Trial of Amanda Knox

[Dida]

I don't understand what the big media fuss in the US is all about. Do you?
I thought Italy was a democratic county with decent legal system. Now, according to US media, it seems that I was wrong. Italy is apparently a country with medieval legal codes where influence is everything and people always get convicted of whatever crime they are convicted.

- It seems that not everyone knows about the case, so here is the link:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1945430,00.html
CNN spent the whole evening yesterday espousing her supposed innocence.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Who is Amanda Knox and what did she do?

 

[Dida]

Who is Amanda Knox and what did she do?

She's an American student accused of killing a British woman in Italy, apparently because the Brit refused to participate in some kind of a sex game with her and two other males.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Link, please...

 

[Cutlass]

She and her boyfriend were convicted. But there's some dispute whether the trial and evidence were well handled.

 

[Cutlass]

Link, please...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/05/amanda-knox-meredith-kercher-murder

 

[lutzj]

DEM EYE-TALIANS

dey dun stole our women!

This is the subconscious reason for the outrage.

 

[emzie]

You voluntarily enter a country, you submit to that country's justice system.

 

[illram]

Her lawyer let her make a closing statement to the jury. Knowing nothing other than that I would question the wisdom of her Italian counsel.

edit: read Cutlass' article; yeah sounds like Italy's court system is totally screwy, but then again a lot of us knew that already. This is a perfect example (again) of a bad process tainting the conviction of people who, if prosecuted properly, would probably be found guilty anyway and without all the drama afterwards.

 

[Bill3000]

Knox, a student at the University of Washington, and her boyfriend were sent for trial despite the fact that a third person had been convicted of the killing before their indictment.

 

[scherbchen]

girl died there in a not so funny way. best to keep the glib to the nazi stuff I'd say.

 

[emzie]

Her lawyer let her make a closing statement to the jury. Knowing nothing other than that I would question the wisdom of her Italian counsel.

edit: read Cutlass' article; yeah sounds like Italy's court system is totally screwy, but then again a lot of us knew that already. This is a perfect example (again) of a bad process tainting the conviction of people who, if prosecuted properly, would probably be found guilty anyway and without all the drama afterwards.

I honestly am baffled that Italy functions.

 

[Bill3000]

I honestly am baffled that Italy functions.

It doesn't.

 

[JollyRoger]

I can't believe Italy risked a trial - don't they have American-style indefinite detention over there? After all, she is a foreigner and shouldn't be entitled to due process rights afforded to Italians.

 

[mangxema]

Not only that, apparently there was not any sort of physical evidence to link her to the body, just some items in the house (which could be explained by the fact that she lived there. (So saith CNN at least; that is the extent of my knowledge.) So even though there's no proof that she did anything wrong, and someone else (for which there was proof) is currently sitting in jail for this murder, she still was convicted. indeed.

This is the subconscious reason for the outrage.

It seemed like the Italians, at least where she was convicted, were much more put off by her and her lifestyle.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

What lifestyle did she have?

 

[mangxema]

As far as I know, she slept around with her boyfriend and smoked some pot, basically. Not a huge deal, really, but apparently this was a more rural town who are not so... accepting of such things, and so she was (again, according to the guests on CNN) pretty much the poster child for everything they frowned upon. And the fact that she was leading a good Italian boy astray made them mad. Or something.

 

[Bill3000]

I can't believe Italy risked a trial - don't they have American-style indefinite detention over there? After all, she is a foreigner and shouldn't be entitled to due process rights afforded to Italians.

You're right. They should have held the trial in absentia.

 

[Sofista]

I'm properly shocked and awed by the magnificence of the American legal system, which takes upon itself the right to decide even of lief and death, and was never wrong.

Never mind that our "good Italian boy" got a stunning year less than her. Never mind that no other clue was ever found. Never mind that Knox accounted herself by accusing a perfectly innocent African bar owner because, like, would the greasers ever really condemn me when I could implicate a black guy in the case [too bad he had an alibi]?

Oh yes, nobody in Perugia ever slept with her boyfriend. That must be the reason. And don't have running water, either.

 

[bathsheba666]

Let's hear it for the Italian justice system.

They had the guts to convict CIA operatives for kidnapping.

We owe them one.