COMMENTARY: "Bizarre ruling in the case of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito merely highlights failings of Italian justice system," by Peter Popham, published by the Independent on March 27, 2013.
SUB-HEADING: "The pair's conviction despite no evidence or motive was based on a weak alibi."
GIST: "Yet the murder was not the mystery it appeared: a
few weeks after the couple’s arrest, a local Perugia drifter and drug
dealer called Rudy Guede, originally from the Ivory Coast, who had
broken into several properties in the preceding weeks and who was in the
habit of carrying a knife, was arrested in Germany and sent back to
Italy to stand trial. Guede’s traces were all over the crime
scene and he was convicted in a fast-track trial that concluded before
the trial of Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito began. The conviction of the
pair despite the lack of evidence or motive was principally based on
the weakness of their alibi: they claimed to have spent the night
together at Mr Sollecito’s flat, but there was nobody to corroborate
their story. But the positive claims of prosecution witnesses to have
seen them close to the crime scene proved to be flimsy......... Yet
to many observers who saw the trial unfold, with its catalogue of
mishandled forensic evidence and demonisation of Ms Knox and Mr
Sollecito, there was more than reasonable doubt cast on their guilty
verdicts. When they both got long, long sentences, it seemed proof of
the grossly disproportionate power of prosecutors in Italian trials. One
year and five months ago an appeal court in Perugia threw out the
convictions of both of them, and Ms Knox flew home to her family. For
many observers it represented justice. What the Italian Supreme Court has now decreed appears merely bizarre."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/bizarre-ruling-in-the-case-of-amanda-knox-and-raffaele-sollecito-merely-highlights-failings-of-italian-justice-system-8550706.html
Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Knox
P
UBLISHER'S NOTE:
I added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses
several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of
the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this
powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and
myself get more out of the site.
The
Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible
years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr.
Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of
Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"
section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It
can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
