STORY: "Eight years on, Italy asks: so who were Meredith Kercher's killers?" by reporters Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Mark Townsend, published by The Guardian on March 28, 2015.]
GIST: "The decision took everyone by surprise – even Knox’s lawyer, who had passionately argued for it – because the court of cassation generally only rules on procedural issues, not the merits of the case or facts established by lower courts. The rare acquittal signalled that Italy’s highest court was itself fed up, wanting to bring a permanent end to what critics have said was a gross miscarriage of justice and a case that left Italy’s judicial system accused of being a “circus”.
The judges’ legal rationale will not be known for at least 90 days, when a full summary will be issued, but it is likely that two issues guided their decision: the lack of any convincing physical evidence and inconsistent and improbable theories over motive.........One of the remarkable aspects of Friday’s decision is how the supreme court – which went out of its way to say Knox and Sollecito were innocent, not merely that there was a lack of evidence to convict them – will address those earlier assumptions about how many attackers there were that night in November 2007. It was a point that was emphasised by a devastated Francesco Maresca, the attorney for the Kercher family. Speaking outside the court on Friday night, he said: “This is not so much a defeat for the prosecution as a defeat for Italy’s justice system. The judges said there is a lack of proof, and whoever acted with Guede has not been found.”"
GIST: "The decision took everyone by surprise – even Knox’s lawyer, who had passionately argued for it – because the court of cassation generally only rules on procedural issues, not the merits of the case or facts established by lower courts. The rare acquittal signalled that Italy’s highest court was itself fed up, wanting to bring a permanent end to what critics have said was a gross miscarriage of justice and a case that left Italy’s judicial system accused of being a “circus”.
The judges’ legal rationale will not be known for at least 90 days, when a full summary will be issued, but it is likely that two issues guided their decision: the lack of any convincing physical evidence and inconsistent and improbable theories over motive.........One of the remarkable aspects of Friday’s decision is how the supreme court – which went out of its way to say Knox and Sollecito were innocent, not merely that there was a lack of evidence to convict them – will address those earlier assumptions about how many attackers there were that night in November 2007. It was a point that was emphasised by a devastated Francesco Maresca, the attorney for the Kercher family. Speaking outside the court on Friday night, he said: “This is not so much a defeat for the prosecution as a defeat for Italy’s justice system. The judges said there is a lack of proof, and whoever acted with Guede has not been found.”"
PS: For latest coverage of the Mark Lundy retrial go to: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/mark-lundy-murder-retrial
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
