Saturday, November 28, 2009

More On Investigation Of Family For Possible Defaming Of Perugia Flying Squad

Posted by Tiziano


It is worth recalling that Amanda Knox herself may be investigated for so-far-unsubstantiated claims that the police forced her to point to Patrick Lumumba as the possible murderer.

There were various witnesses to at least parts of the two interrogations of Amanda Knox on 6 November including a high-ranking police official from Rome who watched from behind one-way glass.

Here is a translation of what Repubblica is reporting 

The parents of Amanda Knox have also been investigated for defamation by the Prosecutor of the Republic in Perugia.

Edda Mellas and Curt Knox, who arrived in the Umbrian capital yesterday in order to follow the last stages of the trial of their daughter, accused with Raffaele Sollecito - her ex-boyfriend - and Rudy Guede, (already condemned to thirty years last year at a fast-track trial) of having murdered Meredith Kercher, her English housemate, found themselves notified of an accusation of having defamed the Flying Squad of Perugia.

In an interview granted months ago to the Sunday Times, Curt Knox and his ex-wife in fact declared that their daughter had been brutally ill-treated during an interrogation on November 6th, 2007 at police headquarters, which ended up in the confession in which she accused Patrick Lumumba, now an injured party in the trial.

Reporting what Amanda had told them when they had visited her in prison, the two had accused the Italian police of having extorted her confession with threats and even with several blows. “And when she asked for a lawyer she was told that the intervention of a legal advisor would have worsened her situation,” Edda Mellas and her ex-husband said to the Sunday Times.

Inspector Monica Napoleoni, head of the Murder Branch of the Perugia Squad and her men, after reading the couple’s affirmations, decided to lodge a complaint.

Amanda Knox herself, during the questioning before the judge of the Court of the Assizes, repeated that she was the object of heavy pressures in the course of that night at police headquarters. “They kept repeating to me that I would spend thirty years in prison if I did not confess,” she said in court, adding that she had received a “cuff” to the neck. These accusations have always been denied by the Perugian police and they finally decided to take legal action.

The interrogation on the night of November 6th, 2007 was furthermore at the centre of the hearing yesterday in the trial of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, which has now reached its last stages.

It was reconstructed by lawyer Pacelli, the representative of Patrick Lumumba, who was arrested on November 6th after Amanda had indicated him as the murderer of Meredith Kercher. Lumumba is now an injured party in the debate, after having been absolved of all accusations, thanks to the testimony of a Swiss teacher who gave him a cast-iron alibi.

Pacelli, in an address judged by many as over- the-top, accused Amanda of being “dirty inside and out” and described her as “half Maria Goretti and half demon”.

By the way some of our own commenters and emailers also found Mr Pacelli’s religious imagery applied to Amanda Knox (he asked if she is a “she-devil”) to be way over the top.

Posted by Tiziano on 11/28/09 at 04:23 PM in The officially involved,  The wider contexts,  Amanda Knox,  Knox-Marriott PR

Comments

Thank you for this oh so timely report, Tiziano. I have always wondered how Amanda’s parents could get away with those lies.  I guess they aren’t.  As for all of us the Italian Police should not be hung for acts they did not commit…....

Posted by Professor Snape on 11/28/09 at 06:15 PM | #

Finally!

I am glad that someone is looking into this matter and hopefully they will take some actions against this family.

Kathie Goertzen interviewed Amanda Knox’ parents and I saw Curt Knox and Edda Mellas blaming the Italians as usual. Edda Mellas maintained that “if it goes the way it should, you know, correctly, if it’s all done right, she will be acquitted and she will be out of there, but so far nothing has gone right.”

Her statement couldn’t be further from the truth.

Posted by Nell on 11/29/09 at 12:40 AM | #

The sense of entitlement that this family displays is quite breathtaking. So far nothing has gone right. Correct. The defense failed to discredit the prosecution evidence and failed to show evidence of an alternative innocent timeline for AK or RS. The judgs and jury will be drawing conclusions from this long before Edda Mellas is willing to.

Posted by Faustus on 11/29/09 at 02:30 PM | #

Look at this picture on the top. They look like they are having a good time, each of the parents. It certanly doesn’t look on their face that they are desperate about the killing of Meredith or about Amanda being the one who is accused of the killing. Why is everybody smiling???

Posted by Hungarian on 11/29/09 at 11:15 PM | #

Hang on a minute. For those criticizing the parents of those accused for smiling, well you’re falling into the same trap of getting any scrap of behaviour antithetical to the way they should behave as to determine the above persons overall character. Clearly, they’ve had a moment of light relief and Curt has relayed a story which the lawyer has found funny or pleasing. Ella’s facial expression is one of resignation. She isn’t laughing. Court rooms can’t always be about the seriousness of the matter in hand, sometimes, I assume this was taken during a recess, that you need something to laugh about.

This doesn’t detract from the overall gravity of the situation, nor does it condone the rash and desperate action of the accused families nor their crass lack of sensitivity at other times. But justice will show itself soon enough, so a photograph which seemingly adds fuel to the fire might be a straw to grab on to, but it’s really small beer in the grand scheme of things. Just wait until Saturday and the whole sorry, tragic saga will come to a close.

Posted by Compboy on 11/30/09 at 08:34 PM | #

From what I’ve seen of Italian justice through this trial, it is dire need of reform. Whatever Knox’s parents have said originated with what they heard from their own daughter.  Attempting to go after her parents is beyond the pale and my opinion of these inspectors is one of hubris in the extreme. May I suggest they also go after all the US networks who broadcast Amanda’s testimony. What they are effectively attempting is to assure Amanda’s isolation from them should she be convicted.  It is actions like this that make me wonder if this isn’t a crude attempt to win through intimidation that which they missed with solid evidence.

Posted by Barry T on 12/01/09 at 01:41 AM | #

Hi Barry T. Any good lawyer here would say the same thing: the Italians have been very restrained. If this case was entirely within the US then great care would be taken to respect the victim (they are usually front and center in the media here at all times and all the crime shows take a pro-victim point of view) and the defendants’ families would certainly not be ridiculing the police and prosecution in a non-stop way. This case was calling out for a countervailing move by the Italian justice system which is NEVER represented fairly here. This looks like it!

Posted by Peter Quennell on 12/01/09 at 02:04 AM | #

Hi Barry T.-

Actually it pretty much looks as if there will be a conviction based on solid evidence, and no intimidation is needed.

What her parents are in trouble for is not merely an initial mistaken utterance, based on a trusted daughter’s story. But rather a sustained campaign of accusations based on lies.  And lies that have been disproved - that 14 hour inquisition, for example.

Since the US news are basically only parroting the parental story, it makes sense to go to the source.

This is not a US versus Italy matter. There is no country where you can continually accuse people of criminal activity and not expect at some point to have to either put up or shut up. They have done neither, and are being called on it.

Posted by lauowolf on 12/01/09 at 03:22 AM | #
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Or to next entry The Summations: Lawyer Luca Maori Sums Up All Day Today In Sollecito’s Defense

Or to previous entry Could The Italian Authorities Be Starting A Wave Of Libel + Slander Investigations?