An Italian judge freed Amanda Knox yesterday and right now she is on her way to Seattle. Amanda spent four years in jail for the murder of Meredith Kercher. What is lost in all of the attention focused Amanda's way is that her boyfriend at the time, Raffaelle Sollecito was also freed in the decision. What is overlooked in all of this is the one guy who plead guilty, Rudy Guede, said he did not act alone. No one ever assumed he did act alone, but where are the other people? Surprisingly I thought the family of the Kerchers were way more calm than I would have been. They basically said they respected the decision of the court but were baffled how the decision got overturned and if Amanda and Raffaelle were innocent then where were the other people involved. Look for Amanda to make millions of dollars upon her return to the US.
I thought the other people Guede was implicated was Know & her boyfriend.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad they were freed, from what I've read there was no real evidence.
The defense had a very solid case & I now believe she and the boyfriend re completely innocent.
ReplyDelete*shudders* This can happen to anybody. And has.
Good!
ReplyDeleteAssuming she's innocent, and the evidence against her was pretty weak, good that it's finally over, and that girl should stay far, far away from Italy. You have to feel for the murdered girl's family, however.
ReplyDeleteI never thought she did it. Something just doesn't fit.
ReplyDeleteAlso, that drifter changed his story like 5 times & his DNA was the only one found in the room. I no longer believe he had an accomplices.
ReplyDeleteThe prosecutor is going to appeal, but I hope it's really over.....
ReplyDeleteHere comes the book, the movie ....
Let this be a lesson to students studying overseas.
ReplyDeleteLife isn't a fantasy and you can't be naive in the people you spend time with.
Life can come at you hard and you can pay a big price for what you say and who you are with.
I try following this but it is tres confusing, IMO.
ReplyDeleteWord, timebob. Everything I read about this story reminds me of the lectures from my mom regarding the company you keep, especially during the college years.
Yes, yes, yes timebob! My best friend and I traveled around Europe right after college and we are lucky we came home alive because we were so young and stupid. A very kind Australian man befriended us taught us to watch our our backs.
ReplyDeleteI hope Amanda completes her education, gets a good job, and stays out of trouble.
I never believed she did it either. If anyone was on the fence as to whether or not she did this, there is a wonderful op-ed piece in today's LA Times.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-burleigh-knox-20111004,0,2921659.story
Rudy Guede lost all credibility with 1) his criminal background, 2) changing his story, 3) leaving the country, and 4) DNA evidence at the scene. I believe he acted alone.
ReplyDeleteThe decision was overruled for a number of reasons, including the fact that there was absolutely no evidence to support Knox or Sollecito even being at the flat when Meredith was murdered. Not to mention that the prosecutor, Giuliano Mignini, is under indightment for professional misconduct. I hope that the Kercher family understands all this. I also hope Amanda does make millions to pay her parents back for all the time and money they spent defending her.
$1million PR campaign buys lots of press. I think the lesson in this is always clean up after yourself. And above all, take a good mug shot!
ReplyDeleteGuede testified that Amanda and Rafaello were there because his sentence was reduced by HALF afterward. Read the Rolling Stone article. http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/the-neverending-nightmare-of-amanda-knox-20110627
ReplyDeleteThe Italian court could have reduced her sentence, or just said there wasn't enough evidence. They said, instead, that she was innocent. Pretty amazing.
I read the wiki and all other articles trying to get an idea about what happened. From what I see...the Italian detectives are morons. I don't see any hard evidence that would prove that Amanda and her bf were guilty. There just wasn't enough or hardly any proof.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that was strange, was her behavior shortly after she found out her flatmate was dead. She was doing cartwheels (I'm assuming literally) while her other 2 flatmates were devastated and in shock.
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ReplyDeleteGuede also told his cellmate that he acted on the murder with a friend hoping for a 3 some...and that Knox and Rafaello were not involved. They never used the cellmate as a credible witness.
ReplyDeleteEverything Timebob said.
ReplyDeleteAnd I, personally, think this is an awesome turn of events.
Christin+e, didn't he name them because the police had already arrested them though so he could get a reduced sentence? I wasn't under the impression that he named them and then they were caught. They also could have given her life in prison at the appeal instead of halving her sentence.
ReplyDeleteThis is one time when I hope she gets the opportunity to make the million dollars. The entire case exposed the depth of corruption in the Italian legal system (I'm looking hard at you, Berlusconi) and in Italian politics. There was never any hard evidence against her, and the police found an easy scapegoat in the girl And guy who didn't flee abroad. I hope this case has longterm repercussions in Italy and helps some young college students take extra caution when studying abroad.
ReplyDeleteI hope she does make several million dollars. She'll be able to pay her parents back (her defense, the PR, travel, draining their retirement funds, etc.) and so that she can live comfortably after four years of hell.
ReplyDeleteWhat SkittleKitty said.
ReplyDeleteYAY!!!! So happy because this case was botched from the beginning. The prosecutor is the one who should be in prison (and probably, hopefully, will be soon).
ReplyDeleteshe is guilty, whether the judgment was overturned or not.
ReplyDeleteI am a criminal defense attorney and I work in the American system every single day. the circumstantial evidence of her guilt was overwhelming. read the book Angel Face about the case, written by the only english speaking journalist who attended every day of the trial.
lets not forget the congolese bar owner, Patrick Lumumba, who Amanda threw under the bus and said he murdered Meredith. it was determined that he did not murder her, but the damage was done.
Lumumba says Amanda ruined his life, he lost his bar and everything because of her lies. how are you who are naive enough to believe in her innocence going to explain that away?
trust me, only a sociopath could do such a thing.
the world cannot admit that a very pretty young white girl from a middle class family could be guilty of murder. she is exactly like Casey Anthony.
the only reason the judgment was overturned was because her parents made the media stink that they did. I have to say, shame on you all for being so gullible. she would have done the same thing to you that night if you were her roommate.
she may well have been on drugs when she did it, but there is no doubt in my mind that she did.
you can read about him here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/26/us-italy-knox-barman-idUSTRE78P3XM20110926
I totally did not give her the benefit of the doubt and figured she was just another entitled American (I'm American too, so don't get all hate commenty on me) who goes off and acts like an ass in a foreign country and expects to be sent home & not punished.
ReplyDeleteBut then I read the Rolling Stone article and that changed my mind. That reporter had a LOT of info about the crappy Italian investigation, the messed up court system in Perugia, and all the changing of stories the drifter guy.
I now fully believe she is innocent and am glad to see her freed. My condolences still go to Kercher's family who may never rest easy.
@annabella -- The fact that you're an attorney who's read a book about this subject hardly makes you an expert.
ReplyDeleteI'd say there are better reasons to be ashamed than believing in the innocence of Amanda Knox.
@Annabella - With all due respect, I think you are entitled to your opinion, but I don't think because others have a different one it means we are gullible.
ReplyDeleteI have studied this case extensively because I had a dear friend living in Italy at the time this took place. I have even read Barbie's book. I am well educated and understand the legal system very much. Even through all my readings I have never felt that there was anything that proved beyond a doubt that she was guilty. Sure I think there are things that are weird. Things that don't quite fit right. But not enough to damn her of being guilty. And if I'm not 100% sure, I'm not making that judgment.
I think what happened to the bar owner is awful. But if I were in Amanda's situation, and I was being threatened that if I didn't say the right things that I would be thrown in jail for 30 years, I can't say what I would or wouldn't have said trying to piece together something that happened.
Unfortunately there have been MANY cases over the years where people have been wrongfully accused and it has ruined their life. But that doesn't mean the person on the other end is instantly the guilty party. Some people will do what it takes to save their own ass - guilty OR innocent.
There are too many moving pieces for this to be cut and dry. There are only a couple people who really know if Amanda is truly guilty or not, but I don't think anyone here, no matter how qualified in the legal field you are, can make that assumption. From our end, its all speculation.
@annabelle: I'm a lawyer too, and a trial lawyer at that. Most of the evidence admitted into the first trial never would have been admitted in trial in an american court. She implicated the bar owner after being interrogated all night, the interrogation wasn't recorded as required, and after being pressured by the police for hours and hours, telling her that Patrick said she did it. Hardly sociopathic behavior.
ReplyDeleteWhat bnl1016 said. And I feel horrible for the parents of the murder victim. If Guede was the only killer (and I think he'd throw anyone under the bus to get a deal) may he rot in jail.
ReplyDeleteI don't pretend to know but it is certainly disturbing.
ReplyDeleteShe did do 4 years,she got 3 for lying and blaming it on her boss.
I keep seeing her doing cartwheels at the police station right after the murder. Who would do that.
I guess she is very young. An argument for don't send your kids to foreign countries unsupervised.
@Jeri -- She did not "do cartwheels." She STRETCHED. Anyone who sits at a desk all day, or who has been forced to remain in one spot for a long period of time, can relate to the physical aches that accompany sitting perfectly still and needing to feel more limber.
ReplyDeleteSorry, but I've always thought that was a particularly lame item of "evidence" against Amanda.
Anabella, I agree with you. I think she is guilty.
ReplyDelete_-_=_ you are correct!
Word now is the Italians in Perugia are furious. They believe the US media's coverage swayed they court. They were yelling at the journalists to pack up and leave. Can't blame them.
Annabella, I hope you exhibit better reasoning with your clients than you do here.
ReplyDeleteAmanda was young, naive, and stupid. Unless you were there during her interrogation, you have no idea what she was subject too.
Yikes - it seems really unpopular to say you think Amanda might be guilty in this thread. In that case...I shall say nothing ;)
ReplyDeleteI don't think she did it......I am so glad she is on her way home.
ReplyDeleteShe should have left Italy immediately after it happened....all the other roomates went home right away.
Also, Lifetime is replaying their Amanda Knox movie tonight at 9 I think.
....and I hope that she does make some interview money. I think her interviews will be interesting and she needs to make some money back that her family spent on her defense and the constant trips from Seattle to Italy. The newspaper said that her grandmother had to take out like a half a million dollar second mortgage to pay for flights.
ReplyDeleteAlso, one of the local stations here in Seattle is offering 10,000 for her to cohost their morning show for a week, so she is already getting offers!
@Ida I don't know if she is guilty but I have read in many different publications that she did cartwheels at the police station.
ReplyDeleteI guess it's up to each individual which account they believe.
I work at a desk all day so I know what that is like. Have done so for many years.
One other thing I see mentioned seldom is her near cruxificion for being a typical young American girl abroad. Have any of you women been to Italy? The traditional roles of men and women, particularly in public, are drastically different than in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteI read one statement that the prosecutor said that since she liked drugs, drinking, and hot sex she was satanic! Damn, I am for sure going to hell then.
Oh, another thing, it is also the Italian legal system that cleared her. I wouldn't be so quick to condemn their system when in the U.S. innocents are wrongly convicted too. You can't extrapolate from a single to a whole to judge the whole.
I think you all have good points, however, I have always that that Gudede probably did commit the actual murder BUT I can't shake the feeling that Amanda knew something, or was even an accomplice in some way. My partner (also an attorney) thinks she's guilty as sin. He thinks the DNA aspect is way overplayed, and laments the fact that juries all want a perfect forensic package because of CSI and shows like that. He says it just doesn't happen that way in real cases and he thinks the circumstantial evidence against her is enough to make a very compelling case.
ReplyDeleteI live in Seattle and this was covered extensively here...but I also read the British papers to get the other side. There is definitely a "hometown" bias in the media for both girls and their families.
I don't know what to think. Initially, based on everything I was reading (when the murder first occurred), I thought she was guilty, but I'm reading so many contradictions about it, I don't know what to think. I will definitely check out all the links you all provided in this thread.
ReplyDelete@LetLoveRule - I've always had that same thought (knowledge, but not necessarily involvement). I don't remember hearing about cartwheels but I DO recall people saying her behavior after was weird. Something about making out all over town w/ her boyfriend and buying lingerie? Its not something I would have done if my roommate, whether I liked her or not, was murdered the day before.
Also, off topic...is she still with/speaking to the boyfriend? I know she was in jail this whole time but I wondered if they were on speaking terms or were able to communicate at all during this time?
ReplyDeleteYes annabella being a DEFENSE ATTORNEY certainly makes her ignorant of the law. However reading a Rolling Stone magazine article (known for being unbiased) makes everyone else an expert.
ReplyDeleteannabella, I agree with you. She's guilty as sin. She and her bf let that druggie into the house that night and God only knows what that poor girl went through.
Guilty. I really do hope it's appealed.
I am so glad she's been released. There just wasn't enough evidence for me to believe she's guilty. The big piece of evidence that has me questioning her guilt: how did she & Raffaelle manage to clean Meredith's room of all traces of their DNA yet leave Rudy's DNA all over it?
ReplyDeleteI don't think the police coercing Knox into saying her boss was there as the same thing as he did it. She was interrogated in a language she had studied for two months, for 13 hours with no food or water. It wasn't recorded like required, she denied that he was there over and over. They said he was there because he had told her not to come into to work and she texted the phrase 'ok, see you later' and eventually they had her sign a statement that she didn't realize was a confession.
ReplyDeleteHer boyfriend had asked for a lawyer and was denied, and eventually said it was possible she could have left in the middle of the night and they told Knox he had said she had left which she also denied.
I don't see how you get your boyfriend of 10 days to commit a murder when you're high on weed. It's just so unlikely they did this.