Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Why Final RS & AK Appeal Against Guilty Verdict May Fail: Multiple Wounds = Multiple Attackers

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Reports From Italy On Why AK & RS Appeal Failed

The Nencini Report has been released and we are seeing to its translation right now.

Meanwhile journalists in Italy have these reports which convey the very implacable, damning tone. There was nothing accidental about Meredith’s death; Knox premeditated it all along.

First report

From Il Messagero kindly translated by Miriam:.

FLORENCE -  The knife that was seized at Raffaele Sollecito house is the knife that killed Meredith Kercher, and the blow was delivered by Amanda Knox.  So writes the President of the Court of Appeal of Florence, Alessandro Nencini, in the motivation report of the sentence that was passed on Jan. 30th that saw Amanda Knox sentenced to 28 and a half years and Raffaele Sollecito to 25 years.

Over 330 pages in which the court covers the appeal and explains the conviction. Starting with the knife considered “not incompatible with the wound that was carried out on Meredith Kercher. “In the present case, writes Nencini what counts is the accessibility of the weapon by the accused, it’s concrete portability from house to house, it’s compatibility with the wound, and the presence of Meredith’s DNA on the blade. All of these elements ascertained by the court lead to the conclusion that the knifed evidenced as no. 36 was one of the knifes used in the attack, and was the knife that Knox used to strike the fatal blow to Meredith’s throat.”

The court retains to have sufficient evidence of “certain reliability” of Rudy Guede (convicted to 16 years) Amanda and Raffaele in the house where Mez was killed, on the night between the 1st and November 2, 2007 in 7 Via della Pergola “in the immediate phases following the murder.” The Court then tells how she was immobilized and Mez “was not able to put up some valid resistance because she was dominated by multiple assailants and cut at the same time with the blades of several knives.”

Rejected therefore is the defense’s strategy of both of the convicted, that have always maintained that the killer was only one.: the Ivorian Rudy Guede.

Second report

Bullet points from various Italian media.

  • The big knife from Sollecito’s house held by Amanda Knox caused the fatal wound to Meredith while the other was held by Raffaele Sollecito.

  • There is strong “multiple and consistent” evidence of all three in the house immediately following the murder.  All three worked to suppress Meredith.

  • There was an escalating quarrel between Knox and Meredith leading to a progressive aggression and murder with sexual components.

  • Between Amanda and Meredith there was no mutual sympathy and Meredith harbored serious reservations about the behavior of AK.

  • The biological trace found on the bra clasp that Meredith Kercher was wearing the night she was murdered was left by Raffaele Sollecito
Third report

No especially accurate reports in English have appeared yet and the erroneous “new trial” is still surfacing. Andrea Vogt tweets that she will be posting an analysis soon.

The mischievous defense-inspired “sex game gone wrong” and “satanic theory” mantras are still widely showing up in the duped media, but are nailed hopefully finally in this new report.

Judge Nencini has closely followed and endorsed the “from all angles” Massei trial analysis, but with the inclusion of some more credible explanations from Prosecutor Crini which Judge Micheli had also espoused back in 2008.

In particular, Rudy Guede is not now highly improbably seen as the one initiating the attack on Meredith, and sex was not at all the primary driving force for the attack (the prosecution never ever said it was). Knox carried the big knife from Sollecito’s for a purpose.

The bad blood between the girls resulting from Knox’s crude, brash, very lazy, drug-oriented behavior was well known in Meredith’s circle. All of them had backed away from her, as also had her employer and the patrons in his bar.

There was a probable theft of money by Knox who was unable to account for a sum similar to what Meredith would have stashed away for the rent and that is seen as the probable spark for the explosive argument and attack.

Fourth report

Barbie Nadeau in The Daily Beast

Amanda Knox apparently did not kill Meredith Kercher in a “sex game gone wrong,” as had been previously decided by a lower court in Perugia, according to a Florentine appellate judge who released today a 337-page document explaining his decision to convict Knox and her erstwhile Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, for Kercher’s murder. Rather, the judge claims, Knox allegedly killed Kercher, her 21-year-old British roommate, because she didn’t like her.

All Italian courts require judges to explain the reasoning behind their rulings, and it likely represents the penultimate step in a seven-year case that has seen Knox and Sollecito first convicted in 2009 then acquitted in 2011 then convicted again in January 2014. Rudy Guede, an Ivory Coast native who was also convicted for his role in the murder back in 2008, is serving a 16-year jail sentence. He is currently eligible to apply for work furloughs from prison.

Judge Alessandro Nencini, along with a second judge and six lay jurors, were tasked with hearing a second appeal that began in September 2013 after Italy’s high court threw out the acquittal that set Knox and Sollecito free in 2011. Italy’s high court cited “inconsistencies” and “legal mistakes” and tasked Nencini’s court with hearing the appeal again. It was not a retrial per se, but rather a fresh look at the appeal process that freed Knox.

Nencini decided that the appellate court that set Knox free erred in evidentiary and legal matters. That court will now have to rule definitively on the case, using Nencini’s reasoning and whatever appeal Knox and Sollecito file for their final judgment. If the high court accepts Nencini’s verdicts, the two will be required to serve their prison sentences in Italy. Knox has vowed she will not return to Europe, but Sollecito, unless he escapes, won’t be as lucky.

The court’s explanation of its decision comes down hard on the first appellate court that overturned Knox’s guilty verdict, at times seemingly scolding them for misapplication of penal codes and for throwing out witness testimony without explanation. “It was an operation of evaluating evidence with using logic,” Nencini wrote, accusing the first appellate court of essentially throwing out testimony that allegedly proved Knox’s involvement, but keeping testimony that supposedly supported her innocence.

He used Knox’s prison diary as a prime example. “Look at the contradictions in the evaluation of the diary written in English by Amanda Knox,” he wrote, referring to a handwritten prison diary taken fromKnox’s cell as part of the investigation to determine why she accused her pub boss Patrick Lumumba of Kercher’s murder during early interrogations. “On one hand, the appellate court of Perugia completely devalued the writings when she admitted wrongdoing by accusing Patrick Lumumba. On the other side, they valued it when she defended herself.”

Nencini also ruled that there was plenty of forensic evidence tying Knox and Sollecito to the crime scene, writing “they left their tracks in the victim’s blood” more than once in the document. He accepted testimony that supported the theory that a knife found in Sollecito’s apartment was one of the primary murder weapons, and he reasoned that a second knife was also used that matched a blood stain left on Kercher’s mattress.

The first knife in question was the only hard evidence reexamined in the second appeal, and forensic experts ruled that a previously untested spot on the knife’s handle consisted of 100 percent Knox’s DNA. An earlier court heard testimony that a tiny smidgeon of DNA on the groove of the blade was Kercher’s, but the first appellate court agreed with witnesses who testified that the sample was too small to be considered a perfect match. The second appellate court not only considered the knife to be the murder weapon, it also ruled that Knox “plunged the knife into the left side of Kercher’s neck, causing the fatal wound.”

The second appellate court also reasoned that Kercher’s bra clasp, which had been cut from her body after she was killed, had Sollecito’s DNA on the tiny metal clasp. “The biological trace found on the bra clasp that Meredith Kercher was wearing when she was assassinated belonged to RaffaeleSollecito,” Nencini wrote, agreeing with the judge in the original murder conviction. “The clasp was manipulated by the accused on the night of the murder.”

The court also scoffed at certain rulings laid out by the first appellate court, saying that the court’s reasoning that it would have been easy for “a young athlete” like Rudy Guede to scale the wall and enter the apartment, was borderline racist.

Nencini also ruled that with regard to motive in the murder, it was subjective and personal. “It is not necessary for all the assailants to share the same motive.”

The court picked out small details of Knox’s presumably errant testimony, including how she told police the morning Kercher’s body was found that Kercher always locked her door “even when she takes a shower,” which was later contested by the girls’ other roommates.

Nencini also clearly believed ample forensic testimony, presented by experts examining the original autopsy, that Kercher was killed by more than one person. “”She was completely immobilized when she was murdered,” he said, reasoning that Guede could not have acted alone, and instead likely held her back as Sollecito and Knox knifed her.

The judge also pointed out incongruences in Knox’s testimony about the night of the murder, but noted problems with the other witnesses, which included a homeless man, an elderly woman who said she heard screams. Still, he ruled that Knox’s accusation of Lumumba is vital evidence against her. “It is impossible to separate the two acts,” he wrote.

Using Nencini’s reasoning, Knox’s lawyers now have the roadmap for planning their final appeal to Italy’s high court, likely later this year or in early 2015. However, this same high court threw out the acquittal in the first place, so Knox may need more than luck to walk free. If she is definitively convicted, she will likely face an extradition order to come back to Italy to serve out her sentence. There are very few legal loopholes that would allow an American citizen to escape a court decision by a country, like Italy, that shares extradition treaties with the U.S.



[Judge Massei at crime scene; report says why Knox & Sollecito appeal against his 2009 verdict has failed]




[The Supreme Court in Rome is expected later this year to confirm this outcome]

Comments

Knox and Sollecito failed in THEIRr appeals. NO new trial.

Most media outside Italy have been made so confused they will need help understanding this.

We have just tweeted as follows: 

Please fight expected multiple wrong headlines. This is a FAILED appeal by #amandaknox and #raffaelesollecito not repeat not a new trial.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 04/29/14 at 05:33 PM | #

Latest: #MeredithKercher killed by two knives, wielded by #amandaknox and #raffaelesollecito

http://www.ansa.it/umbria/notizie/2014/04/29/meredith-corte-sollecito-knox-in-casa-delitto-_2b4bb910-bff8-46d1-8a3e-744fdd0b1dd8.html

Posted by Ergon on 04/29/14 at 05:46 PM | #

For which see (ahem) my investigative report on the knives

http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php?/tjmk/comments/strong_proof_that_raffaele_sollecito_also_stabbed_meredith_kercher/

Posted by Ergon on 04/29/14 at 05:48 PM | #

from first few articles we can say Nencini does not change Massei in a substantial way.

This is good.

I am sure Nencini, who is a good speaker and a decent writer (and I am confident his second judge writes better than the second judge of Massei’s court), will explain certain points better than Massei but if this court of appeal did not revolutionise the main structure of Massei’s judgement there is no hope for the defendants in Cassazione. The Supreme Court has already read Massei and is fine with it from the pov of logic.

Knife and clasp are perfectly valid. This vindicates the Polizia Scientifica and their serious work. I am sure however Nencini will argue his Court had enough elements even without knife and clasp. I read the words “elementi plurumi concordanti” which is the typical formula in a trial made with circumstantial evidence. The huge number of relevant elements (indizi “precisi gravi e concordanti”) all pointing in a certain direction is an unbeatable argument for guilt.


———————————
art 192 cpp (criminal procedure code)
1. Il giudice valuta la provadando conto nella motivazione dei risultati acquisiti e dei criteri adottati [546 1 lett. e] (1).

2. L’esistenza di un fatto non può essere desunta da indizi a meno che questi siano gravi, precisi e concordanti [c.c. 2729] (2).
.......

(2) Ai sensi dell’art. 192, comma secondo, c.p.p., l’esistenza di un fatto può essere desunta anche da indizi, purchè siano gravi, precisi e concordanti. In particolare, gli indizi possono dirsi concordanti quando consentono di ricostruire il fatto, la vicenda storica oggetto delle indagini, in senso univoco e comunque tale da escludere altre ragionevoli ipotesi (Corte di Cassazione 10 giugno 1998, n. 6894).

[TRANSLATION PART IN BOLD] “In particular, pieces of circumstantial evidence can be said as concordant when they allow to reconstruct a fact, the story object of investigation, univocally, so as to exclude any other reasonable hypotesis. “

Posted by Popper on 04/29/14 at 05:53 PM | #

hypothesis

Posted by Popper on 04/29/14 at 05:56 PM | #

It is very good, indeed, Popper. Stating that it is based on strong circumstantial evidence will negate any arguments against the motive at Cassazione and ECtHR.

Posted by Ergon on 04/29/14 at 06:09 PM | #

Evidence in the Kercher trial is of extremely high quality as it comes from numerous sources:  science/biology, crime scene observation, lies and contradictions, reliable witnesses, partial confessions, PCs and phones ... rarely such a complete set of evidence is available and at the same time the defendants do not confess trying to improve their position.  In fact two out of three partially confessed. 

Evidence certainly meets the standard required as there is no other scenario possible with those elements [ie the absence of the defendants from that flat is virtually impossible].

They have minimal chances at Cassazione and they ECHR appeal, if any, will hardly be heard.

*
sorry other typo “elementi plurimi concordanti” [multiple concordant elements]

Posted by Popper on 04/29/14 at 06:45 PM | #

Thank you Popper, and all…and also for the good photos.

Posted by SeekingUnderstanding on 04/29/14 at 06:51 PM | #

Apologies if TJMK went down in your area. We have asked our hoster to check why it happened.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 04/29/14 at 07:25 PM | #

I like the emphasis going back to Knox and Sollecito instead of Guede. He was there, but NOT as the instigator. But yes, initial translations indicate he did attempt sexual advances on Meredith. The murder, though, was an extension of abusing and humiliating Meredith, after which she ‘had to be silenced’, in case she would report them.

Posted by Ergon on 04/29/14 at 07:33 PM | #

with respect to motive - I was always struck by a remark Amanda made to one of the Italian roommates to the effect that even with Meredith dead, she (Amanda could still room with them). I believe Rudy told the truth with respect to Meredith’s saying something that she had been robbed. I believe she had been and her intention was to tell the Italian girls upon their return which would have made Amanda’s position untenable. She needed to fix that and the only possibility she saw was to eliminate the source of her potential problem—Meredith. This was never a complicated crime, in my view, it was only made so by all the obfuscation and histrionics of Amanda and her supporters.

Posted by mojo on 04/29/14 at 07:46 PM | #

Today has been another good day for justice. Judge Nencini has made sure that the Supreme Court will confirm the verdicts.

Posted by The Machine on 04/29/14 at 10:43 PM | #

Yahoo headlines say: “Italy court: Knox, Kercher fought on day of murder”. It’s an AP report from Milan written by Colleen Barry. She calls Nencini’s motivation report “lengthy reasoning made public”. It is 337 pages. Her leading paragraph claims “the two exchange students fought over money on the night of the murder.”

I saw a similar story in The Daily Mail online.

Barry quotes Nencini’s document as saying, “It is a matter of fact that at a certain point in the evening events accelerated; the English girl was attacked by Amanda Marie Knox, by Raffaele Sollecito, who was backing up his girlfriend, and by Rudy Hermann Guede, and constrained within her own room.”

This version of events asserts that “it was not necessary for all of the assailants to have the same motive.” The knife from Raf’s apartment was the murder weapon as proven by Meredith’s DNA found on it. Raf’s own personal knife was the other weapon.

Amanda Knox is toast.

Posted by Hopeful on 04/30/14 at 12:50 AM | #

What a horrible way to have died.

Posted by Friendofstfrank on 05/01/14 at 01:23 AM | #

Yes, the cruelty, the loneliness, the betrayal of all things humane is dreadful to imagine.
Also,  I can see that the perpetrators could find it very, very, difficult to own up to being the cause of such suffering. Especially if immature. And with a terribilita, this seems to be what has happened.

Posted by SeekingUnderstanding on 05/01/14 at 01:44 AM | #

A columnist for The Miami HeraldLeonard Pitts Jr. just made a comment applicable to people like Knox; I paraphrase:

Maybe she does it because she can.

Posted by Cardiol MD on 05/05/14 at 02:54 AM | #

Good, Cardiol.
A case of too much freedom, too little discipline ? Knox repeats that her mother encouraged her to be a ‘free spirit’...

Posted by SeekingUnderstanding on 05/05/14 at 09:41 AM | #

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