Headsup: To those many lawyers amazed that Knox did not get on the witness stand to head off a certain re-conviction: the best guess among Italian lawyers is that Knox's own lawyers feared ANOTHER calunnia charge if she repeated the crackpot and highly disprovable claims that she was tortured. The tough calunnia law is primarily a pushback measure against mafia meddling which is widely suspected in this case.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Trial: Court Report In Italian From Italian TV Network LA-7 DRAFT

Posted by Peter Quennell

Edited: The embedded video has been phased out. The six members of the jury and the four alternates (wearing sashes) could be seen seated on each side of the two judges. The courtroom is at the back of the court complex facing east, away from the Piazza Giacomo Matteotti. It is right at the edge of the Perugian massif, where the ground falls away sharply for several hundred meters. There is a spectacular view in that direction, though the court windows appear to be frosted over here.

The trial is now adjourned for the day (journalists will now be busy filing stories we’ll check out) and the BBC has reported that the next trial date will be 6 February. The other dates announced are: 13, 14, 27 and 28 February, plus 13, 14, 20, 21, 27 and 28 March, plus 3, 4, 18, 23 and 24 April. About five each month.

Trial: The Proceedings Commence: The Times’s Lunchbreak Report

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for the story. The Kercher family is not present. Nor are the biological parents of Amanda Knox. It is not yet reported if Raffaele Sollecito’s father is present; his mother passed on.

And note this breaking news on yet another possible eye-witness, near the bottom of David Owen’s piece - the significance here being that Rudy Guede may have known both defendants prior to the night in question.

Il Giornale dell’ Umbria reported that a new witness, a researcher named only as Fabio G, had told police he had seen Ms Knox, Mr Sollecito and Mr Guede together near the cottage Ms Kercher shared with Ms Knox on 30 October 2007, two days before the murder and sexual assault.

Trial: The Proceedings Commence: The UK’s Daily Mail Reports First

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for the story. From Nick Pisa’s report:

Dressed in a hooded grey sweatshirt Knox, 21, smiled and shook hands with her legal team as she was led into court. She seemed overwhelmed by the mass presence of over 150 journalists and TV crews - who, bizarrely, had been herded inside a caged area in the court normally reserved for terrorists.

Nick Pisa appears to be sitting in the terrorist cage at bottom-right below. Click for a better look at him.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Good Overview Of The Case In Germany’s Der Spiegel

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for the two-part report by Alexander Smoltczyk.

Based on the numbers of reports appearing in Germany, interest in the case is high there. It seems to rank fourth after Italy, the UK, and the US.

There is some mild sensationalism in the newspapers there; not much. Reporting on the whole is as in this report: factual and objective.

Before she moved to Perugia Amanda Knox stayed with an uncle in Germany and interned for a day or two at the Bundestag in Berlin. German is one of her languages.

An on-the-run Rudy Guede was caught on a train in Germany and after a brief period he was semt back to Italy where he broke from the other two.

And Italy is the Number One tourist destination for Germans on vacation. They know and really like the place.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Another Book Deal We Are Maybe Not In Favor Of

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for the breaking story. This book now seems prejudicial, and it might be good if it’s withdrawn.

The passage we quoted in an earlier post actually seemed beneficial to Knox. The book is not out in English.

[Added] The author has now stated that the contentious passages in the book were all written by Amanda Knox herself.

In my book I used the diary written by Amanda Knox herself and which is now part of the evidence in the trial against her.

‘I don’t understand how the fact that I have retold her own words in a book can have a negative influence on her trial.

Earlier proceedings have already established the sexual element of the this case and that is what I am saying in the book.

So Amanda should sue… herself?! The diary excerpts sure are getting a lot of reads. It was an Italian best-seller over Christmas.

Sounds like that withdrawal is too late and this may be a red herring that goes nowhere.

Mr Mignini, Pehaps Keep A Close Eye On This Person, Too

Posted by Peter Quennell

[Amended] That guy on the far left is said to be Frank. We owe you one, Candace. Thanks for the tip.

An email that came in from a trusted source says Frank’s collaboration on the book deal is believed to be dead.

If that really is the case, it is good news, and that is the end of this story. We’ll keep watching, though.

By the way we dont really go looking for stuff on Frank. It just pours in. Perugians seem really ticked at him.

Monday, January 05, 2009

And Newsweek’s Most-Read Stories Over The Long Weekend Were…

Posted by Peter Quennell

Three on Meredith’s case in the top six.

Click above for a more readable version. The thriller headlines used here don’t quite reflect the cool, precise Newsweek stories which the online readers were reading.

Good news for those wanting objective coverage, everything to come out, and the chips to fall where they may in the case.

And bad news for those not wanting these three particular outcomes…

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Eight Weeks Now And Counting! Our Year-End Report

Posted by Peter Quennell

Here’s where we seem to stand now, two months (yes just two months!) after TJMK first launched. 

1) In the United States here in recent months, Meredith Kercher had become almost invisible in the press reports on the case. The Associated Press report we criticized a week ago is a case in point: half a dozen paras on Amanda Knox’s Christmas plight, and one cold sentence on the Kerchers’ Christmas plight.

2) TJMK has been the one site (try to find another)  to actually draw some of the attention back to Meredith Kercher, to show that she was a really bright and attractive person, to illustrate the London and Leeds environments that she came from, to explain how very much her intended year in Perugia meant to her and how hard she had worked for it, and to show that as the one and only true victim in the case, Meredith REALLY matters,

3) In the United States here, coverage of the emerging public evidence of the case has been between thin and non-existent, and there have been some actively misleading reports. Even the excellent NBC Dateline report that we praised a week ago left out some key evidence points.

4) TJMK has been a solitary voice (try to find another) in setting out the full sweep of the publicly available evidence in a cool and methodical way for everybody’s consideration, the American media’s included, without any exaggeration or misinterpretation, and with the repeated caution that, kinda like an iceberg, most of the evidence is still out of sight.. 

5) In the United States here, there has been a considerable attempt to stir up sentiment against the Italian legal system and the prosecutor. Legal experts here in New York tell us they cannot think of another case where a legal system has been so mischaracterized and a police force, evidentiary service and prosecutor so ridiculed. For example check this out..

6) TJMK has been a solitary voice (try to find another) in explaining how the Italian legal system actually works, in noting that it is actually extremely fair toward defendants, and in showing respect for the efforts of the police, the evidence service, the judiciary, and especially the prosecutor for the case.

7) In other media and other areas of the blogosphere you can find a number of sensationalized reports about Amanda Knox and a lesser number about Raffaele Sollecito.

8) We have generally not commented very much on Sollecito, who remains quite an enigma to us. We have not dwelled on any of those lurid reports about Knox, and we have actually shown a certain sympathy for the plight of Knox who we suspect may have serious unaddressed psychological issues, and who we think has been served very badly by the well-funded, bare-knuckles public relations campaign.

9) We have unmoderated comments here, with no registration required, and we have welcomed all comments in the general tone of the site regardless of point of view. We fund the site ourselves, we dont request contributions, we carry no advertising, and we have no secret book deals in the wings. The agenda simply remains justice for Meredith and some eventual signs of contrition to provide the Kercher family with some sort of closure. And that is it.

10) Two post-length comments appeared here yesterday that showed very little sign that any of the many posts on the evidence on this site had ever been read or understood. If they had been taken into account, such claims about Guede as sole perp would in our view have been impossible. It was not what the commenter said that led to the rebuttals (though he or she mistated some hard facts) so much as the volume of contradicting facts here that he or she ignored and went past. Rebuttals do not seem to have taken a harder line against Knox and Sollecito than comments on any previous posts. 

11) We think we have provided many people with a better appreciation of the really remarkable person Meredith was, and the truly sadistic nature of the crime committed against her. We have run an uphill truth-focussed campaign for her justice which seems to be gaining real traction now against some very well-funded, money-making, smoke-blowing interests. And we have gained respect from the media.

12) We would like to see Guede come out with an ACCURATE description of the events on the night (which he hasn’t yet) and let the chips fall where they may for the remaining two defendants. And we’d really like to see a strong show of contrition from the perp or the perps to the Kerchers to hopefully provide them with some closure.

Very many thanks to all of our sharing, caring, and extremely insightful contributors.  Happy new year, everyone.

And rest in peace, Meredith. You had a very, very good life ahead of you…

Sunday, December 28, 2008

New Pressure Now On Rudy Guede To Start Talking? EDIT

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click above for Guede profile]

There’s a new report in the Italian press that Guede is apparently now transferred to the sex offenders wing of the prison mentioned below.

It seems that sex offenders are not great favorites among the other prisoners, so the point of such a move might be to protect him rather than to give him an additionally hard time.

Or could this be more pressure on him to start talking? Guede seems to have made remarks to his lawyer in the last several days intended to convey to the Kerchers that he is sad for them at what happened.

Prosecutor Mignini has a reputation among people who actually know him and regard him with respect for above all wanting justice and closure for the families of victims.

And for wanting to know precisely what happened. He is not really known for being among the most vengeful of prosecutors, or for seeking particularly harsh sentences.

If Mr Mignini is not having periodic chats about what is best for Meredith’s family with the Kerchers’ lawyer Mr Maresca, it would be uncharacteristic of him.

Closure for some victims’ families can be above all a matter of knowing what happened and why, and of hearing some real contrition from the perp or the perps.

Mr Mignini seems to us just right for this kind of outcome, and the Kerchers have several times seemed to suggest that they think so, too.

May the whipsawing, if that is what it is, please continue…

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Where The Convicted Perp And The Defendants Are Now

Posted by Peter Quennell

About one hour’s drive apart.

Not that they are doing too much driving these days, of course. Due to present circumstances.

Italy’s prison system is among the more innovative in terms of the rehabilitation of prisoners. If they need one, prisoners get taught a trade skill before they bounce back into society.

So Rudy Guede, along with (if convicted) Amanda Knox and (if convicted) Raffaele Sollecito, could re-enter society as champion pizza makers.

That’ll be the very good European pizzas, of course. The wonderful Four Seasons for example. With artichokes.

That could go over very well in mid-century Seattle.

And this structure below is? Answer is below the shot.

The solar heating on Terni prison. This was the first solar heating on prisons in Italy. It would seem that Sollecito is the most snug of the three.

At least in the summer, when the sun shines the most.