Amanda Knox Case

[Scutisorex Shrewlord]

Anybody in here got an opinion on this? I had avoided it like the plague for several years... I hate sensationalized court cases. But something compelled me to look into it this morning, and I am left with the conclusion of WTF?

Basically there is a dead British girl in Italy, and the only person whose DNA evidence is specifically related to her death is the dude from the Ivory Coast. All the "evidence" against Knox and her boyfriend is circumstantial or based on a confession (allegedly given under duress). Add to this that the police work was shoddy by any standard, and the prosecution has trotted out the "Satanic ritual" theory... this case would be absurdly funny if it wasn't about a real-life murder.

I don't know if Knox did it or not, but it seems to me there is a LOT of reasonable doubt here. I know Italy's system is different from that in the US, but I don't see how she was convicted originally based on such flimsy evidence.

[Kastil]

From what I've seen, they've dragged her through the mud in court and in the papers. The DNA evidence was contaminated and they are just going after her to have someone. Hell, they said if they had a death penalty in their country like the USA, they'd be going for it.

I don't think they have the right person... and where's this Ivory Coast dude at? Shoddy work all around by the police who are now trying to blue ball someone because of their mistakes. Knox doesn't speak Italian at all.

[Scutisorex Shrewlord]

From what I've seen, they've dragged her through the mud in court and in the papers. The DNA evidence was contaminated and they are just going after her to have someone. Hell, they said if they had a death penalty in their country like the USA, they'd be going for it.

I don't think they have the right person... and where's this Ivory Coast dude at? Shoddy work all around by the police who are now trying to blue ball someone because of their mistakes. Knox doesn't speak Italian at all.

The guy from the IC was convicted as well and is getting 16 years. DNA proved he not only assailed the girl, but raped her (or at least, had incredibly rough sex with her while holding her down). His guilt is solid. Knox and her boyfriend were accused largely because the prosecution believes there had to be multiple assailants, and Knox made a confession. Knox claims she was coerced into signing a confession even though (at the time) she barely spoke Italian. They interviewed her for hours before a lawyer was present. An independent team of forensic experts found the evidence hopelessly contaminated and unreliable.

[Kastil]

The guy from the IC was convicted as well and is getting 16 years. DNA proved he not only assailed the girl, but raped her (or at least, had incredibly rough sex with her while holding her down). His guilt is solid. Knox and her boyfriend were accused largely because the prosecution believes there had to be multiple assailants, and Knox made a confession. Knox claims she was coerced into signing a confession even though (at the time) she barely spoke Italian. They interviewed her for hours before a lawyer was present. An independent team of forensic experts found the evidence hopelessly contaminated and unreliable.Well then I have to believe that the male did it on his own. The shame of it is, I wonder if she'll be set free because of how they've demonized her.

Isn't Italy the place that said a girl couldn't have been raped because blue jeans are tight against the skin and hard to take off?

[Schizm]

Isn't Italy the place that said a girl couldn't have been raped because blue jeans are tight against the skin and hard to take off?

Yup. Their court system is incredibly Fucked up.

[Scutisorex Shrewlord]

I don't know how innocent or guilty she is, but I do know that when the prosecution brought up "Satanic ritual" my alarm went off, bigtime. That's pretty much the last resort of accusers, that and calling her a "witch".

[TiQuinn]

Tired of CNN-generated court drama TV, so haven't been paying attention.

[Janos]

I don't know how innocent or guilty she is, but I do know that when the prosecution brought up "Satanic ritual" my alarm went off, bigtime. That's pretty much the last resort of accusers, that and calling her a "witch".

Especially in Italy, which is a backward nation to begin with, and practices it's own special breed of Catholicism that seems to revel in Dark Ages thinking.

[Snatch]

Yup. Their court system is incredibly Fucked up.

This is the same system that is prosecuting geologists for failing to predict an earthquake that resulted in several hundred deaths.

[Scutisorex Shrewlord]

This is the same system that is prosecuting geologists for failing to predict an earthquake that resulted in several hundred deaths.

Uh. Holy shit! :what:

[Megamieuwsel]

Yeah... That boot need a good cobbler....
I'd hate to put a foot in there.

[The Winslow]

It's also the same Italy that elected and re-elected Berlusconi. Basically the entire country is inhabited only by irresponsible shitheads, who are stupid, corrupt, or both.

[Scutisorex Shrewlord]

And then you have the media... in the US, Knox is painted as being innocent and in Britain she's painted as a whorish monster. Neither of which is objective.

[Cat's Paw Nebula]

Verdict overturned. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8803239/Amanda-Knox-verdict-live-updates.html)

[doc]

Justice for her at least, now comes to made for TV movies and the books and the interviews on network news shows. O and some a-hole will what to sue her for SOMETHING

[Kastil]

Verdict overturned. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8803239/Amanda-Knox-verdict-live-updates.html)I'm glad. From what I've read, they had nothing substantial to convict in the first place.

[Scutisorex Shrewlord]

I'm glad. From what I've read, they had nothing substantial to convict in the first place.

Yeah. I don't know what her role in it was, if anything, but the evidence was basically non-existent and she was not treated appropriately by the police.

[Radu]

My first reaction to hearing about this today was, "Oh, I guess Italy's finally felt ashamed after IRAN released 2 hikers accused of spying. When you're more resistant to reason and slower to react than Iran that's saying something."

I'm not sure how accurate or fair that assessment is, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

[shiningbrow]

I read about this sordid affair at the beginning and it seemed that Knox was far from an angel and that there was substantial reason to believe that she and her boyfriend were mixed up in the whole business somehow. I had the impression that Knox and her bf were into orgies and that this whole thing got out of hand, that the dead woman was resistant to it, but drunk. There was reason to suspect them. The cops may have been incompetent and corrupt, too. I really have no idea what happened. If Knox is innocent, then there was a miscarriage of justice that has been righted. If she isn't then the family of the victim is justified in feeling violated twice. It's really tragic when law enforcement does not do their job properly because you end up with messes like this.

[Scutisorex Shrewlord]

I feel bad for the Kercher family for a couple reasons. First, obviously, I feel bad that their daughter was murdered. Secondly, I feel bad that they may never know exactly what happened that night, beyond the fact that Guede was involved. I find it very suspicious that Knox's information was all over the place in interviews, but on the other hand I don't doubt at all that she was mistreated by the Italian police. They are notorious in that regard. There was no evidence that Knox was in that house when the murder occured, much less that she had a hand in perpetrating it. So on that score, I think justice was done by her acquittal.

Unfortunately, I don't know that the Kercher family will ever get closure. Even if Guede was the sole criminal here, it is unlikely the doubts will ever be completely removed for Kercher's family, and that makes me sad for them. I cannot imagine the heartache they must feel.

[nerfherder]

If Knox is innocent, then there was a miscarriage of justice that has been righted. If she isn't then the family of the victim is justified in feeling violated twice. It's really tragic when law enforcement does not do their job properly because you end up with messes like this.

This. We had a rash of police corruption resulting in unsafe convictions for terrorist crimes in the 70s/80s. When the defendants were finally released - often after spending over a decade in jail, it just seemed to be a tradgedy for them, and for the families of the victims who now knew that the real murderers were never caught.