Italy. He told me that his daughter was studying in Italy for a year and he was very proud and excited for her. I couldn't believe when I saw him on the news a few months later discussing the case. It was very bizarre.

PM Thor
12-06-2009, 09:12 PM
From what I have seen, this girl basically got railroaded.

First, there was no DNA from her in the bedroom where the murder occurred. None. Second, the blood of hers was discovered in a bidet in her own apartment, and it was a minimal amount, no less blowing off the fact that women ummm, bleed sometimes.
Third, the knife that had her DNA on it may not be the murder weapon, even the prosecutors are admitting that. The sample size of the deceased may have been compromised and the collection of evidence was really, really in question.
Fourth, the contamination of evidence was rampant. Some of the evidence was moved around and collected improperly.

Then there is the problem of an unsequestered jury (that included the overseeing judge too) and the continual over the top stories that the jury was able to read and see throughout the trial.

As for her "accusing" other innocent persons for the murder, that is out of context. This is all second hand of course, but what is being said is that the Italian police were asking hypothetical questions to her, such as "If Person A, Person B, or Person C could have done it, which do you think it was?" That kind of thing. It's not exactly fair to say she offered up other parties willy nilly for the murder, basically she may have been coaxed into certain answers.

With all this said, she will probably get off, because the appeals process in Italy is much freer than it is here.

I HATE dayton.

JimmyTwoTimes37
12-06-2009, 09:44 PM
From what I have seen, this girl basically got railroaded.

First, there was no DNA from her in the bedroom where the murder occurred. None. Second, the blood of hers was discovered in a bidet in her own apartment, and it was a minimal amount, no less blowing off the fact that women ummm, bleed sometimes.
Third, the knife that had her DNA on it may not be the murder weapon, even the prosecutors are admitting that. The sample size of the deceased may have been compromised and the collection of evidence was really, really in question.
Fourth, the contamination of evidence was rampant. Some of the evidence was moved around and collected improperly.

Then there is the problem of an unsequestered jury (that included the overseeing judge too) and the continual over the top stories that the jury was able to read and see throughout the trial.

As for her "accusing" other innocent persons for the murder, that is out of context. This is all second hand of course, but what is being said is that the Italian police were asking hypothetical questions to her, such as "If Person A, Person B, or Person C could have done it, which do you think it was?" That kind of thing. It's not exactly fair to say she offered up other parties willy nilly for the murder, basically she may have been coaxed into certain answers.

With all this said, she will probably get off, because the appeals process in Italy is much freer than it is here.

I HATE dayton.

I don't think she murdered her roommate, but I think she had something to do with it and knew all about it...

It's just an unusual case any way you look at it. PM is right. In researching a little more, the evidence appears to be not as bad as I previously thought. The prosecution case rested heavily on Knox’s bizarre and unfeeling behavior after the murder, the fact that she changed her story numerous times, her sexual promiscuity, smiling/joking/laughing during inappropriate moments at the trial, and drug-taking. But the evidence must have been strong enough since it persuaded the jury.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/4863279/Amanda-Knox-did-cartwheels-and-splits-at-police-station-after-Meredith-Kercher-murder.html

"Domenico Giacinto Profazio, the former head of the city's Flying Squad, said other officers had told him that the American undergraduate did cartwheels and the splits in the police station in which she was waiting to be questioned."

"He revealed that on the night of the murder, the couple's mobile phones were switched off at almost the same time, at around 8.30pm, and not turned on again until the next morning."

"He also said that forensic tests on a kitchen knife found at Mr Sollecito's flat had found Miss Knox's DNA on the handle and Miss Kercher's on the blade.
Prosecutors also say they found Mr Sollecito's DNA on the victim's bra strap, although his lawyers say the bra bore multiple DNA traces and argue that the evidence was inadvertently contaminated during the investigation.
Miss Knox, 21, in jeans and a purple cardigan, appeared more sober and downcast than on previous occasions as she was led into the frescoed court room in a medieval palazzo in Perugia's historic centre."

PM Thor
12-06-2009, 10:00 PM
I don't think she murdered her roommate, but I think she had something to do with it and knew all about it...

I agree. I'm not sure she actually participated in the actual murder, but I have a feeling she knew a lot more than she is saying. My assertion that she was "railroaded" may have been too strong.

I HATE dayton.

GuyFawkes38
12-06-2009, 10:03 PM
It's sort of amazing how almost unanimously the English press slams Knox, while the American press defends her.

boozehound
12-07-2009, 07:10 AM
It is interesting to hear the different views on this case. It appears that there may be more evidence that she was involved than I initially thought. The whole trial process sounds like a joke no matter how you look at it though.