Judge Massei's report on the sentencing of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito can be read online, printed out, or downloaded here

Category: Hearings and trials

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Explaining How The Italian Appeals Process Actually Works And What We May Expect Coming Up

Posted by Commissario Montalbano

[Vincenzo Carbone, Prime President of Italian Supreme Court of Cassation, addressing Italian Supreme Court]

This is a repeat of my post on how appeals work in Italy, posted last December in the context of the guilty verdict for AK and RS and the outcome of Guede’s first appeal. 

Please also consider this post on the really independent judiciary which explains why political pressure, especially from outside Italy, is not exactly a certain winner.

The appeal process in the Italian judicial system is disciplined by art. 593 et seq. of the Italian Code of Penal Procedure (CPP).

Both the defendant and the prosecution have the right to appeal a sentence, according to the principle of parity of the two parties in a judicial process. In 2006 a law passed by the Berlusconi government (known as “Pecorella Law”, from the name of his sponsor), intended to prohibit the right of appeal of the prosecutor, similarly to what happens in the US, however the Italian Constitutional Court struck down that law as unconstitutional since it is in violation of the parity of the two parties in the process, as explained above. As a result the CPP has been modified to reflect its original version.

It is to be noted however, that if only the defendant requests an appeal (and not the prosecution), then the appeal court can only confirm or decrease the sentence of the first trial, but not increase it.

Since Mignini has already said that they won’t appeal the case, Amanda and Raffaele are likely to see their jail sentence decreased by a few years, or at most confirmed, but not increased. Art. 575 of the Italian Penal Code however prescribes a minimum of 21 years for voluntary homicide.

The principle of “double jeopardy”, which is also guaranteed by Italian law and by the law of all members of the European Union as condition of membership, does not apply to the appeal trial, as such trial is interpreted as being a mere continuation of the same first trial. The double jeopardy principle will therefore apply only after the sentence is definitive, i.e. after the Supreme Court of Cassation decision. In other words if Amanda and Raffaele are found not guilty after all the appeals are exhausted, the Italian state will not be able to try them again in the future.

This characteristic is not unique to Italy, most European countries, in fact, apply the double jeopardy only after all appeals have exhausted, among these Germany and France, which also permit the appeal by the prosecution.

The competence of the appeal process is disciplined by art 594 of the CPP. Such article establishes that the Appeal Court of Assizes has jurisdiction over the sentences rendered by the Court of Assizes. The Court of Assizes is the court in Italy which tries serious crimes, that is those crimes for which the penal code provides a maximum punishment of at least 24 years.

In this case the Corte d’Assise d’Appello of Perugia will have jurisdiction over the case. However the defense may request a change of venue, if they can demonstrate just cause.

The terms of the request for appeal are disciplined by art. 595 of the CPP. Such article specifies, among other things, that the party requesting the appeal can do so within 15 days from the day the Sentence is communicated. If such sentence is particularly complex (as this case is) the judge can request that the “Motivazione della Sentenza”, often referred to in TJMK as the Judge’s Report, or be filed with the court within 90 days from the end of the trial. In this circumstance the terms to file an appeal is 45 days, instead of 15.

The Italian constitution requires that all sentences be accompanied by this Report, including appeal sentences. As we’ve seen with Judge Micheli’s Report on Rudy Guede’s trial, the Sentence Motivation Report must explain the entire rationale that the judges utilized to reach the decision. The lack of such report would invalidate the sentence.

Once one or more parties to the trial requests an appeal, within 15 days from the day such Motivation report is communicated, the competent court will then acquire all the documentation regarding the case. The court will then notifies all parties of the beginning of the hearing at least 20 days before the commencement day.

As mentioned above, the appeal process in Italy is a brand new trial where all evidence and testimony is analyzed in the same terms as the first trial. The standards are however higher. The president of the Appeal Court of Assizes is in fact a judge from the Supreme Court of Cassation (the members of the Supreme Court are actually called “Consiglieri”). The requisites for being one of the 6 jurors are also higher. They must be all holding a high school degree (in the first trial the minimum required is only a middle school education).

[Image Above: The Seat of the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation, in the Hall of Justice in Rome, also known as “Il Palazzaccio” or the Ugly Palace].

The extraordinary broad appeal rights awarded by the Italian system are all part of the 1989 reform, which intended to add even more guarantees to the right of the accused. This has resulted in an incredible increase in pending cases in the overburdened Italian justice system. According to the latest report to Parliament by Justice Minister Angelo Alfano the pending cases in the Italian justice system at the end of 2006 amounted to nearly 9 million cases.

Over 5.4 million were civil cases, and over 3.3million criminal cases. Of these 3.3 million penal cases, over 1/3 were first trials, the rest were appeals. Compared to the rest of Europe Italy’s pending workload amounted to 3 times the one from France, over 6 times the one of Germany, and 5 times the one from Spain. The criminal cases pending in the first trial alone are 1.2 million, a figure twice as large as the one of Germany, Spain and England combined!

This situation, coupled with the fact that the number of Italian magistrates is about the same as other similar European countries, has resulted in an incredibly slow process. On average a criminal trial lasts 426 days in the first trial, and 730 days at the appeal trial, a duration much longer than any other EU country. The Perugia case was therefore faster than average, having lasted less than a year.

This situation is exacerbated by the broad appeal rights guaranteed also on the 2nd level of appeal, at the Supreme Court of Cassation. Like other supreme courts around the world, such court does not re-examine the entire body of evidence, but only ‘errores in iudicando’ and ‘errores in procedendo’ (errors in procedure or application of the law).

However, unlike its American or English counterparts, the Italian Supreme Court cannot refuse to review a case, and defendants have unlimited appeal rights to the Supreme Court of Cassation. They don’t even have to wait for the Appeal Court. You can in fact appeal to the Supreme Court directly after the first trial.

To give an idea of what this creates I’ll cite some figures. The US Supreme Court renders annually about 120 decisions. The Supreme Court in England about 75. The Italian Supreme Court of Cassation issues over 30,000 sentences every year!! No surprise then about the huge backlog, in spite of the fact that the Italian Supreme court consists of over 400 judges (called Consiglieri), divided into various sections (each of 5 consiglieri), all nominated by the Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura (CSM), the Italian Magistrates’ self governing body explained in a previous post.

Besides the broad appeal rights granted by the Italian law, an ulterior incentive to appeal is given by the fact that Italy has a very high “Reversal Rate” during the appeal process. Approximately half of all sentences rendered in the first trial are in fact reversed during the appeal process, a percentage which is 3 times higher than France for example. The ones that are not reversed often see a decrease in punishment.

No surprise therefore that Italians always appeal their sentences. And some analysts have even ventured to say that Italian appeal courts like to modify the sentences of the first trial just for the purpose of justifying their own existence.

Given these facts, coupled with the chronic lack of prison space, it shouldn’t be a surprise that in spite of the Cosa Nostra, the Camorra and N’drangheta (as the mafia is called in the various regions), Italy has maybe the absolute lowest prison population in the world in relationship to the total population.

Italy in fact has 66 inmates for every 1 million population, a figure matched only by Denmark, a country certainly not famous for their organized crime. By comparison, the US boasts a prison population of more than 750 inmates over 1 million inhabitants, a figure 12 times the one in Italy.


[Image Above: Italian “Guardasigilli” (Justice Minister) Angelo Alfano]

Monday, April 19, 2010

Knox Appeal Points Seem Essentially Points That Gained Limited Traction In The Trial

Posted by Peter Quennell

And the fact that the prosecution will get a shot at firming up their case does seem to have caught the defenses off-balance.

US-based Knox family legal advisor Ted Simon has appeared several times on US networks in the last few days, seemingly clean out of new ideas for how to get Amanda Knox off.

No motive? Well, a motive does not have to be confirmed in Italy, but Micheli, Mignini and Massei all suggested credible motives, each involving an escalation of violence, and each probably involving drugs as one component - drugs like enhanced (skunk) cannabis, crystal meth, and cocaine increasingly seem to be triggering psychotic episodes that can lead to murder.

No DNA in the room? Well, most murders take place with no DNA left behind, and if Knox was the one simply holding the large knife and uttering threats, there is no reason why her DNA should have have deposited. Rudy Guede left only a few microscopic traces of DNA, but clearly he too was in the room. And there was plenty of forensic evidence implicating Knox right outside of Meredith’s door.

And as usual, Ted Simon skirts the very problematic rearrangement of the crime scene, and the testimony of various key witnesses, and the very incriminating pattern of phone calls, and the major discordance between all the alibis.

Pity that the US reporters never ever seem to press him on these things.

And in Perugia, it seems that Mr Ghirga and Mr Della Vedova are also only going through the motions - recycling just a few of their points that were already not too convincing at the trial. Andrea Vogt reported on the grounds for their appeal in the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

The 220-page document filed with the of Court of Appeals in Perugia on Saturday morning is a total appeal of all the points of the sentence, said Knox’s lawyer, Luciano Ghirga from Perugia in an interview with the Seattlepi.com.

“It includes the first days of the interrogation, the DNA and the traces detected with luminol. We re-iterate the innocence of Amanda and remain convinced there is not proof of her presence at the scene of the crime,” Ghirga said….

The hotly contested forensic evidence presented in the trial played an important role in the jury’s reasoning but was not the only element that led them to convict. Inconsistent statements, witness testimony, Knox’s placing the blame on an innocent man, which she maintains she did under police pressure, and the staging of the crime scene were also cited as key factors by the jury.

Knox’s legal teams are expected to contest all points, but are also asking for a third-party review of the forensic evidence. Such a request was rejected once already during the 9-month trial, but a different appeals court judge could decide to grant such an independent review. In Knox’s case, lawyers are contesting the kitchen knife that prosecutors said was the murder weapon that had Knox’s DNA on the handle and a trace amount of Kercher’s on the blade.

Knox’s lawyers also contest the luminol-positive traces discovered in the corridor (footprints) and the spot in the roommates room where prosecutors say Knox and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, later staged a break-in to make the scene look like a rape-robbery to throw off investigators. Police biologist Patrizia Stefanoni testified during the trial that these luminol-positive traces had mixed genetic material of Knox and Kercher.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Rudy Guede Appeal: The Published Judgement Of The Court Of Appeal

Posted by Peter Quennell

The AGI News Service carried the full wording of the judgement which was published after the court session concluded. The translation below was kindly provided by our poster Tiziano.

The Court of the Assizes of Perugia at a hearing in chambers has published through a reading of the purview of the sentence the following judgement with reference to Articles 443, 605, 599 of the Code of Penal Procedure,

In partial emendation of the judgement handed down on October 28th, 2008, by the GUP of the Law Court of Perugia, in the matter of Rudy Hermann Guede, appealed against by the former, previously allowed the reduction of general mitigating circumstances, equivalent to the contested aggravating circumstances, reduces the sentence of the appellant to 16 years incarceration.

It confirms the remainder of the contested sentence. 

It condemns the appellant to payment of the expenses of the defence of the civil complainant Aldalia Tattanelli , which it liquidates in total as 1,500 euros.

Of those [legal costs] of the civil complainants John Leslie Kercher, Arline Carol Kercher, John Ashley Kercher, Lyle Kercher, it liquidates in total as 8,000 euros each, as well as that of the defence of Stephanie Arline Kercher, which it liquidates in total as 5000 euros.

It assigns the period of 90 days as the limit for the lodging of questions for the motivations for this judgement.

                                                         

Added: The post has been corrected and the translation above clarified in light of poster Nicki’s comment below - several of us took it to mean that the main award to Meredith’s family that had been reduced.

For the record, the financial awards that Judge Micheli handed down at the end of October 2008 against Rudy Guede were 2 million Euros each to Meredith’s parents John and Arline, and 1.5 million Euros each to Lyle, John junior, and Stephanie.

That is about US $12.1 million at today’s exchange rate. 

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Rudy Guede Appeal: And The Outcome Is A Reduction Of His Sentence From 30 To 16 Years

Posted by Peter Quennell

Update: As TJMK poster Commisario Montalbano had warned in his posts and comments below Rudy Guede stood to get his sentence reduced to about this amount. 

1) The extenuating circumstances extended to Knox and Sollecito are now taken into account.

2) Because Guede had selected a short-form trial he was eligible anyway for a sentence 1/3 less than that of Sollecito and Knox.

Fairly automatic in fact. We see nothing in this that should provide any comfort to Knox and Sollecito that their own verdicts will be overturned. 

Emailed for inclusion here by Commisario Montalbano.

The two appeals are totally independent. The judges are different too. The process for an appeal of an abbreviated trial are subject to the procedures of Art. 599 of the CPP, which are different from the full appeal of an appellate Court of Assizes, the tougher process that Knox and Sollecito must contend with.

This judge simply expected that Amanda and Raffaele will get their sentence confirmed in appeal, and he then acted accordingly. Basically he granted to Guede the same ‘attenuanti generiche’ applied to the two of them.

And then with the 1/3 auto-reduction for his short-form trial Guede got his sentence reduced to 16 years.

On the appeal of AK and RS anything can happen, but the most likely scenario is a confirmation of the sentence. The only way they’ll get out of it is if a majority of jurors see grounds for reasonable doubt based on ‘insufficient evidence’.

That’s not too likely, but possible.

The 16 years is arrived at because Knox and Sollecito each received 24 years for Meredith’s murder. Sollecito received an extra year, and Knox an extra two years, for the other crimes for which they were found guilty. 

Our legal advisers tell us that all three sentences seem to be light by American standards.

**************

Posted earlier: The decision is not yet announced. But it should be decided within two or three hours. The court is now in closed session.

Yesterday Guede’s two lawyers, court-appointed Walter Biscotti and Nicodemo Gentile, asked at the outset for his acquittal for their client.

Seemingly contradictorily to us, they also asked for the granting of the extenuating circumstances already granted to Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.

They said their client is frank, young, not a liar, has not slandered anyone, and is the only one that has always told the same version of events.

As our posts below explain, this is not strictly correct. Guede in fact subtly backed off his claims of intimate relations with Meredith and of clearly having seen Sollecito.

The prosecution repeated their demand that Guede have his full term in prison affirmed, and the lawyer for Meredith’s family did likewise.

By the way, some of our emails, several quite passionately, argue for the innocence, partial or total, of Rudy Guede. There is a feeling that he was either set up or fully framed for the crime.

Though even he admits that he left Meredith to die, and that he never called an ambulance that might have saved her.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Rudy Guede Appeal: Not Yet The Hoped-For Last-Minute Story Change

Posted by Tiziano

As my fellow poster Commisario Montalbano explains under the post directly below, Rudy Guede might get several years off, for some equity relative to the Knox-Sollecito sentences.

But other than that, his appeal grounds still don’t consist of coming clean and giving us all, Meredith’s family and friends especially, the full story of why and how things happened as they did which might make a SERIOUS difference.

This is a translated summary of the report in advance of today’s hearings from the news agency Adnkronos

Rudy Guede has 2 days to risk all for his future, 48 hours to dismantle the “concrete castle” of reasons for his guilty verdict and 30 years in gaol

Now serving his term in prison in Viterbo, Guede, 23, a former basketball player plays his last cards Monday & Tuesday in Appeal Court; the appeals court has already refused to reopen his case and requests for more expert reports made by Gentile & Biscotto, his lawyers

The riskiest card to play? That of sexual violence. Guede says he was in the bathroom when two assassins entered, one of whom was Amanda Knox; his only guilt was in not helping Meredith; He says he was in intimate contact with Meredith, but not against her will

Meredith’s body was found half-clothed although she did not have major bruising. Guede claims Meredith was dying but fully clothed when he ran away; he asks why he would have simulated violence; that would have directed blame against him as he had had contact with her. Thus someone else turned the house over and undressed Meredith according to Guede; proving this, her legs were not blood-stained, so she was wearing jeans when killed

There is a hard battle ahead [in these two days]: the reasons for the 1st stage trial verdict [Judge Micheli’s] were not in doubt according [Judge Micheli], and the prosecutor has asked already for confirmation. But in the meantime [the past one year] other things have transpired

Guede chose his fast-track trial in hope of a discounted sentence, but in fact received the heaviest of the sentences: Knox & Sollecito were granted some relief on their penalties as they were recognized as deserving general mitigating circumstances, resulting in their sentences of 26 & 25 years respectively

Although his case is independent of AK/RS trial, he continues to say:“Now there is confirmation that my verdict was unjust”  Guede’s lawyers will ask for his full acquittal, but he would get just below 20 years even if he were only granted mitigating circumstances

On Monday the civil complainants will appear; and Maresca & Perna (for the Kercher family) will come first at the hearing; then it will be the turn of Guede’s defenders

And this is translated from this morning’s El Messagero

Guede has claimed in a statement that he was only guilty of failure to help Meredith: He did not kill her, neither did he violate her. He claims there was a difference of opinion between AK & MK over money.

He turned to Kercher lawyers & stated that he wished Meredith’s parents to know his only fault was in his failure to assist their daughter as she lay dying

Added: The AGI news service is reporting from the hearings Guede’s lawyers are bitterly attacking the media and especially Knox’s and Sollecito’s lawyers for trying to pin all the blame onto him.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Guede Appeal Outcome Mon-Tues Could be An Indicator To Knox-Sollecito Appeal Outcome

Posted by Peter Quennell

The top eight posts here represent our previous reporting on Rudy Guede’s appeal.

Commissario Montalbano’s recent post on the Italian appeals process is also vital reading here.

The appeals grounds seemed thin, and the appeals judge will be very thoroughly acquainted with the report of the judge who first sentenced him, Judge Micheli.

There were only two variations to his original story in the appeal hearings: that he had not had intimate relations with Meredith, and that he had seen and identified Knox but not Sollecito. In his trial, his story was that he had identified Sollecito by appearance if not by name, and that he might have heard Knox nearby.

He emphasized that he briefly tried to save Meredith. But of course he fled without ever calling an ambulance, even anonymously, and Meredith was left clutching her wounded neck, with her door locked and her mobile phones removed. Guede then went out to a disco before taking to his heels to Milan and then Germany.

Recently Guede was mysteriously attacked in prison. Connected or not? Who knows? But Rudy might be thinking that 30 years in prison with time off for behavior is a better bet than another possible attack that ends worse.

The pro-Knox and Sollecito factions seem to be banking on their appeals late 2010 being a whole new trial. Guede’s appeals judge simply refused to reopen the whole case with new witnesses, and the November hearings were over very quickly.

Our Italian experts tell us that if Guede gets freedom, then Knox and Sollecito may expect to see freedom too. And if Guede gets his sentence reduced or confirmed, then that is very likely to be their fate too.

For why they all seem to be so joined at the hip read here and here. The Guede-as-lone-wolf theory never even got to first base.

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Explaining How The Italian Appeals Process Works - And Why It Is Now So Slow

Posted by Commissario Montalbano

Above is Vincenzo Carbone, Prime President of the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation, addressing the Italian Supreme Court.

The appeal process in the Italian judicial system is disciplined by art. 593 et seq. of the Italian Code of Penal Procedure (CPP).

Both the defendant and the prosecution have the right to appeal a sentence, according to the principle of parity of the two parties in a judicial process. In 2006 a law passed by the Berlusconi government (known as “Pecorella Law”, from the name of his sponsor), intended to prohibit the right of appeal of the prosecutor, similarly to what happens in the US, however the Italian Constitutional Court struck down that law as unconstitutional since it is in violation of the parity of the two parties in the process, as explained above. As a result the CPP has been modified to reflect its original version.

It is to be noted however, that if only the defendant requests an appeal (and not the prosecution), then the appeal court can only confirm or decrease the sentence of the first trial, but not increase it.

Since Mignini has already said that they won’t appeal the case, Amanda and Raffaele are likely to see their jail sentence decreased by a few years, or at most confirmed, but not increased. Art. 575 of the Italian Penal Code however prescribes a minimum of 21 years for voluntary homicide.

The principle of “double jeopardy”, which is also guaranteed by Italian law and by the law of all members of the European Union as condition of membership, does not apply to the appeal trial, as such trial is interpreted as being a mere continuation of the same first trial. The double jeopardy principle will therefore apply only after the sentence is definitive, i.e. after the Supreme Court of Cassation decision. In other words if Amanda and Raffaele are found not guilty after all the appeals are exhausted, the Italian state will not be able to try them again in the future.

This characteristic is not unique to Italy, most European countries, in fact, apply the double jeopardy only after all appeals have exhausted, among these Germany and France, which also permit the appeal by the prosecution.

The competence of the appeal process is disciplined by art 594 of the CPP. Such article establishes that the Appeal Court of Assizes has jurisdiction over the sentences rendered by the Court of Assizes. The Court of Assizes is the court in Italy which tries serious crimes, that is those crimes for which the penal code provides a maximum punishment of at least 24 years.

In this case the Corte d’Assise d’Appello of Perugia will have jurisdiction over the case. However the defense may request a change of venue, if they can demonstrate just cause.

The terms of the request for appeal are disciplined by art. 595 of the CPP. Such article specifies, among other things, that the party requesting the appeal can do so within 15 days from the day the Sentence is communicated. If such sentence is particularly complex (as this case is) the judge can request that the “Motivazione della Sentenza”, often referred to in TJMK as the Judge’s Report, or be filed with the court within 90 days from the end of the trial. In this circumstance the terms to file an appeal is 45 days, instead of 15.

The Italian constitution requires that all sentences be accompanied by this Report, including appeal sentences. As we’ve seen with Judge Micheli’s Report on Rudy Guede’s trial, the Sentence Motivation Report must explain the entire rationale that the judges utilized to reach the decision. The lack of such report would invalidate the sentence.

Once one or more parties to the trial requests an appeal, within 15 days from the day such Motivation report is communicated, the competent court will then acquire all the documentation regarding the case. The court will then notifies all parties of the beginning of the hearing at least 20 days before the commencement day.

As mentioned above, the appeal process in Italy is a brand new trial where all evidence and testimony is analyzed in the same terms as the first trial. The standards are however higher. The president of the Appeal Court of Assizes is in fact a judge from the Supreme Court of Cassation (the members of the Supreme Court are actually called “Consiglieri”). The requisites for being one of the 6 jurors are also higher. They must be all holding a high school degree (in the first trial the minimum required is only a middle school education).

[Image Above: The Seat of the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation, in the Hall of Justice in Rome, also known as “Il Palazzaccio” or the Ugly Palace].

The extraordinary broad appeal rights awarded by the Italian system are all part of the 1989 reform, which intended to add even more guarantees to the right of the accused. This has resulted in an incredible increase in pending cases in the overburdened Italian justice system. According to the latest report to Parliament by Justice Minister Angelo Alfano the pending cases in the Italian justice system at the end of 2006 amounted to nearly 9 million cases.

Over 5.4 million were civil cases, and over 3.3million criminal cases. Of these 3.3 million penal cases, over 1/3 were first trials, the rest were appeals. Compared to the rest of Europe Italy’s pending workload amounted to 3 times the one from France, over 6 times the one of Germany, and 5 times the one from Spain. The criminal cases pending in the first trial alone are 1.2 million, a figure twice as large as the one of Germany, Spain and England combined!

This situation, coupled with the fact that the number of Italian magistrates is about the same as other similar European countries, has resulted in an incredibly slow process. On average a criminal trial lasts 426 days in the first trial, and 730 days at the appeal trial, a duration much longer than any other EU country. The Perugia case was therefore faster than average, having lasted less than a year.

This situation is exacerbated by the broad appeal rights guaranteed also on the 2nd level of appeal, at the Supreme Court of Cassation. Like other supreme courts around the world, such court does not re-examine the entire body of evidence, but only ‘errores in iudicando’ and ‘errores in procedendo’ (errors in procedure or application of the law).

However, unlike its American or English counterparts, the Italian Supreme Court cannot refuse to review a case, and defendants have unlimited appeal rights to the Supreme Court of Cassation. They don’t even have to wait for the Appeal Court. You can in fact appeal to the Supreme Court directly after the first trial.

To give an idea of what this creates I’ll cite some figures. The US Supreme Court renders annually about 120 decisions. The Supreme Court in England about 75. The Italian Supreme Court of Cassation issues over 30,000 sentences every year!! No surprise then about the huge backlog, in spite of the fact that the Italian Supreme court consists of over 400 judges (called Consiglieri), divided into various sections (each of 5 consiglieri), all nominated by the Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura (CSM), the Italian Magistrates’ self governing body explained in a previous post.

Besides the broad appeal rights granted by the Italian law, an ulterior incentive to appeal is given by the fact that Italy has a very high “Reversal Rate” during the appeal process. Approximately half of all sentences rendered in the first trial are in fact reversed during the appeal process, a percentage which is 3 times higher than France for example. The ones that are not reversed often see a decrease in punishment.

No surprise therefore that Italians always appeal their sentences. And some analysts have even ventured to say that Italian appeal courts like to modify the sentences of the first trial just for the purpose of justifying their own existence.

Given these facts, coupled with the chronic lack of prison space, it shouldn’t be a surprise that in spite of the Cosa Nostra, the Camorra and N’drangheta (as the mafia is called in the various regions), Italy has maybe the absolute lowest prison population in the world in relationship to the total population.

Italy in fact has 66 inmates for every 1 million population, a figure matched only by Denmark, a country certainly not famous for their organized crime. By comparison, the US boasts a prison population of more than 750 inmates over 1 million inhabitants, a figure 12 times the one in Italy.

If Amanda and Raffaele really wanted to experience the thrill of committing a murder, Italy is definitely the place to do it, and get away with it!
 


[Image Above: Italian “Guardasigilli” (Justice Minister) Angelo Alfano]

Saturday, November 28, 2009

The Summations: Saturday Is Confirmed For The Start Of The Defence On Sollecito

Posted by Tiziano

Giiven the sorry state of his alibis we do look forward to this one. This below is translated from Perugia News.

Mauro Sedda • 25th November, 2009 16:33

Saturday has been confirmed for the beginning of the Defence addresses for Raffaele Solleecito, accused together with Amanda Knox and Rudy Hermann Guede (condemned to thirty years in a fast-track trial) for the murder of the English student Meredith Kercher. The first lawyer to speak will be Luca Maori.

The lawyer Giulia Bongiorno, affected by symptoms of appendicitis with fever, has requested on the other hand that the President of the Court of the Assizes of Perugia list her appearance at a time later than Saturday. In fact, only on that day will Bongiorno know whether she will be in a condition to deliver her address on next Monday, as arranged, or whether it will be necessary to postpone it for a few days.

The verdict in the trial of Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox is expected on December 4th and 5th

Friday, November 27, 2009

The Summations: Court Session Concludes After Lawyer Speaks For Meredith’s Family

Posted by Peter Quennell

Above: Mr Maresca is getting robed in court this morning.

His stark and very moving remarks for the family were the last item for the day. Mr Maresca spoke extensively of the remarkable qualities of Meredith, the supreme dignity and discretion of her family, and the enormous damage done by this very callous crime.

Listening to these remarks were various members of Amanda Knox’s family and the father of Raffaele Sollecito. Meredith’s family were not present in court. It is never seems easy for them to be there.

The Italian papers still only have short-form descriptions of Mr Maresca’s speech, and the English-language media dont yet have any. We will post again later, when all stories are filed and online.

Saturday update: We are gathering all the reports of Mr Maresca’s remarks - each has one or two points the others do not - and will post on them on Sunday.

The Summations: The Defendants And Their Families In The Courtroom Today

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger image]

The Summations: Patrick Lumumba’s Lawyer Describes Defamation By Knox As Ruthless

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click here for Nick Pisa’s noon report from the courtroom. Some excerpts:

Today the lawyer acting for bar owner Patrick Lumumba, who Knox blamed for the murder, was harsh in his judgement of the American student.

Lawyer Carlo Pacelli described Knox as a ‘talented and calculated liar, who had deliberately gone out of her way to frame Patrick.’

Mr Pacelli recalled how Knox had told police she ‘covered her ears as Patrick murdered Meredith. This was all a lie, his destiny at that moment was marked.

‘It was a ruthless defamation that destroyed Patrick as a man, husband and father. By naming him she hoodwinked the officer in charge of the murder investigation.’

Mr Lumumba was held for two weeks in custody before being released without charge after witnesses came forward to say he was at his Le Chic bar the night Meredith was murdered.

Mr Pacelli added: ‘Who is the real Amanda Knox ? Is it the one we see before us her, simple water and soap, the angelic St Maria Goretti (a teenager made a saint by the Catholic Church after she was murdered by an attempted rapist)?

‘Or is she really a she devil, a diabolical person focused on sex, drugs and alcohol, living life to the extreme and borderline -is this the Amanda Knox of November 1st 2007 (night Meredith was murdered).’

As he spoke, Knox could be seen writing notes to herself on the pad before her.

‘Conclusions drawn before knowing anything,’ she wrote, before adding: ‘In prison you don’t become a better person you become worse unless you have a inner light that guides you.’

The Summations: The Court Agenda For Friday

Posted by Jools

This is translated from Corriere dell Umbria.

.‘Raffaele’s DNA and the PM’s Spaghetti.’

Resumes tomorrow (hearing number 46) the trial for the murder of Meredith Kercher. It is predicted that tomorrow’s speech, in this order, will be:

Letizia Magnini (representing Aldalia Tattanelli, who owns the cottage where the murder was committed).

Carlo Pacelli (who represents Patrick Lumumba in the slander case against Amanda Knox).

Francesco Maresca and Serena Perna (who represent the Kercher’s family).

Saturday it will be the turn for Raffaele Sollecito’s defense. Luca Maori will give the summation; Monday, however, it should be Giulia Bongiorno’s time.

Defenses will very much attack the DNA. On which, previously the pm Manuela Comodi summation on the last hearing gave a much locked indictment.

However it is looking as if Ms Bongiorno may not be well enough by Monday to conduct her portion of the summation for Sollecito.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Italians Have For A Long Time Known How Depraved And Cruel The Final Struggle Was

Posted by Peter Quennell

As you can see in the prosecutors’ scenario posted below, we did not translate and post quite everything.

Meredith’s final 15-minute struggle is not there.

Back in January of this year the Micheli Report described in great detail Meredith’s autopsy, the wounds on her body, and the horrific state of her room.

There were literally DOZENS of evidence points. And it is crystal-clear that there is no way in the world that the attack was carried out by a single person.

Those descriptions had some of our Italian translators crying when they read the passages, and several said they slept badly for days.

We decided not to post those passages, because they put out in the open things that had been described only in closed session.

Our translators had trouble translating around those passages, and our poster Brian S worked for weeks to get the tone and coverage of his series of posts just right.

What we did post were the only long excerpts of the report in the English-speaking world.

The UK and US mainstream media pretty well ignored the Micheli Report. The UK media published only brief, mild excerpts, and the US media published NONE AT ALL.

Even today, few American journalists seem to realize that the report even exists.

In very sharp contrast, long excerpts were published in Italy.

And after a while as required by Italian law the Ministry of Justice in Rome posted the entire Micheli Report on their website. Many thousands of Italian speakers have been to that website and read the report in full. 

So there is not very much that Italian followers of the case dont know about Meredith’s final 15 minutes.

The timeline and the computer simulation that the prosecutors presented last Friday were put fully out in the open. The media were all there. And if there is a guilty verdict in this trial, the judges’ sentencing report must be out by early March.

This time around we will post the complete report.

If justice for Meredith is to be seen to be done, people need to read the entire thing.

Possible Trial Delay While Giulia Bongiorno Gets Well

Posted by Peter Quennell

[This new image was just emailed to us - it seems that we are read in Rome]

Italian media are now reporting that Sollecito’s lead lawyer has appendicitis.

A decision as to what to do will be made by the court today. Under the agreed schedule for the next two weeks, Ms Bongiorno and Mr Maori were due to argue Solllecito’s side of things this Saturday and next Monday.

This is the second time the trial schedule has been affected by ill health. The previous time it was Judge Massei. He contracted a touch of pneumonia.

Monday, November 23, 2009

The Summations: The Prosecutions’ Reconstruction Of The Events On The Night

Posted by Peter Quennell

[Above: Where they waited and watched? View from Piazza Grimana of gate area of Meredith’s house]

This time-line for the evening of 1 November 1 2007 was presented by the prosecutors in court on Friday afternoon.

It was accompanied by a very graphic computer simulation of all the events described except for the arrival of Rudy Guede, the timing of which is unknown but seems to have been late - maybe around 11:30 pm.

This account seems to be of a premeditated attack on Meredith, in which Knox and Sollecito may have watched Meredith’s house from this position above in the park for an hour and a half before they even entered the house.

Meredith was inside the whole time.

We have left out the depiction of the final struggle with Meredith, which is extremely sad and disturbing. In the evidence phase this was testified-to behind closed doors at her family’s request and we have never posted anything from those sessions.

However, it is made clear that Meredith put up a tremendous fight over a period of 15 minutes with three strong attackers, before she finally succumbed.

15:48: Meredith texts to her English friends that she will be slightly late for her dinner meeting with them. 16:00 - Meredith leaves the house in Via della Pergola to go to the home of her friends. A few minutes later Raffaele and Amanda leave the cottage in Via della Pergola to go Sollecito’s place. 18:00 - Amanda Knox leaves Raffaele Sollecito’s house. This is indicated by cell phone records. 18:27 - Raffaele Sollecito interacts with his laptop to watch the film “Amelie” alone at home. 20:18 - Amanda Knox in Via Ulisse Rocchi receives a text message (sms) from Patrick Lumumba telling her not to come to work that night. 20.30 - Amanda Knox goes back to Via Garibaldi to the apartment of Raffaele Sollecito. 20:38 - Amanda sends a text message (sms) in reply to Patrick Lumumba. 20:46 - Sollecito turns off his mobile phone. He is still at home in Via Garibaldi. 20:45 – Meredith’s meal of pizza with her English friends ends. She starts off in the direction of Via della Pergola with a girlfriend who will leave her halfway to go to her own home. 21:00 - Meredith is at home, she eats a mushroom, she lies down on her bed, and she reads some university lecture notes. 21:10 - From this point on there is no more human interaction with Raffaele Sollecito’s computer. 21:45 - Amanda and Raffaele leave his apartment and go to the Piazza Grimana. Less than 100 meters away from the house in Via della Pergola, the two talk and watch the house and decide what to do. They show a suspicious attitude which is reported in court by the witness Curatolo 23:20 - Amanda opens the door of Via della Pergola. 23.20 - Amanda, Raffaele and Rudy enter the house in Via della Pergola, where Meredith is already present in her room [On the court video there is no simulation of the meeting between Amanda and Rudy, because the reconstruction is based on testimony, the autopsy evidence and medical findings.] 23:21 - Amanda and Raffaele go into Meredith’s bedroom, while Rudy goes into the bathroom. 23:25 - A scuffle begins between Amanda, helped by Raffaele, and Meredith. The English girl is taken by the neck, then banged against a cupboard. Rudy Guede enters and joins in. 23:30 - 23:45 Depiction in the timeline and computer simulation of a horrific struggle with Meredith 23:50 - Amanda and Raffaele take Meredith’s mobile phones and they leave the apartment. Guede goes into the bathroom to get several towels to staunch the blood, then puts a cushion under Meredith’s head. 00.10 - Meredith’s mobile phones are thrown into a garden in Via Sperandio. 00.15 - From this moment, there are no certainties on the times for the rearrangement of the crime scene carried out by Amanda and Raffaele Sollecito.

 

However according to the prosecution in the wee hours of the night Knox and Sollecito returned to the scene of their crime to try and clean up some footprints and to break the window glass of Filomena’s room. The aim was to simulate a robbery that ended in murder and they are charged with this too.

The translation here, by Tiziano and our other Italian-speakers, is from Il Messagero and other Italian newspapers.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

The Summations: Barbie Nadeau On Mr Mignini Setting Out The Attack Scenario

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for Rome-based Barbie Nadeau’s report from the courtroom. Her excellent description includes this sad passage on Meredith.

Then he described Kercher as a woman full of life and potential, “the young woman we too often forget.” Mignini quoted Kercher’s father John on a number of occasions, especially when explaining that she was a strong woman who practiced karate and who would have fought back against an attack.

The courtroom was silent as he recalled the words of Kercher’s father: “Meredith would have fought with all her life.”

The report also includes this on possible hard drugs.

He also hinted that Knox and Sollecito might have been in a drug-fueled frenzy when they allegedly killed Kercher. He outlined the effects of cocaine and acid, and told the judges and jury how Knox and Sollecito ran with a crowd that often used these “stupificante,” or stupefying drugs.

Drugs were not proven other than that both Knox and Sollecito claimed to have smoked marijuana on the day. The two drugs mainly hypothesized up to now if there was a drug other than unmodified marijuana (cannabis) seem to have been crystal meth and skunk cannabis.

Both of them are now proving a cause of psychotic episodes which can result in fatal attacks. Genetically-engineered skunk cannabis seems to increasingly be most of the cannabis on the market.

The Summations: The Italian Press Is Now Reporting Life Sentences Are Requested

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for Romana Oggi’s report in Italian. A translation:

Prosecutors Manuela Comodi and Giuliano Mignini at the end of their indictment before the Court of Assizes of Perugia requested a life sentence for Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, the two former lovers accused of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.

The prosecution also asked for a period in isolation for Amanda Knox during the day for 9 months, and a period in isolation for Raffaele Sollecito during the day for 2 months.

The two defendants remained impassive to the request.

“This was a murder accompanied by sexual violence which was done for petty reasons against a girl 22 years old who was soon due to return to London for the birthday of her mother’’ Prosecutor Mignini said at the end of the indictment.

After he concluded, Amanda Knox stood up to make a brief statement spontaneously. “Meredith was my friend, and I did not hate her. The idea that I wanted revenge on a person who was always kind to me is absurd.”
“I never had any acquaintance or relationship with Rudy Guede. The things that were said in the past two days are pure fantasy. It is not the truth and not the reality of the situation.”

Meredith’s mother was far from well at the time, which was why Meredith was carrying two mobile phones (the two removed while she lay dying, presumably so she could not call for help) to be quite sure they could reach one another.

Meredith had been planning the trip home to London for weeks and was excited about it. It would have been her first trip home to see her family since she arrived in Perugia.

In June Meredith’s father John Kercher described how he found out Meredith would never come home. 

The Summations: Manuela Comodi Continues The Prosecution’s Very Hard Line

Posted by Tiziano

Wow! This summation is quite remorseless.

Both prosecutors seem to have very deep feelings for Meredith, and much contempt for those who have tried so hard to deny her justice.

And they both seem very, very sure of their case - always remember that the judges and jury have seen a LOT of evidence in those 10,000-plus sealed pages and those many closed court sessions that we the public were not party to.

La Nazione reports now some more of Ms Comodi’s summing-up this morning. She was neatly tying the many elements together, and denying that anything at all is weak. . 

PM Comodi: “The DNA was not contaminated”

The Magistrate opened her summing-up declaring that the proof which has emerged from the investigations is “irrefutable and overwhelming”. Speaking this morning was PM Manuela Comodi who began her summing-up by declaring that the proof emerging from the investigations was “irrefutable and overwhelming”. 

The magistrate underlined that no right of the defence had been harmed,  “The only right offended – Comodi said - was that of the scientific police and the postal police to see their work recognised.”

The PM defined the possibility of contamination of the DNA removed from the scene of the murder as “nil. 

“In every biological analysis – she added – the risk of deterioration and contamination is inherent.  Patrizia Stefanoni, the biologist of the scientific police has however put in action all the due procedures to avoid these phenomena and nobody can affirm the contrary.  The consultants for the parties then took part in all the inspections and analyses.”

The Summations: First Report On Technical Summing-Up By Prosecutor Comodi

Posted by Tiziano

[Prosecutor Comodi this morning at left with defense lawyers Della Vedova and Maori]

Corriere is reporting the start of the summation by Manuela Commodi of the technical aspects of the case. A translation:

Meredith Trial, the PM speaks: “Irrefutable proof from the investigations”

It was Assistant Prosecutor Manuela Comodi to take the floor and she dealt with the scientific aspects of the investigation.

Manuela Comodi started her summing-up this morning by underlining that the rights of the defence had not been damaged….

“Irrefutable and overwhelming scientific proof” is what has emerged from the investigations. PM Manuela Comodi started her address in this way, stressing that no rights of the defence had been injured. 

“The only right which has been offended” Comodi said “was that of the scientific police and the postal police to see their work recognised.” 

Then the PM began to speak about the data relative to the telephone cells examined during the investigation. 

[Next] it will be the turn of PM Mignini to speak again to make the request for the sentencing.

The Summations: AP’s Marta Falconi Is Reporting Life-In-Prison Request Is Expected

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for Marta’s report as carried in today’s Guardian. Some excerpts:

Prosecutors on Saturday were expected to request life in prison for an American student and her former boyfriend accused of killing a young British woman in Italy….

In her closing remarks Saturday, prosecutor Manuela Comodi said evidence presented during the trial had shown that the defendants’ cell phones were switched off the night of the crime, making their whereabouts impossible to trace.

Comodi also recalled testimony by expert witnesses who said Sollecito’s computer had not been used during the hours Kercher was stabbed to death.

Prosecutors were expected to make the sentencing requests later Saturday. A verdict is expected in early December.

Friday, November 20, 2009

WHY Did She Have To Go Like That? Our Saddest Day In Two Years

Posted by The Posters

We praise the fire and anger that Giuliano Mignini showed in court on Meredith’s behalf.

This much maligned but really very caring and compassionate man really went to town today, for someone he clearly sees as a quite extraordinary girl.

Like all of us, her never met her. But like all of us, he loves what she stood for.

The Summations: Additional Detail In Today’s Wrap-Up Report By Andrea Vogt

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for the full report by Italy-based Andrea Vogt.

Meredith Kercher’s homicide carries the distinct signature of a woman, Italian prosecutor Giuliano Mignini argued in fiery closing arguments here Friday, and that woman is Seattle native Amanda Knox.

“It is Amanda who started the fight , which triggered an unstoppable crescendo of violence, and it is Amanda who plunged the knife into Meredith’s neck,” Mignini said. “It is Amanda who later covers the body with a blanket—a form of pietas, of respect for the victim. An unknown male would not have any need to cover the body. As a woman, and friend, she couldn’t stand to see that nude, battered body that she was responsible for.”

On Friday, Mignini argued that Knox initiated a scuffle that degenerated into a beating, sexual assault and eventual stabbing, went on to alter the crime scene to create a clumsily staged burglary and rape, then fell into a self-made trap of inconsistencies and fibs.

“The first accusers of Amanda and Raffaele were they themselves,” he said.

But despite frequent references to all three suspects, Mignini clearly painted Knox as the mastermind of the crime, an aggressive young woman who harbored hate for her goody-two shoes English roommate, and exerted powerful influence over the other two male suspects, who were infatuated with her…

The Summations: Perenially Fact-Challenged CNN Reports On Today Correctly

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for CNN’s report by Hada Messia.

CNN of course broadcast the notorious Larry King interview with lawyer John Q Kelly and the equally notorious legal screaming-match chaired by Jane Velez Mitchell. The YouTubes of both have been quietly disappeared. And all of its online reports on the case seem to contain bias and errors.

CNN gas been periodically updating this report of Hada Messia for some days, though it still contains wrong statements. The brief new component on today’s proceedings is in fact relatively accurate.

Accompanied by two smitten young men vying to impress her, a resentful Amanda Knox toyed with a knife and then plunged it into her roommate’s neck, killing her, an Italian prosecutor charged in closing arguments Friday.

The November 2, 2007, death of British student Meredith Kercher occurred during a twisted sex game in which Knox taunted Kercher, and the two men—boyfriend Rafael Sollecito and acquaintance Rudy Guede—sexually assaulted her, prosecutor Guilano Mignini said during his seven-hour closing.

The prosecutor said Knox hated and resented Kercher and had decided the time had come to exact revenge….  Mignini said Kercher died about 11:30 p.m. after she and Knox had quarreled—either over money or Guede’s presence at the house.

The prosecutor said the men pinned Kercher down by her arms while Knox played with the knife, prodding at her throat and saying, “Ah, you were pretending to be such a little saint. ... Now we are going to show you.”

Francesco Maresca, a lawyer for the Kercher family, said he was “very satisfied” with the prosecutor’s argument, adding that the crimes should bring a life sentence.

The Summations: Late Edition La Stampa Reported More On Prosecutor Mignini

Posted by Tiziano

Please click above for the report in Italian. A partial translation:

The PM: “Amanda nursed her hatred of Meredith for a long time”

On the evening of November 1st, 2007 the moment had arrived for Knox “to avenge herself on that simpering girl” of a Meredith Kercher with whom she had been living for a few months but whom she considered “too serious and restrained”. So the young woman from Seattle killed her, together with her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and Rudy Guede “in an uncontrolled crescendo of violence”, which was also sexual.

This is the picture outlined by PM Giuliano Mignini in his summing-up in the trial of the student from Seattle and the young man from Puglia before the court of the Assizes of Perugia. The magistrate who has coordinated the police investigations from the outset spoke for more than seven hours.

He reconstructed in detail the the investigation conducted by the Perugia flying squad, the SCO and the scientific branch. He listed the names of the witnesses and the circumstances to which they referred. He spoke of a “media trial in which the central nodes vanished” (of the case actually conducted in court), and how the investigation received “voluminous and constant confirmation” of the indications of guilt, from the GIP up to the Court of Cassation….

According to the reconstruction of the PM, on the evening of November 1st Knox had an appointment with Guede, whom she knew and who had fallen for her, about matters linked to marijuana which both of them used. With him - the PM explained - she was to go to the house in Via della Pergola but then Sollecito joined them. Kercher was in the house.

“We do not know for certain - Mignini said - what they were intending to do at the residence, but it is possible that there was an argument, which then degenerated, between Mez and Amanda about the missing money, or perhaps the English student was annoyed by the presence of Guede. Knox, Sollecito and Guede, under the influence of drugs and perhaps alcohol, decide however to put in motion the plan to involve Mez in a heavy sexual game.

Amanda had nursed a hatred for Meredith and the moment has come to avenge herself on that “prissy girl”.” Too “serious and restrained for her tastes” - this is the reconstruction of the prosecution - and who accused her of “lack of neatness and cleanliness”.

This attack happens in the victim’s bedroom and was started by Knox and Sollecito while Guede is in the bathroom.

According to the PM the Ivorian arrived a little later and took part in “an uncontrollable and unstoppable crescendo of violence and sexual play”, in which the English girl did not want to participate, while he (Guede) was “convinced that in this way he would please Amanda because now the two fellows were in competition for the favours of the girl from Seattle”.

In the PM’s reconstruction it was Knox who pushed Meredith towards the wall of the room and who struck her in the kneck with a knife (while Sollecito was holding another one). The young man from Puglia is accused however of having held the victim still, but also of tearing off the fastening of her bra, and Guede is accused of sexually abusing the victim. The magistrate decribed them as “three unrestrained furies”.

 

The Summations: Defendant Leaves Court As Prosecutor Proposes What Meredith Was Subjected To

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for the full report in the Sun, once again by Nick Pisa.

Please be warned that this below is very difficult and intensely sad reading. It seems to build upon some expert testimony that was only presented behind closed doors

Murder suspect Amanda Knox broke down in tears as the case against her was summed up today.

The American student was led from the courtroom after prosecutors outlined the horrific violence British student Meredith Kercher suffered before her death.

They claimed blonde Knox, 22, known as Foxy Knoxy, “harboured hatred” for housemate Meredith - and “killed her to take revenge”.

Meredith, 21, was “too serious” for Knox, it was claimed.

When Knox returned to the courtroom in Perugia, Italy, today, she appeared shaken and her eyes puffy…

Summing up the prosecution case, Giuliano Mignini said: “Knox and Sollecito arrived at the house with Guede. Meredith was already there and the evening began to degenerate.

“Meredith and Amanda began to argue over money. Meredith was also upset that Amanda had brought another man (Guede) back to the house they shared.

“They argued about this ugly habit of hers, and the three who had arrived were also under the influence of drugs and alcohol.”

Mr Mignini added: “Meredith was far too serious a girl for Amanda, she didn’t like her or her friends because they were critical of her hygiene and habits.

“Amanda harboured hatred for Meredith and that night the time had come for her to take revenge - and that’s when Meredith’s ordeal began.”....

Mr Mignini outlined the horrific violence Meredith suffered before she died.

He said: “Amanda grabbed her by the hair and hit her head on the floor. Rudy finished what he did (sex) and Sollecito was threatening her with his knife.

“Amanda also had a knife and held it to the left side of Meredith’s throat and as the crescendo of violence grew inflicted the deepest cut.

“Meredith did not want to submit herself to the sexual violence.”

As he spoke Knox appeared to be in discomfort and took several deep breaths.

Her lawyer Luciano Ghirga held her hand reassuringly and squeezed it several times, while a female prison guard behind her stooped down and asked twice if she was ok.

Minutes later Mr Mignini’s closing speech was interrupted as Knox had to be led out to compose herself.

The court heard how Knox “dominated” her relationship with Sollecito, who in turn was “dependent on her”.

Mr Mignini claimed video footage of the couple showed computer studies graduate Sollecito “following on behind her, often kissing and cuddling her”.

The Summations: More On How The Prosecution Launched Forth - And On Possible Motive

Posted by Tiziano

[Above: The two prosecutors today - click for larger image]

The TGCOM news service quoted this statement on the theory of the motive.

“Amanda Knox harbored hatred for Meredith… and so it was time for revenge rather than flirting….” According to the prosecutor Amanda wanted revenge on “that girl who was only with her English friends, and who reproached [Amanda] for her lack of cleanliness.” Thus was set under way “the calvary of Meredith.”

And this report from Umbria Journal adds details to the description posted below from Il Mattino

PM Giuliano Mignini spoke of a “unique event” of a trial which has “involved three continents”, opening his summing-up address in the trial of Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox.

“A media trial in which the elements which emerged in court largely vanished,” the magistrate affirmed. “Detectives in search of notoriety, writers, bloggers, and mystery writers alternated with one another in a sort of parallel trial. But the trial is taking place only in this court room.”

Rudy Guede has been the “convitato di pietra” [literally, silent guest] in the trial of RF and AK according to Mignini. “In a way he has always been present,” the magistrate said referring to the Ivorian, already condemned to 30 years in prison by fast-track trial for complicity in the murder of Meredith Kercher with the two young people.

“Supporters of Sollecito and Knox” Mignini stressed “don’t stop at proclaiming their innocence, but they accuse him [Guede] too. They say that they were not at the crime house, but they also say the assassin is Guede. The accused wanted to create a parallel trial without his being able to defend himself.”

The PM then claimed that the breaking of a window in the bedroom of one of the Italian housemates of Knox and Meredith Kercher carried out according to the prosecution to mislead the investigations “is the special key to the event and the mystery. If it was simulated, as is evident, the authors are Knox, and Sollecito who always followed her. And the objective was to turn away suspicion.” The magistrate defined the break-in as “the nail on which the defences of the accused are hanging.”

“A nail” he averred “which has fallen down noisily and with it the the defences.” For Mignini the theft was simulated “from the inside, by someone who wanted to turn away suspicions and maybe direct them towards Rudy.”

Amanda Knox “knowingly accused an innocent man”... The reference is to Patrick Lumumba who, however, he did not expressly name, involved in the investigations of the murder of Meredith Kercher through the statements to the police of the young American and then absolved of any wrong-doing (he has actually nominated as a civil complainant against the American who is accused of defamation against him).

“Amanda” the [prosecutor] stressed “did not lift a finger while he was languishing in prison. Neither she nor her mother who was in her confidence. And what a coincidence” Mignini continued “it was a matter of a coloured person like Rudy”

 

The Summations: Nick Pisa In Daily Mail Has A Late-Morning Report

Posted by Peter Quennell

Please click above for Nick Pisa’s full story. Two key claims made by the prosecution:

Murder suspect Amanda Knox was described as ‘dominant’ in her relationship with co-accused Raffaele Sollecito today, as prosecutors began summing up in the case against them.

Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini said Knox ‘dominated’ her relationship with Sollecito who in turn was ‘dependent on her’. He said this was evident in TV footage from the time of the murder, where Sollecito was ‘following on behind her, often kissing and cuddling her.’

Prosecutor Mignini added: ‘The key to this mystery is in the room where the supposed break-in took place’. Mignini added: ‘This break-in is the nail of Knox and Sollecito’s defence, but it was all simulated.  ‘It would have been manna from heaven for them if blood or other genetic evidence had been found on the broken glass or window frame but nothing was found.”

“This hypothetical thief then did something quite remarkable - he didn’t take anything of value. No jewellery was missing, computers were left at the scene as well as designer bangs and clothes. A “very strange break-in” was in fact how the first police officer who arrived at the house described it - they could not believe that nothing of value was taken.”

Prosecutor Mignini also pointed out how fragments of glass had been found on top of clothes scattered on the bedroom floor which was also unusual for a break-in, especially if the wardrobe had been ransacked after the window was broken.

He added that it was also virtually impossible to climb to the bedroom window of Filomena Romanelli and that it was also the most exposed as it was visible to the road and passing traffic…

The Summations: The Lead Judge And Two Defendants In The Court This Morning

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]

[Image below: Amanda Knox is comforted by her lawyer Maria Del Grosso]

The Summations: The Prosecution Starts To Lay Out The Elements Of Their Case

Posted by Peter Quennell

[Above: Prosecutor Comodi. Below: Prosecutor Mignini.]

The prosecution will take at least two days to complete their summation of their case, drawing all of the threads together.

We have been warned by court watchers to expect at least some surprises. The first seems to be that the prosecution starts off where Amanda Knox seems to be especially vulnerable - her false charge against Patrick Lumumba.

Even if the murder verdict against Amanda Knox early in December becomes “not guilty” she might still face a conviction and sentence just for this.

This first report is from Il Mattino with translation by our poster Tiziano.  .

Amanda Knox “knowingly accused an innocent person”:  Thus said PM Giulian Mignini in his summing- up address under way before the Court of the Assizes of Perugia. 

The reference is to Patrick Lumumba , whom he did not nominate specifically, who was involved in the investigation into the murder of Meredith Kercher through the statements made to the police by the young American accused of defamation against him, and who was absolved of any wrong-doing (and has in fact now nominated as a civil complainant against her).

“Amanda” the magistrate underlines “did not lift a finger while he was languishing in prison. Neither she nor her mother who was in her confidence.  And what a coincidence” Mignini continued “it was a matter of a coloured person like Rudy Guede.” 

“It is time to draw together the threads of this long debate, an event which is unique of its kind in the panorama of Italian and world justice, which has involved three continents.” Thus spoke the PM, Giuliano Mignini, in his address in the trial for the murder of Meredith Kercher, which sees accused Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.

“A straight and sure route for the trial.  The attacks which have accompanied this trial and the continual attempts to delegitimise the police working on it, who however carried out their duties with professionalism, and also their dealings with the court, cannot be passed over in silence,” Mignini stressed. 

Attacks made by persons in Italy and overseas, lawyers not possessing any mandate, detectives looking for notoriety, writers, mystery writers, bloggers who gave themselves the right to undertake a sort of parallel trial, all bound together by lack of accuracy and superficiality.  But the trial is being held only in this court room.”

The Summations: A Summary Of The Agenda For The Next Few Days

Posted by Tiziano

[Above: A shot of the courtroom taken this morning]

A translation of the trial agenda from Giornale Online Di Perugia

LAST LINES IN THE TRIAL OF AMANDA AND RAFFAELE. ON SATURDAY SENTENCING REQUESTS.

Maurizio Troccoli November 19th, 2009 15.33

Just one day after the request for a confirmation of the penalty of 30 years against Rudy Hermann Guede, drafted by the Prosecutor General, in the Appeal Court of the Assizes, it’s over to the other first-stage trial against Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox, still in the Assizes and for the same murder, accused of being the killers of Meredith.

[Today] is the day of PM Giuliano Mignini and PM Manuela Comodi’s summing-up, which will go back over the whole investigation into the murder of the English student. The hearing on Saturday has also been reserved for the magistrates when they will formulate their requests for the verdict.

The PMs will delineate the framework of the investigations carried out by the flying squad of Perugia, by the SCO [Servizio Centrale Operativo of the State Police], and by the scientific police after the crime which took place on the night between November 1st and 2nd, 2007. The witness statements and the scientific evidence against the the two young people, on trial since January 16th of this year, will be summarised for the college, chaired by Giancarlo Massei, with deputy Beatrice Cristiani, supported by six civil judges.

For the first time they will hear the request for a sentence. The PMs will have to ask the judges for the number of years they believe that the two will have to serve. Then it will be the turn of the defence lawyers to play the last cards to try and dismantle the accusatorial theorem of the PMs.

Sollecito, 25 years old from Giovinazzo, and Knox, a 22 year-old from Seattle, have been put on trial for voluntary murder of Kercher, for sexual assault against her, unjustifiable carrying of a knife, theft (about 300 euros, two credit cards and two mobile phones belonging to the victim) and simulation of a crime (for the breaking-in carried out in one of the bedrooms of the crime house in order to derail the investigations, according to the prosecution).

Only the American must answer as well to defamation against Patrick Lumumba, for having involved him with her declarations during the investigation into the murder of Meredith Kercher, in which it was recognised on the other hand that he had no involvement. Both have however proclaimed themselves completely extraneous to the charges.

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Your Comments

By jasmine1998 on the post 'Conspiracy Theorists Follow A Well Known Pattern - They ALL End Up Out Of Steam And Ignored'.


@Terence
No offense but I can not feel sorry for AK’s Parents.
Please get the book Darkness Descending it explains alot on all 3 of their life.

To me Edda taught Amanda how to lie when…

By Hopeful on the post 'Steve Moore Is Baffling Informed Case Observers On Both Sides Of The Atlantic'.


9/9/10

Mo-in-Mass, you asked about Steve Moore. Yes, he is a real former FBI agent according to posts on PMF several days ago.

I am pro-FBI, but go to a website called: 

SignOnSanDiego Forums FBI watch Page 196.  Scroll…

By Terence on the post 'Conspiracy Theorists Follow A Well Known Pattern - They ALL End Up Out Of Steam And Ignored'.


When one reads well-written conspiracy theories that provide very believable details about the authors’ reasons for their opinions, like with Lady Di’s sad death, or the origins of the Pyramids of Giza, or the (real?) reasons for invading Afghanistan and…

By Innai on the post 'Conspiracy Theorists Follow A Well Known Pattern - They ALL End Up Out Of Steam And Ignored'.


I agree, this is a great piece and an interesting angle.  I had never thought of applying the term “consipiracy theorists” before, but it does seem to fit.

As a scientist I always find the attacks on the science and…

By The Machine on the post 'Conspiracy Theorists Follow A Well Known Pattern - They ALL End Up Out Of Steam And Ignored'.


Hi Stilicho,

This is an excellent piece. Conspiracy theorists like Steve Moore, John Q Kelly, Judy Bachrach and Amy Jenkins haven’t provided any proof to support their wild-eyed claims that that there was dark and sinister plot to frame Knox…

By Mo-in-Mass.,USA on the post 'Steve Moore Is Baffling Informed Case Observers On Both Sides Of The Atlantic'.


Has anyone gotten information affirming that Steve Moore actually worked for the FBI?  If yes, have they determined in what capacity?  Anyone can claim they worked for the FBI, even if they were a janitor.  What actual credentials does Steve…

By Mo-in-Mass.,USA on the post 'The Anne Bremner Case: Seattle Media Obtain Arrest Documents And A Video'.


If I were in Amanda Knox’s shoes I wouldn’t want ANY of the people that are on her team to be on mine. It almost makes it understandable how she turned out like she did, as those that defend her,…

By Innai on the post 'Steve Moore Is Baffling Informed Case Observers On Both Sides Of The Atlantic'.


I would like to ask people such as Mr. Moore precisely how they think their actions are helping Amanda Knox. 

She is being tried in Italy, and, from what I have seen, please correct me if I am wrong,…

By aethelred23 on the post 'Steve Moore Is Baffling Informed Case Observers On Both Sides Of The Atlantic'.


I agree, this FBI agent´s retirement must be getting to his head. His attempts at explaining away Amanda´s guilt are so formulaic that they become cruel . According to statistics Amanda doesn´t fit the expected pattern of a violent killer…

By tigger34 on the post 'The Anne Bremner Case: Seattle Media Obtain Arrest Documents And A Video'.


@John, also, when you choose to do jail time, you may also keep your license (btdt). Problem is, they’re treating this like a first offense.

I don’t know how she makes so much money and can’t even call a cab….especially…

By Innai on the post 'The Anne Bremner Case: Seattle Media Obtain Arrest Documents And A Video'.


@ John,

I understand she agreed to have a device fitted to her car - some kind of breathalyser device she has to use before she can start the car and if she’s intoxicated her car won’t start.

I know…

By John on the post 'The Anne Bremner Case: Seattle Media Obtain Arrest Documents And A Video'.


How is it, she didn’t even have her license suspended?

By Peter Quennell on the post 'Steve Moore Is Baffling Informed Case Observers On Both Sides Of The Atlantic'.


I see there is also a Steve Bremner commenting on Doug Bremner’s blog. I have just read all the comments under Doug Bremner’s post.

They do sound beleagured and very out-numbered on the mental illness and brain damage claims as…

By Mo-in-Mass.,USA on the post 'The Anne Bremner Case: Seattle Media Obtain Arrest Documents And A Video'.


Anne Bremner is a disgrace to the legal profession.  She should be disbarred for trying to obstruct the law —- especially as the law is what put a roof over her head and food on her table.  To drive while…

By Terence on the post 'Steve Moore Is Baffling Informed Case Observers On Both Sides Of The Atlantic'.


Doug Bremner…Anne Bremner…is this a ‘family thing’? How many more Bremners are there!?

By True North on the post 'The Anne Bremner Case: Seattle Media Obtain Arrest Documents And A Video'.


Anne Bremner’s DUI arrest video reminds me of that old saying, ” you know you’re having a bad day when….......”

Well it’s evident that for Anne Bremner, Amanda Knox, the Knox’s and Mellas’s clans and the rest of Friends of…

By giustizia on the post 'The Anne Bremner Case: Seattle Media Obtain Arrest Documents And A Video'.


Wow - just when you think the clan can’t sink any lower, they seem to hit a new low. Pathetic or poetic justice?

By The Machine on the post 'Steve Moore Is Baffling Informed Case Observers On Both Sides Of The Atlantic'.


Doug Bremner is another white knight who wants to save Amanda Knox from the dastardly Italians. He’s made the deeply racist and xenophobic claim on his blog that corruption is endemic in Italy:

“That corruption is endemic in Italy…

By Innai on the post 'Steve Moore Is Baffling Informed Case Observers On Both Sides Of The Atlantic'.


And surely, if you believed there was any impropriety in an investigation, your first point of call would be the Police Complaints Commission or equivalent (sorry, I don’t know what the Italian or American equivalent body is called).  Or your…

By The Machine on the post 'Steve Moore Is Baffling Informed Case Observers On Both Sides Of The Atlantic'.


Hi Lilly,

It doesn’t take much common sense to understand that Knox’s PR agency is hardly an objective and reliable source of information. Perhaps, we’re expecting too much from Steve Moore. Anyone who thinks there is a huge sinister conspiracy…

By lilly on the post 'Steve Moore Is Baffling Informed Case Observers On Both Sides Of The Atlantic'.


@ The Machine

It’s likely that Moore was briefed on the case by the Knox PR agency, rather than his independently researching, coming to conclusions etc.

So it’s not surprising that when he’s questioned and asked a question about detail…

By Innai on the post 'Steve Moore Is Baffling Informed Case Observers On Both Sides Of The Atlantic'.


Trust is something that is hard to win and easy to lose; the credibility of a journalist or paper/news source can be destroyed if it is found that they have not done their research/relied on a bad source/failed to voice…

By The Machine on the post 'Steve Moore Is Baffling Informed Case Observers On Both Sides Of The Atlantic'.


Steve Moore’s credibility has been completely shot to pieces. When he was interviewed by Frank Shiers on Kiro FM, he got countless basic facts wrong.

His claim that evidence against Knox was manipulated makes him sound like a paranoid and…

By Peter Quennell on the post 'Steve Moore Is Baffling Informed Case Observers On Both Sides Of The Atlantic'.


Thanks Terence and Lilly. I agree with you both. The networks increasingly have their backs to the wall as their former advertising dollars move increasingly to the internet.

As they grow editorially more and more shrill, we observe their credibility…

By Mo-in-Mass.,USA on the post 'Steve Moore Is Baffling Informed Case Observers On Both Sides Of The Atlantic'.


Personally, I think that Mr. Moore is grandstanding for the notoriety - his “15 minutes in the sun”.  Either that or he personally knows one of the other characters in the Knox/Mellas circus and is trying to “do them a…

Appeals Process

Judges sentencing report released March 4. Appeals late in 2010.