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Will DNA Damn Amanda Knox?
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Stefano Medici / AP Photo
In two grueling days of testimony, police defended their DNA-collecting methods—until a sleuthing attorney caught a video detail that threatened to implode the prosecution’s argument.
Biological evidence on a knife, a bra clasp, a stained Q-Tip box, and in five other locations throughout the house were the focus of testimony Friday and Saturday as the prosecution began to wrap up its case against Amanda Knox, who is accused of murdering roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy. Forensic biologist Patrizia Stefanoni testified for nine grueling hours on Friday and took the stand again Saturday to explain how this crucial evidence ties both Knox and her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito to the crime.
Investigators noticed peculiar diagonal scrapes on the side of the blade seemed to suggest someone had vigorously rubbed the knife, perhaps to clean it.
Stefanoni, who was responsible for collecting forensic evidence at the murder scene, testified that a 20-inch kitchen knife with Amanda Knox’s DNA on the handle and Meredith Kercher’s genetic material on the blade is the likely murder weapon. The knife, which is consistent with one of three wounds on Kercher’s neck, was found in Sollecito’s apartment. Investigators noticed it there because of some peculiar diagonal scrapes on the side of the blade, said Stefanoni, that seemed to suggest someone had vigorously rubbed the knife, perhaps to clean it.
On cross examination, defense attorneys for both Knox and Sollecito tried to discredit the knife as evidence. Knox attorney Carlo Dalla Vedova pointed out that it was stored in a box not supplied by the forensic team, that it might well have just been a knife that Knox used to cut bread, and that the genenic sample on the knife that matches Kercher was so small there was no way to double-check the results. “If the blood evidence is a positive match, it is not always important how much there is,” Stefanoni said. “And the material on the blade matches the victim.”
But perhaps more damning even than the knife was Stefanoni’s testimony that a mix of Knox’s DNA and Kercher’s blood was found on the floor in the bedroom of a third roommate, Filomena Romanelli. While it might not be noteworthy to find mixed genetic traces of residents of the same house, Romanelli’s room is critical in this crime. Her window was broken with a large rock that prosecutors believe was used to stage a break-in. The mixed Knox-Kercher trace was found after investigators used luminol, a substance used in forensic science to bring out blood that had been cleaned up.
In addition, Stefanoni testified that a mixture of Knox’s DNA and Kercher’s blood was found on the drain of the bidet, on the bathroom sink and on a Q-Tip box in the girls' bathroom. Stefanoni also found Kercher’s blood on the upper part of the light switch in that room, which indicates that it was left when the light was turned on, not off. Two weeks ago, the court heard that a nude footprint in Kercher’s blood found on a blue bathmat was likely Sollecito’s, and Stefanoni further testified that Sollecito’s DNA was found on the clasp of the bra that had been cut off Kercher’s body during the assault.
Defense attorneys maintain that all these seemingly incriminating forensic elements can be explained as contamination due to the sloppy police work of Stefanoni and her colleagues. Sollecito’s attorney, Giulia Bongiorno, stopped the crime scene video several times to point out errors. For example, Stefanoni testified that she had changed gloves according to official investigation procedures, but Bongiorno stopped the crime scene video twice to show that Stefanoni’s bracelet and the fold of her glove were exactly the same before and after the time she claimed to have changed gloves.
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I am growing weary this trial. Maybe we will learn exactly who killed Meredith Kercher or maybe we won't.
If it were up to me I would throw all of them in jail for life. They all had a hand in it, they all tried to cover it up, so they should all go down together.
Maybe you're growing weary of due process. Or maybe you think this tragedy should be staged in such a way as to ENTERTAIN you maximally. That kind of thinking is disgusting.
I really, fervently, avidly hope that someday YOU are in a situation where your guilt is not entirely, perfectly, rock-solidly proven, but you are blamed anyway. If there really is any over-arching, metaphysical justice in this world, you will be.
Now, the media devoting so much coverage to it is a different matter.
Gee that happens every time one of us gets a traffic ticket and attempts to defend it in court cop has zero recollection of what occurred other than the face of the ticket makes up facts and is accorded 100% credibility. Perp taxpayer with zero record and what should be way better credibility gets 10% credibility and guilty verdict and that look that says pay the ticket why did you waste my time on crap and eat shit. What ithink Granite meant is that this italian criminal doesn't mean dick to any of us and why waste the space .
That said, it is a little iffy that Knox said "at a certain point I heard Meredith screaming and I was so frightened I put my fingers in my ears. I don't remember anything after that, my head is really confused."
Is anyone here's reaction to screaming that scares you to *plug your ears*? Eesh.
But remember, too, that Patrick Lumumba was detained for two weeks in this crime, was subsequently released and recovered damages for unjust imprisonment. So, it ain't always how it looks, and news is generally skewed by the media to produce the biggest impact possible.
So, if you don't want to watch the courts drag through this to the point of 'beyond a reasonable doubt'... don't watch.
Though you gloss by this point in this post, let me just illuminate that you vehemently defend innocent-until-proven-guilty but proceed to behave in the same manner which you condemn throughout every post in this thread; both regarding the case and the people to whom you reply....
I dont trust an American being judged and tried out of our system They could be setting her up.They have to look good infront of the world. and they have big egos.I really dont know what happened here. Very sad.Maybe the csi team should be brought in.Sad for the dead girl,and if this girl is innocent?
They already fast-tracked Rudy Guede. So, if they were setting her up, they'd be doing it on that kind of express track, wouldn't they?
(Oops - my mistake - Guede *requested* a fast-track trial)
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I would recommend the Monster of Florence if you want to know more about the prosecutor and the abuse of forensics in Perugia. That story casts a dark shadow over a justice system that is entirely too political and media oriented.
I would NOT recommend the Monster of Florence book. The true "story behind the story" actually casts quite a dark shadow over the integrity of the author. It just hasn't been told yet.
Mr. Conte, Whether you believe the authors.... American and Italian..... integrity is not the point. The facts on the Italian public record and the actions take against the Perugia prosecutor by the government are beyond refute. I would not dismiss those facts just because you may not like the author of the book. Many Italians I know do not like the book, tho they have never read it, simply because it criticizes their legal process..... anymore than we Americans like it when our system is laid bare.
Dear sir,
With all due respect, it is not a question of "believing" the authors. There are truthful aspects to the book, but there is also an obvious agenda, which blocked the crucial cross referencing that should have occurred in the researches process. This led to many factual mistakes, as the full public record reveals when viewed without the biased lens of vendetta. What is undisputable? The fact that the country's judicial system badly needs reform. Most readers agree. What is refutable? Many of the book's other passages.
Knox is guilty & a thrill-seeking sociopath! No matter what court or country Knox was in, she'd still be guilty of this murder.
You have to feel sorry for Meredith Kercher who said no because she wasn't in the mood. She's making sure the guilty parties will roast in hell while she conducts her part from heaven . . .
Yah, toss some psycho-jargon in there, decide someone's mortal fate based on your "hunch", then go back and hit the slopes carefree, ski-bunny.
Phttthhht.
The testimonies of the defendants, Knox and Sollecito, appear to be as convuluted and contaminated as the forensics investigation. I question the evidence in general. Specifically, the alleged imprint of Sollecito's shoe found in Ms Kercher's blood in her bedroom. Sollecito's sister, with an important post in the Perugian carabinieri, attempted to get rid of and/or "taint" DNA samples in the case. Ms Stephanoni's on-site collection of DNA also appears to be sloppy and less than professional. Yet one of the conspirators in this murder, Rudy Geude, has been sentenced to 30 years for his part in the commission of this crime. And he refuses to testify at the Knox-Sollecito trial. WHY? Clarity is woefully lacking in this case. Knox's distracted and flighty persona only adds to the confusion. Will this is a horrific crime remain an unsolved mystery?
boredwell - Guede is appealing his conviction - that's probably why he won't testify at this trial.
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The most telling sign of Amanda's guilt is the fact that she blamed a totally innocent man for the killing ( later he was exonorated ). Only a guilty person does that. An innocent person would have said "I honestly don't know who killed her, except that it was not me." The guilty ones try to shift the blame. Even if she is innocent, which I do not believe, there should be eternal Shame on her for trying to harm an innocent black man who had foolishly employed her. The final irony - her family thinks she is a very nice girl. Well so does Scott Peterson's mother and OJ Simpson's family and Cindy and George Anthony. Their upbringing might be part of the problem.
"Rudy Hermann Guede was found guilty of Kercher's murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison." Does this have any bearing on the case?
If Rudy Guede does not talk, he helps the prosecution. You cannot say he is singing for a payoff down the road. Silence is admission of guilt. Maybe he knows his silence is worth a lot more to him later, after he allows the prosecution to win this. Maybe there are grounds for deportation to... a country of his choice.
My odds the Knox-Sollecito fun guys are toast goes from 110% to 115%.
This is one creepy chick. Just look at the pic. She looks like she is having a wonderful day at the shopping mall. What is wrong with this girl?
yeh i was gonna say... why is she smiling in every picture? bizarre...
It's the Italian version of O.J.!
Did the killing happen the way they're saying it did, more likely than not it did. However, the "proof is in the pudding" and having worked personally with Italian Police (Carabinieri, etc.) I know that they aren't exactly super cops. Heck, Italy doesn't even use a fingerprint database.
I'm pretty sure everyone with the last name Knox is bat shit insane. The question is whether she is insane in the way that causes one to murder their roomie, or insane in the way that causes them to ignore the screams of their roomie while she is being murdered. Both seem pretty much equally likely.
They will probably let her go on acount of being kind of hot, I'm sure Berlusconi will pull some strings.
For anyone who is interested in the facts behind the media spin, and who cares to learn more about the victim of this terrible murder - Meredith Kercher - there is an excellent discussion board
http://perugiamurderfile.freeforums.org/index.php
as well as an interesting blog
http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php
These online resources are not for profit. Anyone can read and/or participate and people from around the world do. They have followed this case since November 2007, and are in no way related to Amanda Knox. Nor are they her friends.
This case is very frustrating to follow. The DNA evidence is challenged for this reason and that, and who knows from DNA? Not I. Amanda's comments are full of contradictions, but maybe she was just scared, or lying to protect her boyfriend, or traumatized, so you can't convict her based on that alone. Rudy Guede could maybe clear it all up but he's fond of lying according to his own adoptive father. And if he's innocent, as he claims, wasn't it a bit paranoid to agree to a 30 year sentence in a country that lacks the death penalty? What's the motive? So it seems to me that people following the case on the Internet have to admit that they don't have enough evidence. Whether the judge will have enough evidence by the end of the trial seems doubtful based on what I've read, but who knows. Sometimes I think they should just force them all to take a hit of truth serum. But maybe we wouldn't like the long term consequences of that either.
This is the video of the forensics team recovering the bra clasp that held traces of Raffaele Sollecito's DNA on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMaTI0SiuLw
further discussions of the forensics:
http://knoxarchives.blogspot.com/
http://www.freeaman.001webs.com/
Thank you.
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