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JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Kercher family perplexed by verdict freeing Knox in Italy

World Oct. 05, 2011 - 06:03AM JST ( 16 )

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16 Comments

-1

paulinusaOct. 05, 2011 - 09:10AM JST

The prosecutor never had any solid evidence linking both of them to the crime. First he suggested a satanic cult, then a sex orgy ( again of course without any evidence ).

"A third man has been convicted in the brutal slaying. However, the court at his trial concluded he did not act alone. Rudy Hermann Guede’s appeal upheld the guilty verdict, but cut his sentence from 30 years to 16."

“If the two released yesterday were not the guilty parties, we are obviously left to wonder who is the other guilty person or people?"

Is it so hard to believe that convicted thief and drug dealer Guede acted alone? In return for implicating Knox and Sollecito his sentence was reduced.
0

FoxieOct. 05, 2011 - 09:13AM JST

Me too, I am disgusted about the media attention Knox is getting. Shame on her.
0

paulinusaOct. 05, 2011 - 09:26AM JST

"Shame on her."

Foxie: Why shame on her? She spent four years in prison and her conviction was overturned. Maybe shame on the prosecutor.
0

zichiOct. 05, 2011 - 09:31AM JST

Knox will have to sell her story, so her family can repaid their debts and loans. Her grandmother borrowed $250,000 to pay for costs.
-3

YardleyOct. 05, 2011 - 11:20AM JST

Amanda Knox is a sociopath. Unfortunately, this won't be the last time she's in the news.

I'm so sorry for the Kercher family. No only for their loss, but because they acted with restraint and dignity and refused to pander to the media, the criminals in the case got all the attention, and strangely, almost all the sympathy. Their beloved daughter, the victim, was pushed aside for the sake of sensationalism.

The Italian police investigators and prosecutor should be ashamed of themselves. Because of their sloppy work, justice has not been done. I hope they can sleep at night.
0

JapanGalOct. 05, 2011 - 11:48AM JST

The Kerchers complained about injustice, but they do not speak Italian, so had no clue about what was going on in court. Amanda did not do it, just like that really long trial in the states. Innocent.
0

Ben_JackinoffOct. 05, 2011 - 12:35PM JST

The Italian police investigators and prosecutor should be ashamed of themselves. Because of their sloppy work, justice has not been done. I hope they can sleep at night

If you feel they should be ashamed of themselves, why would you hope they can sleep at night?
1

gyouzaOct. 05, 2011 - 01:40PM JST

This has been an odd court case. I know the name "Knox" but have no idea about her co-defendant. He has been in the background all the time. Why so much focus on one half of the defence?

What was odder, was seeing the worlds media in the Knox family living room as the verdict is read out on live on TV. They invited them in to film the reaction? That does sound manipulative, and not something I would willingly do.

I have absolutely no idea who is guilty or innocent but the process just seems a little unusual. I really do feel for the Kercher family who must be dumbstruck - and their wounds must be wide open again.
0

lostrune2Oct. 05, 2011 - 02:25PM JST

Just to repost mine:

I don't exactly know what happened at the crime scene, but whatever evidence the Italian police collected was not enough to convict someone for life**. First, the police couldn't figure out a motive - the "sex orgy" motif was just something the Italian prosecutor put out there (there was no evidence about it). Second, the DNA "evidence" was at such low levels, it couldn't prove anything.

(** Note: the prosecutors asked the appeals court to increase Knox's punishment to life in jail, so the only 2 results that could come out of the appeals therefore was either life imprisonment or set free - nothing in between.)

DNA is so easy to transfer: I could shake your hands, then touch a gun, and that gun would be contaminated by your DNA too. That's why there's a minimum amount level where forensic science can be quite sure it is not a result of contamination or DNA transfer. The FBI puts the bar measurement must be at least 200 level units. The Italian police couldn't find Knox's DNA at 200 units; so they lowered the measurement at 100 units and still couldn't find it; they only found it when they lowered the bar to well below 50 units. There's so much uncertainty at such low bar that this evidence should not had been considered reliable in the first place.

Heck, the Knox trial only went ahead because of the Italian prosecutor's gut feeling that Knox and Sollecito also did it along with Guede, despite the evidence not supporting it. The Italian prosecutor relied too much on gut feeling and not on enough on evidence (like that bullheaded North Carolina prosecutor on the Duke Univ lacrosse case a few years ago, for comparison).

Kercher's family did receive justice - the evidence and the court overwhelmingly convicted Guede to long prison. Now, whether that's all the justice, we won't know for sure for some time yet. As mentioned, who knows what exactly happened, but evidence were not enough to put someone off for life - sensational stories and name-calling do not substitute for proper evidence. The sloppy case by the prosecution was an injustice to the Kerchers, who now won't know who to believe.

Heck, 2 other families may --may-- have received injustice for being in prison for 4 years. Regardless, both families will have to raise money out of this - both are heavily in debt from the lawyers and travel costs all those years. So expect more stories coming from them sooner rather than later, and we'd hear more about this.
0

presto345Oct. 05, 2011 - 03:29PM JST

Prosecutors have said they will appeal the decision to Italy’s highest criminal court after receiving the reasoning behind the acquittals, due within 90 days.

From the BBC:

The prosecution, which maintains Miss Kercher was killed in a brutal sex game which went wrong, is to appeal to Italy's highest court over the acquittals.

The prosecution will have to come up with some new, clear cut evidence. If not they won't get anywhere. Whatever they concoct, Knox will never return to Italy. And whatever attention the Knox family has been getting in the media, this is totally unrelated to Amanda being guilty or not guilty.
-2

TatankaOct. 05, 2011 - 03:45PM JST

Looks like Amanda Knox is Italy's version of O.J. Simpson...
0

SuperLibOct. 05, 2011 - 04:50PM JST

I don't think Knox was organizing a lot of press conferences from prison. The European media outlets chose to make her a star. Check out what some of the British and Italian newspapers did while this was going on....pretty creepy stuff....all to make money selling papers.
0

SuperLibOct. 05, 2011 - 09:13PM JST

From the LA Times.com:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-burleigh-knox-20111004,0,2921659.story?track=lat-pick

I'm one of those "I haven't paid much attention because it probably won't ever be sorted out" but the case is pretty interesting....now that it's over.
-1

00sayuri00Oct. 05, 2011 - 11:19PM JST

Cute, rich, white american girl ---> walks free, supported by her fellow countrymen Italian guy ---> no one cares about him Poor, black guy ---> 16 years in jail

How unusual!! XD
0

MadvertsOct. 06, 2011 - 12:06AM JST

Super,

"Check out what some of the British and Italian newspapers did while this was going on....pretty creepy stuff....all to make money selling papers."

Yeah, murdoch's evil minions in the UK mostly. I hope they get sued for slander, but even after the 'phone hacking scandal (which has gones strangely and utterly silent) I guess old Rupert is un-touchable. In all fairness mind, the US media outlets have always seemed to favour Miss Knox's innocence.

Funny enough, most people here in France haven't even heard of the case. It's had a brief mention in light of her aquittal, but that's about it.

I'm rarely without an opinion, but I can't really make my mind up on this one.
0

MadvertsOct. 06, 2011 - 12:11AM JST

"no one cares about him Poor, black guy ---> 16 years in jail"

Poor drug dealer you mean? Can't the PC crowd level that fact because he's black? Maybe it's because of white people he was forced to sell drugs and leave a bloodied hand-print in Kercher's bedroom?

Reasonable doubt has been shown in the other cases. I'm not sure it's going to be so easy for Rudy.