Friday, September 23, 2011
An Overview Of What The Italian Media Are Saying In Advance Of The Final Appeal Sessions
Posted by Peter Quennell
As usual, Meredith and her family and the prosecution are being given much more space than in the USA and UK.
Italian media and the Italian public are generally cognizant of the fact that no final verdict for this level of crime can be issued except by the Supreme Court. In effect what Judge Hellman’s court will issue is a provisional finding, and Sollecito and Knox may not know their final verdict and sentence for a year and a half.
That is, if the Supreme Court does not bounce the case back to the lower courts for reconsideration of some aspect as quite often happens - that happened in the case of defense witness Mario Alessi’s wife though her final sentence was not greatly affected.
In that event a final outcome could take even longer.
Libero News reports (as we of course knew) that the prosecution will be seeking a more severe sentence and looking to exclude the mitigating circumstances that Judge Massei allowed.
Il Secolo reports the same thing, with no quotes from the defense teams. Prosecutors Giancarlo Costagliola, Giuliano Mignini, and Manuela Comodi will all present parts of the prosecution argument. Ms Comodi will rebutt the independent experts’ report on some of the DNA.
Il Secolo also mentions that that the court has accepted that Guede has confirmed Knox’s and Sollecito’s presence at the house. Unclear where this comes from but usually it is impossible to be sure what was weighted heavily until the sentencing report comes out. No evidence is rejected in the Italian system; it is all carefully weighted instead. .
And many media sites are reporting in Italian a statement by Meredith’s mother. Here from Comments is a translation by our Italian poster ncountryside.
My daughter Meredith was killed while she was in the safest place: in her bedroom. Who killed her knew her well, but her confidence had been betrayed. For me it is inconceivable that should have happened.
My daughter was killed in her home. Not in a park, not in a street. Her body was not found in a garden.
I had talked with her the day before the murder. She was happy. She promised me that she would be back to celebrate my birthday. She had bought the chocolate that she wanted to give me.
During these four years I have never stopped thinking about her. And it is as if I always had her near me.
She loved Italy, She was fascinated by Perugia.
I do not care about the names of those convicted, I do not care whether they are called Rudy, Amanda and Raffaele. For me it’s just that my daughter was killed by someone who at first instance was found guilty and convicted.
In that trial there was much strong evidence, I am wondering what is happening to it now. They tell me that some may no longer be valid but they are two items, what of all the others? What has changed from the first trial?
I accepted the ruling of the Court of Assizes, and I accept what will be decided by the Court of Appeal and all the others will have to do like me without any distinction.
I want justice done for my daughter.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 09/23/11 at 05:56 AM in Appeals 2009-2015, Hellmann 2011+, News media & movies, Media developments
Comments
Nick Pisa reports more in the Daily Mail on the huge strain now on Meredith’s family.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 09/23/11 at 07:12 AM | #
I still don’t get how, in the event that they are acquitted, both K & S can leave the country with an appeal over their heads.
IS it true, that the prosecution has to wait 90 days for it can lodge an appeal? Sounds absurd to me. Can anyone clarify both points above, please!
Posted by Zoff on 09/23/11 at 09:49 AM | #
I’m glad the Kerchers are speaking out. This is where having maintained their silence pays off, because the press is eager to hear what they have to say.
Curt Knox keeps shopping his idealised portrait of Amanda that no one believes. He says she was brought up to help people and was just trying to help police and she didn’t have an interpreter.
Well, on the stand she said, “I told them ‘Let me give you a present.’” referring to her spontaneous written statement in which she placed herself at the scene of the crime. “Let me give you a present.” That doesn’t sound like someone who was brought up to be helpful. That sounds like the sarcastic vindictive Amanda that would be perfectly capable of a brutal murder.
Posted by brmull on 09/23/11 at 10:24 AM | #
Well said Mrs k right between the eyes.
God Bless.
Posted by JHEA on 09/23/11 at 01:41 PM | #
@Zoff - Amanda’s Moldavian cellmate was cleared after the first trial and allowed to leave the country. The Prosecution filed an appeal, which I understand she didn’t attend, and was found guilty. Ukraine sent her back to Italy.
Even if that happens to Amanda and Raffaele, their freedom would be temporary. If found guilty, any country they could hope to live in would deport them to Italy. There’s realistically nowhere to go, unless they head to somewhere in the Middle East or South America.
Posted by Vivianna on 09/23/11 at 03:17 PM | #
@ Vivianna:
Firstly, grazie mille ! Cold comfort if Knox goes back to Seattle; can you see Judge Heavy granting extradition to Italy? I don’t think so!
Posted by Zoff on 09/23/11 at 03:33 PM | #
There has to be a name for it, this turning of the English press in Amanda’s favor. It reminds me of those fabled outlaws who figure in popular romance, but how to account for it in a case like this? After all, it was an English girl who was murdered in her bedroom—inside a locked house.
Three English papers that I’ve read have printed articles favoring Amanda & fairly scorning the very evidence. I include Nick Pisa, cited above, because he ends with Curt Knox’s spin on his daughter:
“Amanda is a very loving, caring, honest family orientated girl,” Curt tells us there. Loving. Caring. Honest. Family oriented… She who loved her friend Meredith so much that she didn’t care to attend her memorial service & lied Mumumba into jail in a dangerous accusation.
“She is very studious, a good athlete and what you would hope for in a daughter.” A daughter half-abandoned in divorce & whose care Curt had earlier neglected (according to one report) so that he had to be taken to court for that. (I have not tried to verify that report.)
“Amanda, when she wants to know what a person is like, when [she] wants a friendship… does not go for superficial people.” Good to know this. “She does not go for drugs.” Indeed.
Concerning Amanda’s version of things: “We believe her because of how we brought her up…” We, sir? “She was always taught to help people and stayed in Perugia to help the police discover who had committed this terrible crime.” Yet once again: Lumumba.
Compare to this the touching words of Meredith’s mother re-posted here & ending with a simple plea:
“I want justice done for my daughter.”
Posted by Ernest Werner on 09/23/11 at 04:24 PM | #
Thank you Peter for keeping the open wound of the Kerchers before the public that actually care about the truth. Ernest you are spot on with the lack of reality that ak’s family resides. They care about publicity now but obviously didn’t bother to raise a responsible child not to murder. Instead winking at child rearing, ended up with a girl who would have sex with any man she just met, (stemming often from a lack of a real loving father) lying(also from poor parenting that would not hold their child to telling the truth) murderer who orchestrated the entire deed against Meredith. AK deserves her sentence and the “family” should crawl back under their rock covered with scum.
Posted by friar fudd on 09/23/11 at 05:16 PM | #
9/23/11
What the judges give weight to, what evidence seems heavier to them, that idea resonates with me. What carries weight? is it the dozen small inconsistencies of Knox’s speech, the uncertainties of the blood drops? When there’s uncertainty, should a judge rule out that item completely. When there’s a 50/50 chance something shows guilt or innocence in equal measure, which side should one choose? What weights a clue so that it moves into the 60/40 range, or 70/30 and is that certain enough? What is enough evidence to determine anything? The unseen scale of a man’s mind is the hidden mystery in judging. What may seem impressive to one mind may seem irrelevant to another. The differences among men.
It’s a bit discouraging to realize this Hellman verdict may be only provisional with nothing in cement until another year or more. Truth takes time, as they used to say on Jack Bauer’s “24”.
Make haste slowly. Another addage my aunt said: “haste makes waste”. So we wait on these appeals along with the Kercher family and the Knox family. We trust the time is well spent to allow the truth to show itself. Some things can’t be hurried, and some things never change. That which can be shaken, will be shaken.
Posted by Hopeful on 09/23/11 at 05:18 PM | #
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Where next:
Click here to return to The Top Of The Front PageOr to next entry How Things Seem To Be Stacking Up As The Appeal Summations Get Under Way
Or to previous entry Reflecting On Andrea Vogt’s Fine Report “Knox: Innocent Abroad Or “˜Getting Away With Murder’?”