The ‘collapse’ of the charges at the appeal court. By Giangavino Sulas (Translation by Candace Dempsey)

The ‘collapse’ of the charges at the appeal court

By Giangavino Sulas (Translation by Candace Dempsey)

April 2011, Perugia.

The prosecution, which considers Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito the murderers of Meredith Kercher, has been disarmed

The scientific proof,  finally entrusted to experts nominated by the appeals court and not just to the police, is deteriorating and opens up disturbing questions about the procedures used. The witnesses who, when they were not drug addicts or in jail for drug dealing (like Hekuran Kokomani and Antonio Curatolo), have problems of deafness, of physical and mental health serious enough to be hospitalized in a psychiatric ward. (That is the case with Nara Capezzali).

This is the Perugia appeals court for the murder of the British student Meredith Kercher. Before the bar are two suspects and on the bench a good three prosecutors (a public prosecutor and two deputy prosecutors). A number worthy of a Cosa Nostra super trial. Evidently there are a few problems. And the problems unfailingly emerge.

If the clasp of Meredith’s bra, on which the prosecution claims to have discovered the DNA of Raffaelle Sollecito, is rusted and can no longer be examined by the experts appointed by the appeals court, and the only witness claiming to have seen Amanda and Raffaele together the night of the crime has changed his version, by changing the dates of his “sighting,” then what else is left as evidence against the young man from Puglia?

What do they have on hand?

Raffaele Sollecito in class, 2007.

And what remains against Amanda if, always according to the experts, the amount of biological material found on on the knife, the presumed crime weapon, is a level too low to reveal the genetic code?

Recall that this is the biological material from which the forensic analyst extracted the DNA of Meredith (on the tip of the blade) and of Amanda (on the handle.)

On the blade there is no trace of bleach
The experts added as well another particular: there was no trace of bleach on that knife. Then it had never been washed to clean the traces as maintained by the forensic police. The only proofs against the two young people have been cleaned away, but Amanda and Raffaele remain in prison after three and a half years. The young man of Puglia has celebrated his fourth consecutive birthday in a cell.http://blog.seattlepi.com/dempsey/2011/04/03/new-revelations-no-evidence-against-amanda-knox-and-raffaele-sollecito/

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Lack of Common Sense Apparent in Amanda Knox Conviction

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeLack of Common Sense Apparent in Amanda Knox Conviction: "Investigators were aware early on that there was no evidence at the crime scene to suggest that Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were present at the time of Meredith Kercher's murder. They were also aware of the fact that the lead prosecutor on the case, Guiliano Mignini, was telling them the two were involved. With this in mind, they would try desperately to find incriminating evidence to satisfy Mignini’s request."

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Review of Bruce Fisher's "Injustice in Perugia"

Review of Bruce Fisher's Injustice in Perugia:  A book detailing the wrongful conviction of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito   ( Amazon.com;  (http://www.amazon.com/Injustice-Perugia-detailing-conviction-Sollec...). by Susan Marie Kovalinsky

Having run the gamut of stances regarding the case of Amanda Knox, from belief in guilt, to obsessive researcher,  to defender of innocence,  I have now had the pleasure to receive a digital copy of the nearly 350 page text from the author of Injustice in Perugia .

On finishing the manuscript,  I can say that the case for "Injustice in Perugia"  has been made:  Fully,  compellingly, and clearly.

I know that Mr. Fisher has been derided on a website of a certain popularity,  and that this derision has been intense and unprovoked.  I would say that the ad hominem attacks on the author are an indictment of his accusers.  

Notwithstanding,  Mr. Fisher has written poignantly and with full factual evidence.  He has uncovered the bias inherent in Mignini's "sex game gone wrong"  theory,  and has exposed it as the shared delusion of Mignini and Judge Matteini.  Although his critics charge him with writing a polemic,  Fisher's text is a clear expository and argumentative treatise based on evidence which is meticulously laid out and thoroughly delved into.

Not an indictment of the Italian judicial system,  Fisher's text is an actual cry for justice on behalf of all who have been wrongly accused and convicted  -   indeed,  he uses these words in the book's opening dedication.  We know that false accusations and convictions belong to no country and are not limited to any culture:  They happen everywhere.  It is the folly of specific investigators,  actual media venues,  and the darkness and bigotry which reside within the human heart which are at fault, and which form the impetus for the social media flames which fan out of control.  

Fisher's text takes from the initial investigation,  to the point at which it ought to have shifted radically:  With the arrest of Mr. Guede.  That it did not bespeaks how deeply-rooted was Mignini's theory;  one might say he suffered from an idee fixe:  and this fixed idea was able to translate itself to investigators, legal persons, and the media,  until it took on a life of its own.  In this sense, Mignini is a formidable man:  We have seen how strong is his power to persuade,  and how his paranoia about the darkness which encroaches on traditional culture transmits itself deeply.  Mignini is a sympathetic character, culturally.  But in the legal sense,  he has spawned a judicial travesty.   One of the most important aspects of Injustice in Perugia:   Fisher delves into the infamous "Monster of Florence "  case (and Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini's even more infamous part in it),  in which author Douglas Preston became ensnared, and no less than 20 persons were unfairly indicted.  Although Mignini's claims were ultimately dismissed, the damage was done,  and Fisher has expertly given us to understand that Mignini has a history of being unable to retract his odd theories,  once made public.  That he was found to be subject to mania in his thinking on so prominent a case ought to give us stern pause.   History has a way of repeating itself in persons and in events,  and Mignini is not exempt from such a cycle.   The possibility that all which came after was symptom,  consequence,  incident of an original and ill-conceived theorizing cannot be ignored.  This is worrisome,  in the extreme.  

 Fisher brings another aspect into focus involving the media circles which swirl around the Knox case:  That the career ambitions of certain persons feed off the idea of Knox's guilt.  This is understandable: many writers can relate here.  But there comes a point at which a false theory and a biased investigation leading to the destruction of two young lives -  on top of the initial life lost,  that of the worthy victim,  Ms. Kercher, for whom everyone must have sympathy and sorrow  -  must be seen for the unethical venture it is,  and must be called a miscarriage of justice.  

Mystery colors  the personae of Knox and Sollecito,  and some of it may be of their own making,  inadvertently, and likely from a mix of youthful inexperience and plain quirkiness.  But there is grave danger in projecting too much into their images, and Mr. Fisher admirably shines a flood light on the actuality of an investigation gone rather terribly wrong, and with profound consequences.  It is not simply error upon error which infuriates, but the  fact that evidence was made to fit a pre-existing theory that was spun mainly out of thin air, and Fisher makes this point relentlessly and boldly.    In a black and white photo of Ms. Knox on page 171 of Fisher's book,  Amanda's eyes look wistfully at the camera,  the soft focus making her face appear pale and school- girlish as she smiles shyly for the camera.  It is a pre-Perugia Amanda,  and one is given stern pause at just what the consequences of Mignini's theorizing  have been.  Fisher makes it clear that Knox and Sollecito were never wavering on their alibis until after relentless interrogation.  This is a point which has been too often overlooked :  I know I missed it in my own initial surmising on the case.

Further,  in Chapter 14 Fisher makes a strong case for the virtual contamination,  by law enforcement,  of key aspects and items within the crime scene.   Improper procedural and collection methods,  carelessness as to swab collecting, and the failure to change gloves are among numerous charges of an almost deliberate incompetence.  

All in all,  Bruce Fisher has shined the light of empirical analysis on the facts of the Knox case,  and not only does the guilty verdict in December 2009 come up wanting,  but anyone in possession of the facts can no longer believe that the conviction of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito is anything but a mistake,  and a profoundly tragic one,  which cries out to be rectified.  

Review of Bruce Fisher's "Injustice in Perugia" - WriterFace.com - The Social Network For Writers

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Amanda Knox appeal: 'Italians are embarrassed by this case' | World news | guardian.co.uk

 "In the year since Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were convicted of murdering Meredith Kercher, public opinion appears to have swung in Knox's favour both in Italy and abroad. This may have an effect on the appeal."Amanda Knox appeal: 'Italians are embarrassed by this case' | World news | guardian.co.uk

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