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Will DNA Damn Amanda Knox?
In another segment of the video, defense lawyers insisted that one of the officers used the same collection swab to swipe two different blood samples, but Stefanoni quickly explained that even if she had, it would not matter. “If the same cloth was used to collect two samples of different blood it would be evident in the data analysis," she said. “These samples match Knox and the victim.”
On Saturday, Francesco Camana, an expert with Rome's criminal forensic division, testified that based on the trajectory of blood splatters, Kercher was most likely killed while on her knees facing her wardrobe. He will be cross-examined on May 29. Outside the courtroom, Chris Mellas, Knox’s stepfather, who is taking his turn in the family tag team that stays in Perugia to support Amanda, said of Friday’s testimony, “I think it went OK. When you look at all the court dates, we have only had one, maybe two iffy days.” But those might just be the days that count.
Barbie Nadeau has reported from Italy for Newsweek Magazine since 1997. She also writes for CNN Traveller, Budget Travel Magazine and Frommer's.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Why America Must Learn to Bow
Martin Jacques is the cofounder of the UK think tank Demos, writes a regular column for The Guardian, and is a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics Asia Research Centre. His new book, When China Rules the World, is available now.
Going Rogue: The Index
Christopher Buckley's books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and is editor-at-large of ForbesLife magazine. His new book is Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir. Buckley's Daily Beast column is the winner of an Online Journalism Award in the category of Online Commentary.
The Knox Trial Endgame
Barbie Latza Nadeau has reported from Italy for Newsweek Magazine since 1997. She also writes for CNN Traveller, Budget Travel Magazine and Frommer's.
Berlusconi's Tranny Defense
Barbie Latza Nadeau has reported from Italy for Newsweek Magazine since 1997. She also writes for CNN Traveller, Budget Travel Magazine and Frommer's.
Knox Evidence Will Stand Alone
Barbie Latza Nadeau has reported from Italy for Newsweek Magazine since 1997. She also writes for CNN Traveller, Budget Travel Magazine and Frommer's.
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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