Saturday, November 21, 2009

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.

 

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”.

 

Friday, November 20, 2009

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]