January 31, 2014

"They'll have to catch me and pull me back kicking and screaming into a prison that I don't deserve to be in."

"I'm definitely not going back to Italy willingly."
[Amanda] Knox said she was relatively fortunate in that she had been able to return to America, and that she was worried for Sollecito. "He's really scared. And really vulnerable. I think he feels abandoned by his own country. Where's he going to run and hide? It's a shame that more people aren't fighting to protect him."

17 comments:

Paco Wové said...

I get the impression this case is/was a much bigger deal in the UK and Italy than it ever was in the US. I don't think I even heard about it until several years after the fact. Most of the non-American commenters I have seen are passionately convinced of Knox's guilt, to a point that seems creepily misogynistic and tinged with anti-American bias.

Robert Cook said...

Whereas the facts of the case, insofar as I know them, seem to point distinctly away from Knox as the culprit. She was prosecuted merely for the perception by the Italian authorities of her affect as being eccentric or inappropriate.

Hagar said...

The Italian government has screwed this up big time, and it is now just about officials and media personalities covering their naked rear ends.

This happened in Italy, not here, but is also an example of why I am against the death penalty.
If we won't take prosecution in a capital case seriously, the death penalty should not be on the table.

MadisonMan said...

He's really scared. And really vulnerable. I think he feels abandoned by his own country. Where's he going to run and hide? It's a shame that more people aren't fighting to protect him.

She said from a distance.

AustinRoth said...

At this point, guilt or innocence is no longer relevant.

I agree with what I have heard is the position of the State Department - that we do not honor extradition requests for double jeopardy convictions, as they violate the constitutional rights of American citizens.

Hagar said...

I understan there is a question whether "double jeopardy" applies to this case - lawyers can twist anything - but politically it is impossible.
The Italian government made a farce of this prosecution, and, as the commenter above says, guilt or innocense is no longer relevant. No one believes that that is what it is about any longer, and the "American people" (e.g., the press) will not stand for Ms. Knox being extradited.

Paul said...

It's a Kangaroo court in Italy.

They are so desperate to prove they were right (even with so much make-believe evidence) I would not go back either.

Paul said...

As for the Death Penalty, I have a proposal.

Make the Death Penalty ONLY given if they can prove BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT, instead of 'beyond a reasonable doubt'.

If the jury can't see they are flat out guilty (video, eye witnesses, DNA, etc..) so there is no doubt they did it, then life in prison is indicated.

mccullough said...

She's too pretty to be in prison. Maybe if the US won't extradite her, Italy will refuse to allow American tourists. Western Europe is a playground for Americans. They need our money, we need to spend it. That said, any man would be crazy to date Knox.

Kirk Parker said...

" the "American people" (e.g., the press) will not stand for Ms. Knox being extradited."

And that's going to matter to who, exactly, in the State Department (or anywhere else in this administration, fwiw)?

Anonymous said...

@Austin Roth
It is not a double jeopardy conviction. They were found guilty at first instance. This was reversed on an automatic appeal, which was itself annulled by the Supreme Court, which sent the case back to the Appeal Court, which has just confirmed the original guilty verdict. This all formed part of one trial, one jeopardy.

Contrast this with US practice, where most defendants don't get a trial, and appeals are only allowed in very restricted circumstances.

Lydia said...

I read this book Death in Perugia: The Definitive Account of the Meredith Kercher case from her murder to the acquittal of Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox and came away thinking Knox is probably guilty. Just too much forensic and circumstantial evidence linked her to the murder. But it also shows the Italian police screwed up big time with collecting the evidence.

CatherineM said...

Madison Man - can you blame her? She did spend time in prison you know. Would you go back to prison for a friend?

CatherineM said...

Lydia - that was a poorly written book where the writer talks interviews people about their opinions that were later proven to be false, but he allows them to show "both sides." Bad journalism. There is only one side to the truth.

Amanda went from the kind of person to never get into a fight or any trouble to suddenly slashing someone's throat?

I think that Rudy Guede who "committed robberies, burgled a flat and brandished a jackknife when confronted. On 27 October, days before Kercher's murder, Guede was arrested in Milan after breaking into a nursery school, he was reportedly found by police holding an 11-inch knife." Is the killer. His palm print at the scene in Meredith's blood, and other evidence suggests he may have followed her, and pushed his way in behind her when he opened the door.

There is no evidence that Amanda Knox is a violent person.

Gospace said...

The evidence against Amanda Knox is on a par with the evidence against the McMartins.

Or the evidence against the witches in Salem.

Or today, the evidence against the witches being executed in Saudi Arabia on a semi-regular basis.

Hagar said...

The State Dept., being the State Dept., maybe not, but the White House and Justice, oh yeah.

Lydia said...

Lydia - that was a poorly written book where the writer talks interviews people about their opinions that were later proven to be false, but he allows them to show "both sides." Bad journalism.

I couldn't disagree more. The author is the Rome correspondent for the Sunday Times, and he followed the case from day one. I found the book to be neutral in relating events, not biased at all.

And Knox's actions were more than bizarre. The one that really stuck with me was that she returned to the apartment (scene of the murder) the following morning, found the front door open and blood in the bathroom, and then went calmly and had a shower rather than running out and alerting anyone.