Knox And Sollecito Declared Not Guilty But With Angry Booing Outside The Courtroom

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Just posted on my site:

Folks, these are the times we live in.  The evidence of her guilt was very clear but that’s hardly the point.  This decision was based on just two points from 400 pages of the Massei Report, not on the sum of the evidence.

Serious money changed hands here, Meredith’s death therefore remains unavenged, the Kercher family went through all that for nothing, Knox goes back to America to make her millions, there is one more appeal from the prosecution.

We’ve been seeing all sorts of injustice for a few years now, in so many aspects of our lives and it’s reached a crescendo of late.  From Sep Blatter to David Kelly to this – we have now crossed the line.  There is no hope for victims, no chance for a thing we once called justice.

For many, this affair won’t touch them deeply – for others it is a symptom of all that is wrong.  There are many who see this as the start of the endtimes, I don’t know, you can’t know, one way or the other.  If it is, then this night tonight was a watershed, a date you can fix on and say that’s where it started.

Prayers go to the soul of Meredith Kercher and to the family.  That’s all I have to say on it.

Money can buy anything. In the USA and in Italy also.  Shame on us…

No point to appealing to the Supreme Court because there is zero chance of EVER getting her back…. I am too appalled for words…. it stinks big time..

I think the prosecution knows they will never get her back to Italy without a huge fight and will not appeal - just give up and just let her stay.  I’m sure they are sick of the whole thing and want to move on. 

The only bright point will be that I am sure that neither AK nor RS will ever take drugs again and will possibly move on to better lives.  Neither would want to risk imprisonment again.

What about the slander charges though against the police… That is supposed to start in November are they just going to forget about that as well?

The supreme ruled in favour of the first court ruling did they not? So how have they walked? Money buys anything, it seems.

Deanna asking for privacy is an insult, considering every thing those feral people have done!

Prayers for strength and courage to continue on for the Kercher family.

An eerie coincidence: October 3 marked a day of another famous acquittal - in 1995, of OJ Simpson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jED_PB5YQgk - the verdict is read at 4:50 min

Can anyone forget the image of Kim Goldman sobbing, leaning on her father, Fred Goldman, family of the murdered Ron Goldman?

Hi giustizia,

Ergon mention something about that the other day, but justice finally caught up with him and he currently sit in jail, where he belongs.

What goes around comes around…..

Deanna does not seem to understand that all the nice dinners and the lifestyle they have been enjoying were paid for by the media, and that she and her sisters have already been sold as part of that deal. 

Like someone else mentioned, Amanda will be an indentured servant for years to come, first doing her interviews and then writing books and making documentaries and movies.  Her family incurred a lot of debt on her behalf, and once the glow has worn off, they won’t let her off the hook.

The US has an extradition treaty with Italy.  Whether or not it will be honored remains to be seen, but being wanted by the Interpol does not lead to a cushy life.  I am not sure that the US is willing to sacrifice Italian cooperation for a girl who has zero strategic/political importance, because Italy is an entry point into the EU for people who are far more interesting to the US.

Lastly, as far as I understand, the second appeal is built-in - it’s not a choice.  Even if they don’t win it, I think the Prosecution will consider it their duty to proceed with it and ensure that justice has been done for Meredith.

I do not think judges was bought; they saw other things we did not see. And also the defense lawyers did a good job placing holes to create reasonable doubt. As the Casey Anthony verdict, to my eyes, both confirm that whoever knows the law knows cheating.

I need to say that I was concerned when I noticed that prosecutors and Maresca rely in portray AK as a witch, satanic etc. They must rely the whole arguments to evidence and circumstantial evidence. That’s why the other day I wrote that I got concerned when reading they seek more punishment to AK than RS, many people did not understand my point even someone mentioned my opinion was discriminatory, and I decided to not go further.

I am not going to explain now my point, but finally I saw the results I was afraid of.  I know there are a lot of factors that brings this outcome, but prosecutors and civil part lawyers could have been more assertive in their briefing.

Thanks for that comment Vivianna. 

I think something happened during this appeal.  It was very strange the way it all changed around from the first ruling and the review of the evidence by 42 judges all the way to the Supreme Court.  Why was Raphael so confident?  What happened behind the scenes?  It doesn’t make sense that they had such changing alibis and stories of that night and that Luminol found prints with mixed DNA and all that was thrown out.  I think the American media did win this case for them.

I do think some things were bungled in the investigation especially not having a witness there when she gave the story about Lumumba and during her questioning.  If they were so suspicious they should have covered their bases, especially with a young American student involved like that. 

I’m not sure about Mignini either, he seemed to have gone over the top at times.  Was there something between him and the Hellman judge, some power play?  Who knows?  What about the lawsuit coming up right away against the Sollecito family and what happened to the slander suit against the police with Edda Mellas?  Is that all going to be shoved under the rug now?  Don’t tell me she will be flying back for that?

Or perhaps it is true that they didn’t do it?  In which case it had to be Rudy alone but then it still doesn’t make any sense about moving the body, covering it, cleaning up when someone could have returned at any moment.  I don’t know how they could ignore the mixed DNA with Meredith’s blood and Amanda’s DNA in the break-in room, how is that possible?

I seem to remember a lawsuit for 33 million against all three by the Kercher family - what is going on with that?  With OJ the Goldman family did win a civil lawsuit right?

Justice has not been done though and if money can buy your freedom once, another huge media circus can do it again…  I hope they extradite her and I hope she gets everything she justly deserves but as this has just proved I think it is very unlikely.

It will be very interesting to see how Rudy reacts to this as he has now been left to carry the full responsibility of this appalling crime while the others have walked away scott free to become wealthy off the back of it…. He really needs to speak out now.

Regarding Rudy, exactly.  I am sure the media will swarm on the prison now to ask him questions.  He was very sure of himself when he placed the blame on the two of them.  Will he talk and give the real story now?  Will he give details of doing drugs together or something like that, or just stick to his same story?  What does he have to lose now? 

Of course then they will just say he lied.  There has to be proof.  I don’t want to imprison young people who were innocent but this was a very strange case.  Nothing seemed to add up.  I guess that is what got them off.  No motive.  No history.  Contested DNA.  Erased hard drives (how in the HECK did that happen?)  No witness to the interrogation that produced the slander charge.  Mignini prosecuted himself.  Huge American media circus and pressure.  Witnesses bought off.  Defendants who appeal to the masses.

Devastated. Crying lots here in Somerset, UK. Heart goes out to the poor Kercher family. It’s going to be very galling if she does all the expected books, movies, documentaries etc as anticipated. Fingers crossed Rudy finally tells the truth.

She left the prison about 45mins ago apparently to an undisclosed location.

I am so angry right now, this has been a huge failure to ensure justice was done, the poor Kercher’s I cannot imagine the anguish they must be feeling right now, but they remain as dignified as ever. My heart goes out to them..

I have just been listening to an international lawyer who said the maximum sentence for defamation was 6 years. If they had given her that they would have been able to keep her in Italy until the final appeal at the supreme court, but no instead they give her 3 allowing her to walk away never to return to see justice done. WTF is that about?

Probably mitigating circumstances of some sort or another.  Not sure what they’d be, since she and her lawyers admitted she wasn’t mistreated by the police after all.  Possibly confusion, stress, who knows.

I still do not understand why the mixed DNA in other areas i.e. the bathroom, the corridor and the break-in room, were not considered as evidence in the appeal.  Does not make sense.  Nor does it make sense that Rudy would have bare feet in the bathroom and leave a print, but then put on his shoes to run out the front door. 

I can’t get my head around that.  Really I would like to know another opinion on that one.  Also as to why the body would have been moved, and the bra cut off after the death as per the other evidence.

Also as to why the body would have been moved, and the bra cut off after the death as per the other evidence.

What a shame! The Kercher family came across as reasonable, well adjusted people showing amazing grace by holding their interview while the jurors were in a locked room and who could not be influenced by their interview.

I did expect them to be present at Amandas plea, but to their credit it appears that they did not want to affect that.  Now they are left bewildered!

I really do believe that as soon as Knox was charged the right thing to have done was for the Knox parents to communicate through their lawyers something to the Kerchers, in a letter, such as…

’ May we offer our sincerest condolences at this very tragic happening. Amanda has been charged in connection with Merediths death. We believe that she is totally innocent and have asked her to fully co-operate with the authorities so that the truth be known. ...’

Very simple PR….and it’s free!

This verdict is disgusting, absolutely disgusting.

starsdad, All they could think about was freeing their daughter.  Blood before water as they say.  They also knew the Kerchers believed AK and RS to be involved, so they could not say anything.  I do not know what to think about this case anymore.  I have to respect the ruling and I find it deplorable that there were so many loose ends. 

Perhaps because there are so few murders in Perugia they were not prepared for this type of case.  In some ways I feel for the Knox family and their joy to have their daughter free, as well as for Raphael and his father.  It was hard to imagine them as the killers. 

But it is hard for me to imagine Rudy, the hapless drifter, the small-time drug user, as the killer either.  He seems way too dumb to have masterminded the break-in and clean-up by himself.  Nobody else seems to have been there to help him either.

I also think there will be a trade-off.  Edda Mellas etc will not be prosecuted for her slander because they will counter that by threatening a suit of wrongful imprisonment.  The whole thing will be shelved.

One has to think about it a lot - why did it have to happen???

Sound familiar?

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/09/16/maryland.college.stabbing/index.html?iref=obnetwork

believing,

No point to going over the evidence. It’s all there. This decision was based on something else, possibly some peculiarity of Italian law, more likely something unsavory.

By the court’s reasoning, it would only be fair that every case that Dr. Stefanoni has ever handled should be reopened for appeal. That won’t happen of course. It will be swept under the rug along with all the other niggling facts that just don’t fit.

10/3/11
I am heartsick. May the Kerchers hang on to the long view. Justice will be done, life has a way. I had gone out to buy a ring right before the verdict to encourage myself as a souvenir of this trial. On the way home in the car, the radio announced Amanda’s not guilty verdict. I was astounded. Absolutely floored. However, the ring is still as beautiful as Meredith and shining just as brightly.

I said I would accept the court’s decision regardless, as an act of faith in the system versus mob rule or lynch mobs. It is so difficult to accept the verdict as “the truth”, but legally I must admit now that Amanda and Raffaele are not guilty. This label of innocence may be overturned years from now at Supreme Court.

May the Kerchers find comfort in knowing their lovely daughter is never forgotten by those who have followed the case here, nor by others who learned about Meredith’s marvelous life. Love is eternal.

“vengeance is mine, says the Lord.”  amanda will be accountable to Him in the end. 

the hardest thing to watch is the american media reporting that most of america supported amanda and believe in her innocence.  and reading comments by people who jumped on the amanda bandwagon during this appeal.  so frustrating for those of us who have been here since the day meredith’s body was found and read actual court transcripts and seen affirmation of evidence that amanda’s supporters and defenders disregarded as false. 

perugia wants to be free of this case and amanda knox so it is doubtful that the supreme court will even decide to hear another appeal but will just confirm today’s.  case closed.  but…..

“vengeance is mine, says the Lord.”  amanda will be accountable to Him in the end.

The case is not closed.  This isn’t an optional decision for the Supreme Court, just as it wouldn’t have been optional if they had lost the appeal.  The second appeal is guaranteed by law, for whichever party lost this appeal.  While we can’t start guessing what the final verdict will be, not all hope is lost.

Hi Wants Justice. You write as if this was a full-fledged court that re-heard all the evidence but actually it wasn’t. The other circumstantial evidence was hardly touched on at all because it was not under appeal.

All of our lawyers regard it as very strong,, and our Italian lawyers consider it a fault of the very pro-defendant Italian system that these half-informed juries have to be involved in appeals at all.

This is actually one of many odd outcomes. It looks to me like a systemic problem which Italy may or may not be driven to fix.

When it goes to the Supreme Court, will all the judges be professional judges? I incline towards this version, but it would be nice to know if lay jurors will also be involved.

Hi Vivianna. Only a panel of supreme court judges. No lay judges will be involved. (Most trials in Italy dont have lay judges and it is unclear why some appeals need to have them.) One judge in particular will write the report which (as usual) must come out within three months of the finding.

They usually dont see many witnesses but they sure devour the paperwork. A very different animal from the first-level court of appeal.

We watched the Supreme Court in action three times. Knox’s appeal to have her first written statement suppressed.  Guede’s final appeal. And the appeal of Alessi’s wife. They don’t mess about.

My heart goes out to the Kerchers who are no doubt left wondering what happened to their beloved Meredith.

At the same time despite my personal views on the case, I respect the decision of the court and I am happy for Amanda and Raffaele who will have their freedom - their reactions to the verdict were genuine and I could relate to them. Of course I will eagerly await the verdict of the Supreme Court, but as it stands a panel of judges and jurors have found reasonable doubt and since they know more than I do I am of the belief that they made an informed decision.

Many questions remain unanswered, many many questions… I hope that Rudy decides to talk now! But I fear that he will also appeal based on the DNA evidence being unsafe… It will be a while before we have some answers, but hopefully these will emerge - after all the truth is all the Kerchers are after.

I was totally floored by this verdict, Im still stunned by it.

I have read here since it all about began. I would love to know what is going through those jurors and judges minds to let these 2 walk free.

I pray each day since this started that god keep a gentle hand on the Kerchers and hold them all close to him

There are several long posts by Yummi on page 18 of PMF which if they are correct are rather stunning in their implications. .Search for this phrase for the first:

[By Yummi] To all I want to say: just don’t be discouraged!

Read what Yummi posts on the relevant law, Judge Hellman, and the bizarre (in the context of all other verdicts being not guilty) conviction of Knox for slander with increased sentence.

I had a sinking feeling that the acquittal would come through. I call dirty pool. Did Hellman have something else to prove? A chip on his shoulder? I am not happy for any of them.
Let’s see how long the atmosphere at KnoxMellas HQ remains happy, once the adrenaline wears off. She will probably wish she could get out of her cheerful yellow room. And wait to see how sick American audiences will become of her mediocrity, after the first few undecipherable interviews.
They have sold their daughter’s soul to buy her “freedom”. The devil will take his due.

The New York Times on what lies ahead.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/world/europe/amanda-knox-defends-herself-in-italian-court.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2

Giuliano Mignini, the prosecutor who led the murder investigation, said Monday that he would appeal the sentence to Italy’s Supreme Court. The judge will have 90 days to write a report on the court’s conclusions, and parties then have 45 days to file an appeal. The court usually takes a year to hear a case.

Should they decide to overturn the acquittal, Ms. Knox would be tried — even in absentia — in a second appeals court, and if that court upheld the conviction it would return to the Supreme Court.

Only when a final conviction was reached could Italy start extradition procedures against her.

Mr. Mignini said the slander charge remained proof of Ms. Knox’s guilt. “This verdict is something that I do not agree with,” he said.

I was totally floored by this verdict, Im still stunned by it.

I have read here since it all about began. I would love to know what is going through those jurors and judges minds to let these 2 killers walk free.

I pray each day since this started that god keep a gentle hand on the Kerchers and hold them all close to him

In addition to watching the third act, yet to come, and anticipating the motivations for this travesty, I will also be watching for the hand of karma.

The wanted Amanda back, and they’ve got her. It’s one thing to have a saintly martyr daughter safely behind bars and tightly scripted. It’s another to have their druggie kid back.

And who’s to say who controls the spoils? Is it clear that cash coming to Amanda will end up paying off people’s mortgages?  I’m thinking off-leash and off-script pretty soon.

We’re told it could be a divided jury, perhaps four against four. If this is the case and the lay judges start to feel the heat around Perugia, which seemingly does not like the verdict, some might start explaining why they arrived at such an odd decision, guilty for Knox on the calunnia and not guilty on all the rest.

How much money did it cost to buy this shameless verdict?
Something Rudy could never afford.

It is not over yet…

The increased sentence for calunnia (and the appalling decreased monetary award) comes across as a blatant face-saving move by the courts. As others have said, it doesn’t make any logical sense that Knox’s false accusation was coerced and at the same time she could be guilty of calunnia. But that’s just one of many things about this verdict that don’t make any sense. At least it will decimate Knox’s cash compensation. Sollecito is apparently eligible for wrongful imprisonment compensation of more than 500,000 euros—a tidy sum for a young man.

The other day I mentioned I was shocked by learning the verdict will take short time. And you told me they had plenty of time to evaluate all the evidence to take the desicion. Also you said Hellman was very impatient (btw if that is true he must change to other job) and it’s not worth loose sleep time (something like that).P

But now you said they did not evaluate the whole evidence at all. Honestly I do not understand.eter,

Has this decision by the court changed my mind?  I am not going to fight this verdict. What’s done is done, but none of this has changed my mind.

Judge Hellman has perverted justice because the verdict (not his own) has come down from on high. Italy cannot afford the mountainous wave of American hatred aroused by this case: hence the appointment of two Roman professors who acquiesce in the overriding necessity. Hence also the precautionary word of a lesser prosecutor: The court is against us & Amanda will be freed.

We were, in a word, being told. And yes, Curt Knox has won his game.

Judge Hellman’s unhappy role (if he valued his “job”!) goes far to explain his impatience & rigidity.  Small wonder that he could know to the day when the verdict would be announced since it had already been made.

And all the major participants understand this. Mignini understands it.

Amanda walks free of her cell & I never thought it possible: but she cannot walk away from a hounding truth. The psychopath within is incorrigibly wrapped around her deed. Her rape of a woman, although helped by assistants, is the great fact of her life. Her murder of this woman by the very knife we know—that is her deed.

“There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed [said Jesus] and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in the light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.”  (Matthew 10,26. Also in Luke.)

Or from the Dhammapada (meaning: The path of virtue & religion.)

“Not in the sky, nor in the mid-ocean, nor in a mountain cave, is found that place on earth where abiding one may escape from (the consequences) of one’s evil deed.”
And to which I add my affirmation in the Sevenfold Amen.

Well that was unexpected! I guess the evidence just wasn’t there. I followed this case ever since the first trial and I cant believe they got away with it. Everything points to their guilt but I guess there’s just not enough information to make it a sure thing.

The smugness of Amanda and her friends is going to be unbearable. They will do everything to make sure this “no proof of guilt” verdict will turn into a “proof of innocence”. I hope the confidence she gets from getting away with it will be her downfall one day.

Maybe Pieter R de Vries (our local crime journalist), who got Joran van der Sloot to talk, can do an undercover operation to get Amanda to slip up. Knowing the truth of what happened that evening could bring the kerchers some peace.

I wonder what would happen if Rudy talks and points to some new physical evidence (a knife that’s never been found or a scenario that fits with the evidence). Can this evidence then be used in the final appeal?

I know everyone here is unhappy with the verdict, but for a moment we must stop and think about the situation. They were found not guilty, I believe we should trust the justice system. These jurors saw reasonable doubt. I don’t think it’s constructive to think of bribes and conspiracies.

Maybe the jurors are right (don’t shoot me please).

I agree that the verdict is a shock and eagerly await the reasoning. In the mean time I pray for the truth to come out for the kercher family, I pray that Knox and sollecito begin a new path as rehabilitated people from drugs etc

This is just my two cents worth, I hope I don’t offend anyone.

and now according to Barbie Nadeau there are questions being asked in the italian press about Guede’s conviction? he admits to being there, there is good DNA evidence and NOW they are asking questions—guess he’ll be unlikely to talk with the possibility for a better deal that may be dangling within his grasp?

so many cases come to mind that were messed up due to sloppy police work - Jonbenet Ramsey, Nicole Simpson, Chandra Levy—personally, i continue to believe Knox and Sollecito were involved, but am left shaking my head, wondering and in disbelief.  the hype really did little to help anyone in this case rather than the lawyers billing hours.

When you see that even Hillary Clinton was involved in this case, you can let your imagination run wild. She clearly had the power to influence this verdict and to benefit from it.

I re-read the Massei report and it confirms me every time that AK and RS were guilty as hell. Just remember when RS tried to discredit AK’s story by saying she was not with him that night at his flat. This is a mockery.

The only consolation we can have is that, even though AK and RS are freed, they will never ever be able to live a peaceful life as this will haunt them until their very last breath. It is important to keep that in mind.

Plus, we should not let AK, RS, media, politics influence our lives by letting us feeling disturbed, frustrated and unavenged. They are not worth it.

It is strange that this is the second disturbing injustice I witnessed in less than 2 months. The first being the 9/11 Bush conspiracy of 19 alleged hijackers. If you want to make your own opinion, watch this documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XRMrMdn0NQ

My thoughts are with Meredith and her family.

I have been reading your blog almost every day for 2 years.  I’m absolutely gutted.

My thoughts go out to the Kercher family. also the friends of Meredith in Perugia, Amy F., Robyn B., Natalie H. ... the people who saw the behaviour of Knox the day after the murder.

They must have woken up this morning wondering if this was really happening.

Awake again after a restless night and feeling more calm.

I’m sickened by the outcome of this and feel desperately sad for the Kerchers. It was interesting on the UK news last night that the journalists kept on referring back to the supreme court’s ruling that Guede did not act alone. It must be devastating for the Kerchers to know that those kids certainly had something to do with it and that they’ve gone free.

It’s an unpleasant side to my personality, but I’ve been comforting myself with the fact that even though they have their freedom, Knox and Sollecito have effectively ruined their own lives. They might be free, but I am certain they will receive hate mail, death threats, abuse on the streets, press intrusion and hounding. Neither of them will ever be able to relax fully, for fear of letting things slip, and I’d be surprised if either of them got drunk or high again.

People will think twice before befriending them and who would get into a relationship with somebody who has served time for murder? And I’m sure they must be haunted by the knowledge of what they’ve done, by the memories of cleaning up during those murky twilight hours, surrounded by blood, with poor Meredith lying there.

God bless Meredith, and her family.

@Giselle

If I understand Yummi correctly, the judge didn’t acquit, because of reasonable doubt, but because they were proven to be innocent.

I am not a fan of conspiracy theories either, but it is a fact - and there is evidence to support it - that the Sollecito family tried to use their influence to free Raffaele Sollecito.

I recommend having a good look at the video when the Knox/Mellas family is jumping up and down, clapping hands etc. Dr. Sollecito approaches them, a cold handshake, no hug, no nothing, maybe a “ciao”, he turns around and walks straight out of the courtroom.

That didn’t take him 5 seconds. That’s not the reaction I would have expected from two families “united” through tragedy - and innocent, of course!

The error message from the page struggling with its many visitors last night actually makes a fitting comment on the verdict:

“True Justice for Meredith Kercher - Service Unavailable”.

Hi Nell

Yes Yummi is seeing something very odd in that “proven to be innocent” choice of law for the verdict which may be hard to support in the report when it comes out in three months. As I commented above, most of the evidence was merely whisked by the jury in brief summary.

Yummi also noticed that Judge Hellman seemed to find it hard to read out the verdict. Itt may be that Judge Hellman didnt like it and was over-ruled. Conceivably both judges didnt like it, though we know almost nothing about Judge Massimo Zanetti - there is only one partial image of him (below) on our site.

There have been comments that the demonization of Knox in court last week went too far. She seems to come across in court as lost or unwell rather than evil and not a suitable case for beating up on. That and her “lost” plea to the court may have swayed enough lay judges to think of her also as a victim.

Such a lot we dont know. Roll on the sentencing report, and some jurors speaking out.

_

the prosecutor went too far in depicting amanda as a satanic witch.  anyone who WAS once a 20 year old girl or who has spent time with girls that age would immediately understand that amanda was no witch, but a jealous female. 

meredith had many friends, was cultured and poised, well-liked and beautiful in an exotic way.  amanda was told her services would not be needed at the bar where she worked while meredith was kept on as a valued employee.  i believe amanda was furious and her jealously got the better of her.  she determined to frighten and taunt meredith with the help of raphael and rudy. 

what started as a tease quickly turned into an out-of-control rage and murder.  i could almost believe (almost) that rudy did it by himself, but the cleanup and the blood evidence in the flat just doesn’t make sense unless amanda had something to hide.  i truly suspect that there was a payoff of some sort and hopefully it will come to light - whether by a rich american (trump?)  or the sollecito family. 

there was too much calm on the part of amanda’s family in the hours leading up to the verdict.  if, in fact, amanda was involved and they all know it, they all have blood on their hands.  i am praying that what goes around comes around and the truth will be known.  praying for truth.

Having read Yummi’s thougtful remarks on PMF, I would like to add that there is a well-known strategy for judges who are overruled by a majority of lay judges: Those judges tend to write an obviously unlogical judgement which m u s t be changed by the next court.

In this case, declaring “proven to be innocent” without even having discussed the overwhelming number of pages of the report of the first court during the appeal, is obviously a conclusion which is inconsistent with logic.

And there is a second hint to that strategy: Probably it’s the judge (and not the laymen) who decides on the concrete dates for the trial. If that’s the case and if we assume that the judge knew about the date for OJ Simpson’s acquital, choosing October 3rd for the acquital of AK and RS is not accidental.

The thought that Knox could currently be here in London, on route to Seattle, is beyond devastating.

Hi Dr. Weissnix. Very true. The calunnia guilty charge and three year sentence standing alone fits in with your theory too. Mignini was onto that like a dog on a bone.

Hellman may indeed have been sending signals that he was punting it up to the next court.

On the TV news a voice-over accompanied Helman. It said simply “there was not a shred of evidence”. I thought “What!” Now I realize that this was paraphrasing for “Did not commit the act” as the basis for the verdicts.

I notice that the same verdict rationale “Did not commit the act” appears also to have been applied to the charge of simulating a burglary.

We will no doubt learn from the Motivations Report whether or not the court accepted that there had been a simulated burglary. I cannot for the life of me see how the evidence here was less than compelling, let alone no evidence as to that.

If the court accepts that there was then the court must have determined that there was no evidence that AK and RS had simulated it. Which of course means that someone else did. However the evidence in this respect is not so much physical evidence ( of which there was hardly any - unless one takes into account the mixed DNA in Filomena’s room) but rather a matter of logic. Logic does not point to Guede or to any strangers who may have accompanied him. It points in one direction only.

It will be interesting to see how the court motivates that.

There is in my opinion a bad stench about the acquittals. As Marcellus in Hamlet puts it “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”.

There are surely ample grounds for overturning the not guilty verdicts.

Therefore it looks to me as if the court brought in these verdicts for one reason only - bearing in mind that not guilty does not change the accused’s official status of innocent in the full appeals process anyway -  and that was to release AK so that she could skip out of the country before a final conclusion at the Supreme Court.

Well at least we have some consolation in the thought that they have spent 4 years behind bars and that they will have to cope with the knowledge that many, perhaps the majority, to put it at the lowest denominator, are not convinced as to their innocence.

Hi everybody

I’m just shocked by this verdict, just couldn’t quite take it in. I don’t post often here but I have mentioned before I never heard of this case until I saw Edda Mellas and Curt Knox on Oprah. I was outraged about what had happened to their poor daughter. But then when I read the evidence that convicted them, I could immediately see that they are very, very selective with the discussion of evidence and indeed, everything pointed to their involvement in this murder. I thought, well, at least in this case, justice has been done.

I agree with another post that something strange began to happen even before the “independent” experts released their report. There just seemed to be a momentum, a whole change of course that led directly to this outcome. There was an excitement among the press, slanted documentaries were rerun over and over again and the positive outcome just seemed to build.

On the PMF web site, Popper in Italy cautions us not to jump to conclusions, but I’m a skeptic. The big media corporations in the States - CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Oprah - are a major influence. Between them, they are worth trillions. In the US even to be elected congressman takes millions of dollars. Where is this money coming from to elect politicians - well - big corporations. Many in government and media are part of the revolving door moving between corporations and politics. I’m not saying there was a conspiracy here, but perhaps simply political pressure, tampering with the court, who knows. But these things work on subtle but very effective levels.

Today, I feel a loss of faith in justice. Based on the evidence two privileged “kids” viciously tortured and murdered a young woman. They then arranged the evidence to stick it to a black person with no resources. One of them tried to stick it to another black person, at least that didn’t work. And finally, the victim herself, is part black. The parents marshalled tremendous resources, played the media like a fiddle and the media itself couldn’t lap it up fast enough. This became a narrative that had to have a happy ending - poor white girl with blue eyes and a loving family is railroaded by a medieval system. The media networks will profit hugely from this narrative (I for one won’t be watching them or reading them). And I have never been so sickened by the media in my life. They should be ashamed of themselves. You know, I wouldn’t take their $100 million dollar salaries for anything if I had such a lack of integrity and character.

On a positive note, the Kerchers have character, as did their daughter. They should be a lesson to us all. And at this website and at PMF, I have found a community of rational, like mind people who want justice. Thank you for what you have done Peter at this site.

Dora Maar

For sure it is a strange day, but we have to believe in justice (even today)

If it is understood :
- RG killed alone Meredith (Where is the many wolves theory ?, How Hell-Man did destroyed this)
- RG killed Meredith with more wolves (Who they are? RG never said they were AK & RS)( Maybe protecting powerfull people ...mafia or other ?)
- RG never killed Meredith and what he said it is true, he saw a man and a shadow of a woman.

Truth have to come, but I m still not think AK & RS are innocent but I m not the court of Perugia

I am not sure injecting race into it is a good idea. It simply gives the crime another aspect which it does not need. There are plenty of murders of “poor white girls with blue eyes and a loving family” that ended in the same way as this one: no justice, no closure, no truth, perpetrators released on similar or even lesser grounds.

I would also like to add my condolences to Meredith’s family for suffering another blow. Their character and composure is simply astounding.

I don’t think that the crime itself had a racial motive, simply because other things seem more logical and immediate.  I just find it difficult to accept that she was killed because she was biracial, when her beauty and character seem much more likely to have inspired jealousy and hatred.

However, the way sentences were handled for the three accused leaves room for speculation on racial grounds.  I think that part is hard to ignore, Razvan.

As Pete said:

“…Yummi also noticed that Judge Hellman seemed to find it hard to read out the verdict. Itt may be that Judge Hellman didnt like it and was over-ruled. Conceivably both judges didnt like it, though we know almost nothing about Judge Massimo Zanetti ....

There have been comments that the demonization of Knox in court last week went too far. She seems to come across in court as lost or sick rather than evil and not a suitable case for beating up on. That and her “lost” plea to the court may have swayed enough lay judges to think of her also as a victim.

Such a lot we dont know. Roll on the sentencing report, and some jurors speaking out.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 10/04/11 at 06:07 AM ”

“Conceivably both judges didnt like it…”

So it is logically possible that as few as only 4 lay-jurors voted for acquittal, emotionally and illogically.

In that case the Motivation-Report should expose such a difference in reasoning.

The door for reversal on the second appeal could then be wide-open.

Well, maybe. That part is hard to ignore, but I do not necessarily think it is more meaningful that claiming Amanda herself was treated worse because she was an American.

In a lot of multiple-offender murders, especially in the United States, women get reduced sentences. The police and investigators, are instructed to look for a “primary controlling male offender”, and the prosecutor almost always tries to drive that point home. The fact that Amanda was originally sentenced to the same amount of time as Rafaelle (+1 year for the defamation, I think?) could be construed as it being affected by external factors.

Now, I am not saying any of this is true, but simply speculating. It undermines the Italian Justice system, essentially saying that it is racist, or sexist, or anti-american, or whichever.

I think people here have fought hard to establish that it is fair (and apparently very lenient).

Again, I am not doing this to argue or take away from what just happened. I hope it is not true.

@Razvan - I don’t think that the Italian judiciary is any more biased (on whatever criteria - gender, race, etc.) than any other operating under similar principles.  But I have a very difficult time reconciling the conclusion reached by the Cassazione in Rudy’s case (multiple attackers) and last night’s exoneration.

However, rather than arguing that Rudy was discriminated against (which I don’t believe he was), I would argue that the couple received preferential treatment.  In other words, Rudy’s trial and conviction strike me as morally and legally defensible.  I don’t feel the same about AK and RS’ verdict -

I feel that due to whatever factors (ranging from simple sympathy to foul play), they were treated with more kindness due to their socio-economic status (in which “white” and “middle-class” figure prominently).  So, in my opinion, it’s not a case of discrimination, but of privilege (some could argue that it boils down to the same thing, but I felt the need to split hairs).

Sorry, I wasn’t clear about race. In no way am I saying this was all about race and Guede was convicted because of his colour. I just see it as one more ironic element in this whole thing. As well, I do not advocate conspiracy, but there is something very strange about this. I was interested to read Nadeau today who said she sat with a coroner going over the wounds on the body and is convinced this was not one person, but three. And, like the Kerchers, I wonder how could the Massei report be so clear and compelling with everything falling together and then suddenly turns into a house of cards. Just don’t get it. One final note, Dr. Phil says that past behaviour is a predictor of future behaviour. God forbid that there are anymore victims but I cannot see, and I’m sorry if I sound vindictive here, but I just cannot see that the lives of the former accused will be happy ones. Just look at their past behaviour - bit of a problem with impulse control!

Dora Maar

Hello my friends. I am still very sad for the outrageous aquital.

What do I think? Politics got involved.Nancy Grace had predicted it a few days before.She said “Amanda will be aquitted, but not because she is innocent. But because America will put a lot of pressure on Italy”.This is the reason why the people,outside the court room,shouted: “Shame shame”. They understood that America was behind it.

The Knoxes knew too much.How come the aeroplane had already landed, before the verdict? How could they be so sure of the acquital? Who told them? Why was there a judge who has never done criminal cases? Very suspicious thing. I believe the verdict was written at the State Department in Washington. Did you notice that they could have given to Amanda up to 6 years for slander, or just 4 and half; but in that case she couldn’t leave. She would have had to wait 6 more monthe, but in 6 monthes the Suprime Court would have answered to the prosecutors appeal and, maybe, reopen the case. They wanted her to be able to escape before the Supreme Court decision.

Didn’t you understand that everything was organized? What a shame.If Amanda wasn’t american she was convicted this is the truth.  SHAME AMERICA.

Where next:

Or to next entry Media Reaction Commences: What Is It About Amanda Knox…

Or to previous entry Van Watch: Around 8:00 PM Perugia Time And The Vans Are Reported Still At Capanne