Sunday, July 06, 2014
Spitting In the Wind: Sollecito News Conference Backfires On Him AND Knox - What The Media Missed
Posted by SomeAlibi
Raffaele looks for divine inspiration? Precious little showing at press conference on Tuesday
What on earth were they thinking?
At Tuesday morning’s press conference Raffaele Sollecito’s team did at least two completely inexplicable things.
Firstly, they scored a spectacular own-goal on the facts surrounding the murder of Meredith Kercher, which has been missed by the press.
Secondly, they did it all for no legal benefit.
In the run up to the press conference it was widely trailed that Sollecito would throw Amanda under the bus by removing her alibi - that she spent the whole of the night of the 1st of November with him at his apartment. After the press conference, it was widely reported he’d done that very thing.
Wrong. Very wrong. In fact, Team Sollecito did the opposite and put a position forward entirely consistent with how the prosecution says Knox, Sollecito and Guede all come together.
Speaking in tongues
There are only a few grains of sand left in the hourglass before Cassation and confirmation of the sentence, which will see Sollecito return to jail until he is well into his forties. You would have thought that it would be “absurd” for him to do anything other than speak clearly and unequivocally.
But that is precisely what didn’t happen…
Sollecito and lead counsel Giulia Bongiorno performed a bizarre tip-toe dance, avoiding saying anything clear or direct. Instead, they made points by reference and allusion, with an unhealthy assortment of metaphorical nods, winks, heavy coughs and adjustments of the lapels at key points.
Did Raffaele say that Amanda left his apartment in the early evening? No. As Bongiorno tortuously phrased it: “Raffaele takes note of the fact the court of appeal found there was something of a lie over Amanda’s whereabouts”¦ of the fact the court [says] she was not with him in the early evening”.
Takes note? What on earth was that all about? Well, the sentence mangling was because at the final Cassation hearing next year, no fresh facts can be heard. The only arguments that can be heard are on failure of due process or failure of logic and reasoning as pmf.org Italian legal expert Popper explains extremely clearly here:
I think we should clarify a number of points after discussions of past few days:
1) Corte di Cassazione does not hear evidence and can only discuss the possible invalidation of a sentence or part of it ref the points appealed, not other points. Corte di Cassazione does not hear defendants or private parties. In public hearings only a specific category of lawyers (Cassazionisti) can speak before them
2) Corte di Cassazione therefore cannot take into account evidence now given spontaneously by the defendant RS directed against AK (eg open door of Filomena) as in Court he has never accepted cross-interrogation of AK’s lawyers, except if on some points RS’ lawyers appealed in writing for manifest illogicality of reasoning but what he says now cannot be used. Keep in mind Cassazione cannot discuss the merit of the judgement of Nencini and Massei, only invalidate it if this judgement and reasoning were based on clearly illogical arguments or neglected key evidence
3) Only if Cassazione invalidated Nencini and remanded to a further appeal a possible renovation of “istruttoria” (evidence discussion) may take place. Otherwise all RS has to say now, even if he confesses she did it and he only helped clean [unlikely IMHO], cannot be taken into account by Corte di Cassazione and would have to be the possible argument for a “revisione del giudicato” (a case in which, after a final judgement, a convicted person claims there is a clear error and brings solid evidence to prove it, it is quite rare only in case of obvious errors. Procedure can be easily denied and IMHO will be denied if he said he just helped clean as Courts have already considered that scenario and rejected it)
4) any discussion on cocaine was not taken into account to convict (even if true, no evidence they sniffed that night) and will not be taken into account by Corte di Cassazione, in theory will not be taken into account for extradition hearing in US Court as this only verifies there is a conviction and treaty respected. PR is another matter, but I think it is not correct to say that would be added to extradition request and may change legal course. Same goes for garage video.
5) The press conference of RS was useless, the panel of Corte di Cassazione judges has not even been appointed and, while not illegal, it is completely unusual for a defendant to hold a PC talking about an appeal (RS is not a public figure or administrator). What counts is the appeal document that we have read. The “great” point that AK does not talk about RS in memoriale is too stupid for me to discuss it here. We must conclude this was only publicity for Bongiorno, she knows she is likely to lose and wishes to make it seem it is a close call. She has minimal chances, approximating 0%.
6) RS has very low chances to succeed, and LG for AK even less, as Corte di Cassazione explained well what they wanted and Nencini gave it to them. Court presided by AN explained who the people concurring with RG in the murder are and gave clear logical explanation for such conclusion. Also, Nencini confirmed first instance, a trial that was perfectly valid for Cassazione after first appeal was invalidated.
There have been cases of a double iteration at Cassazione eg in very complex terrorism trials, evidence was scarce mostly based on witnesses who wanted to sidetrack other investigations. Here, as Alan Dershowitz said [he does not know much about case but this and a few other points he got absolutely right] all pieces of evidence point exactly in the same direction creating a good case [AD does not know it is overwhelming; maybe he did not read all docs].
One other thing AD said, most FOA and JREF and IIP tend to forget: Court is the judge, not them, Court has the responsibility to evaluate all evidence and issue a judgement that, as long as explained logically and legally in writing [something a US jury would not be required to do] using all available elements, will stand and be final after Cassazione.
So, Team Sollecito needed to phrase all of their “points” as things already said by the Appeal Court, which are now facts in law unless overturned due to failure of logic etc.
From there they must then try and make insinuations about these “˜facts’, all the while dressing it up as if it were procedurally in accordance with the pre-Cassation phase. Even though “¦ and here one should be allowed a Pepto Bismol given all the twisting and turning”¦ as Popper explains, it will have no effect on the outcome whatsoever.
In the real world, it was quite clear that what Sollecito was actually saying was, “Yes, she did go out in the early part of the evening, even though I’m not personally saying it, those are the Court’s words.”
He left a massive hanging dot dot dot in place of: “˜Hey everyone - Amanda went off and performed the murder with Guede, not me! No, I haven’t stated the time of her return, because it’s not me talking, it’s the court, but she was out, so figure it out for yourselves”¦’
Not with him in the early evening, which is not the night, we are told, that begins around 11:00 pm
The light at the end of the tunnel has steam billowing underneath it
Here, Team Sollecito run into a horrendous brick-wall of facts which lays Raffaele and Knox out cold. It’s not hard to work it through, but the world’s weary press are too fatigued by this case to even do some simple “if-then” calculations and draw the appropriate conclusion.
So, let’s do it for them here”¦
- Team Sollecito are saying Knox went out before she sent her SMS reply to boss Patrick Lumumba at 8.35pm. This is in accordance with the case for the prosecution from day dot. They now agree, as the prosecution have always said, that Knox is out of Sollecito’s flat sometime before 8.35pm. (In fact, we know it’s by at least 8.17pm because this is when she received Lumumba’s text to say that she didn’t need to go into work).
- Team Sollecito then pause and wink to let you do the math(s). If the murder occurred circa 9.30pm by their estimate (which it didn’t, but let’s go with this for a second) and you don’t know when she returned to Sollecito’s for the night, then he couldn’t have done it, because he was at home, but she could.
Here, the Press stop and report Amanda is under the bus. Thank heavens for that, not a stain on Raffaele’s Warren Beatty white suit and can we all go home now?
Wrong. In fact, it’s a horrendous own-goal, which ricochets in hard off the testimony of both independent witness Jovana Popovic and Raffaele’s own father Francesco.
- At 8.40pm, Popovic arrives at the front door of Raffaele’s apartment and testifies that Amanda Knox opens the front door. It has been suggested that Popovic’s self-estimated timing of 8.40pm is wrong, but this rings very hollow indeed. Popovic had done the walk from her late class ending at 8.20pm many times, and knew it took 20 minutes because she lived on the same road ““ Corso Garibaldi ““ as Raffaele himself. Both Massei and Nencini agreed with this too. Ouch.
- So Knox, who was out previously, is already back, at least 50 minutes before even the putative time of murder put by the defence and a couple of hours plus before the real time.
- In fact, Raffaele’s father Francesco testified to the Massei court that he was certain that Amanda was with his son when he spoke to him at 8.52pm that night. And this was not contested by the defence. Double ouch.
So, even if Knox went out in the early evening, she is objectively shown to have been back at the apartment well before 9pm. And, if that is the case, both Knox and Sollecito are 100% back in the frame. And this is even before they are also seen by a third person who corroborates that they were together that night ““ Antonio Curatolo. Triple ouch.
Confirming how three became company
Worse yet, Knox has argued for 7 years that she never left the apartment. If Sollecito now “says” she did, but we know objectively that she is back at least by 8.40pm, it supports the prosecution case.
This was that Knox left for work and walked to near the cottage, in the area of the basketball court at Piazza Grimana, around where she received the text from Patrick saying not to come to work.
This is the exact time that Rudy Guede was having a kebab, only a couple of hundred yards away. This provides the opportunity for Knox and Guede to have seen each other. Knox, suddenly at a loose end, makes a plan, which involves asking for Guede’s help.
What might that help be? Well, the resurfacing story of Knox’s link with a cocaine dealer chimes nicely with the idea that Knox asked Rudy either to supply her or help her get some sort of drugs and that they arranged to meet back up once he had secured them.
Knox then returns to Raffaele’s to fetch him, is seen by Popovic and her presence acknowledged at 8.52pm by Papa Sollecito and son, before they both head out to connect with Guede back at Piazza Grimana. (Remember, this is where Knox “saw” Patrick Lumumba, when she tried to frame him).
Guede, as was his wont, managed to get himself invited back to the cottage, perhaps for a shared line. This is consistent with Knox’s prison piece “The Story of Marie Pace”, where there are at least two++ men present in a kitchen in a “party” type atmosphere taking drugs which ends up with a hospitalised victim.
It’s only one theory and there are others. However, what Team Sollecito managed to do this week was to confirm that Knox left the flat. Objective facts and witness testimony tell us the time by which she had returned.
And, in that round trip lies the entire timing, location and mechanism for how Guede became involved, which otherwise makes little sense. Now all confirmed by Team Sollecito…
One of Raffaele Sollecito’s telling grimaces when Amanda Knox’s name is mentioned
What silence gets you
So what was the point? Face-saving for Raffaele? Hoping to key up populist support? Fat chance in Italy, where the case has been properly reported.
An opportunity to allude to a “truth” (the best one he can think of for now ““ other truths are available) and say that he and his family believe Knox is innocent? Pull the other one Raffaele!
It is quite clear that several members of the Sollecito clan think that Knox absolutely is guilty and their Raffaele is still too “honourable” to tell the truth. He merely aided the clean-up perhaps. Well in that case, why hasn’t he said exactly when she came back? Was it 11pm? 1am? Was it at 5am when the music starts playing. Why won’t he or you say?
Or”¦ was it face-saving for Bongiorno, as she faces defeat and seeks to protect her valued public persona? Well, as much as I’ve tried, I have no idea what they thought they were doing.
And to be honest with you, I honestly don’t think they were entirely sure, nor did they think through the consequences of the brick wall objectivity of Popovic + Papa Sollecito.
In the meantime, a family sits in Surrey listening and watching the weasel words and once again is insulted by this “honourable” all-in-white character who knows what “Amanda Marie Knox” did that night, but simply will not say.
Which of course he could choose to do at any moment, court proceedings or not, the way us normal human beings do it: not making allusion, not tipping a wink, but speaking the truth.
But he hasn’t and I suspect he won’t, even though it actually would now be the only thing that could mitigate the length of his inevitable prison term.
And for his acts and that silence he still won’t break - and at least here it is possible to finally speak with certainty - I believe he deserves every one of those 25 years.
Posted by SomeAlibi on 07/06/14 at 12:00 PM in Defendants in court, Raff Sollecito, The officially involved, Evidence & Witnesses, Appeals 2009-2015, Cassation 2013, News media & movies, Media developments, The wider contexts, Italian context, Hoaxes Sollecito etc, 27 Single alibi hoax, Hoaxers from 2007, Raff Sollecito PR
Comments
He is still lying. Speaking in half-truths and allegories. It won’t work.
He needs to come clean- unadulterated truth and nothing but the truth will do.
But I will be real sad if he gets away even as an accessory to murder. I have heard the silenced voice of justice weeping in solitude…
Posted by chami on 07/06/14 at 05:26 PM | #
Over time it has become obvious that both Knox and Sollecito are living in a dream world fueled by drugs and insecurity. Sollecito is the epitome of some spoiled rich kid who got everything he wanted after his mother died. Knox must have used drugs before she left Seattle and thereby fried her brain before she even set foot in Italy.
No wonder she and Sollecito saw kindred spirits in each other. If you examine Sollecito’s predilection for Manga comics and knives plus Knox faint hope of finding acceptance by bedding anything that moves it becomes apparent.
However I predict that both of them will feel the full fury of many who believe they have been duped, but perhaps no to that because they will refuse to even look at that night in the light of truth. That’s happening now of course. The news will latch onto anything it can to sensationalize any aspect and in that regard they will not be left alone.
Posted by Grahame Rhodes on 07/06/14 at 06:16 PM | #
After I wrote this I thought about it some more. Knox exhibits all the symptoms of psychological sickness which at the time the other girls would not pick up on straight away.
For example her lack of feminine hygiene by not washing on a daily basis. Face it she stunk. Bringing home strangers to have open sex thereby disturbing the others. Strumming one chord on the guitar over and over.
Hogging the conversation without saying anything intelligent. Don’t forget these girls were on scholarship and working hard whereas Knox was on holiday and doing drugs. Sollicito himself said that Knox only lived for pleasure. Knox trying to pick up the other girls boyfriends.
All this smacks of a psychologically sick and deranged woman hence the attraction to Sollecito and the desire to do nothing but drugs and sex.
This and jealousy contributed to Knox planning to first rob/insult, later to rape torture and murder Meredith. After all Meredith was not white and therefore just like Patrick Lamumba and Rudy Guede were in her and Sollecito’s eyes inferior people, and as I have maintained all along Sollecito like Knox and Knox family are also racist.
Posted by Grahame Rhodes on 07/06/14 at 06:36 PM | #
Hi SomeAlibi:
Great devil-is-in-the-details post. This is at the intense level at which Italian courts work. Absolutely microscopic. Certainly more zoomed-in than courts and juries need to be in the UK and US.
Here is a post dated October 2012 by Will Savive also destroying claims as to what did and didnt go on that night when they were at Sollecitos house.
The endless invention of “counter-facts” has become a real nightmare zoo for them. Sollecito showed a lot of signs he had no idea what was in his own book when he did his US book tour. Katie Couric and Wendy Murphy among others picked up on that.
These posts describe own-goal after own-goal after Sollecito’s book came out. (Thereafter Knox kicked a number of her own.)
http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php?/tjmk/comments/kane_hall_book_promotion_interviewer/
Posted by Peter Quennell on 07/06/14 at 07:33 PM | #
Hi Grahame:
Many who came to the case later than you (or for example the Machine) dont have any grasp of how unusually horrific this murder was.
This was not just one sudden shot or stab in a panic. The torturing is estimated to have gone on for 1/4 of an hour, and after the fatal stab (which took huge force) Meredith could have taken up to another 1 hour to die, clutching the wounds at both sides of her throat to stop the blood flowing out.
Meredith at her age at her death had at least another 60 plus years of life to look forward to, and was on a fast-track to where she probably would have made a considerable difference internationally.
Between them, Knox and Sollecito are sentenced to almost a decade less than that.
Most Italian murderers (like Alessi in this case) get sentenced to life and given how dangerous RS and AK still are (here RS is being dangerous to AK but he and Knox have both damaged the lives of countless others as well) there is a good case for their both getting life sentences here.
Knox and Sollecito were essentially nothings.
Knox probably came to Europe ONLY for boys and drugs, and did not seek out a scholarship, and did not enrol in any academic course (her little course at the language school would result in zero credits at her university back home). Sollecito was doing a mediocre degree, and was already a couple of years older than many of his peers.
Every sign is that both were on cocaine or crystal meth that night.
I like SomeAlibi’s scenario involving the three of them doing drugs, at the kitchen table perhaps, where Meredith maybe came out and told them she’d call the police if they didnt quit.
Cocaine and crystal meth (and skunk cannabis) can be extremely dangerous, and it looks to drug experts and former users (we had emails from some) like Knox was on a recurring psychotic episode for the better part of a week, and certainly when she had her conniption on the night of 5-6 Nov.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 07/06/14 at 07:53 PM | #
Hi Peter totally agree. It is indicative of someone coming down after being high on meth and coke that all of a sudden they have a “conniption fit” which is similar to an alcoholic seeing rats/spiders whatever. At that time they need a drink to settle themselves or a long sleep.
In Knox’s case she was dead tired after the event whereas before she had asked for pencil and paper in order to write down the names of people she suspected. I would vention to add that Knox didn’t panic for understanding Sollecito had pulled her alibi, since I doubt that would have really registered in her mind. It is more likely that in her drug educed haze she thought she could say anything at all and be believed. After all, lying had been her way of operating all her life.
An indication of this is her dislike of Chris Mellas who I believe saw through her little game from day one. Her mother Edda has probably always covered for her but the photo of Knox and Edda in the court says it all. That’s a mother who knows in her heart the truth of guilt. As to her Grandmother, Knox of course can do no wrong. The people closest to a criminal child are usually the last to realize it, so taking out a second mortgage on Grandmothers house is another chicken that will soon come home to roost.
Posted by Grahame Rhodes on 07/06/14 at 08:35 PM | #
Some people have asked me why I am so fixated upon the eventual incarceration of these two and I think I can speak for everyone here when I say, It is because we value intelligence far more than looks. Meredith was beautiful yes, but far more important and as you pointed out, given her chance I believe she would have made an intellectual difference in this world. Knox on the other hand is just trash both mentally and morally and obviously attracts others of a similar disposition. Either that or the very young and untraveled who base their opinion upon looks or gender or nationality. Mind you there are those who use this tragedy to further their own selfish gains. Such people as Steve Moore and Bruce Fischer who promote themselves and their websites with the only prospect of making a living. If it wasn’t for Knox then they would find someone else to use. The saying that “Birds of a feather stick together” is apropos here when you consider Steve Moore Frank Sfarzo and Bruce Fischer, Frank Sfarzo being a crook of course.
Posted by Grahame Rhodes on 07/06/14 at 08:57 PM | #
SA wrote “So what was the point?”
Beats me. It left me wondering if a money transfer had arrived at the very last moment. Bongiorno was involved to ensure that the money didn’t disappear again before her outstanding fees got paid.
That could also explain why Knox was upset during her meeting with James. “Look, here’s a hundred, it’s all I can afford at the moment, the bastard’s bleeding me dry!”
Posted by James Raper on 07/06/14 at 09:23 PM | #
I’m beginning to wonder if it was a sop from Raffaele to his family in the terms “I can’t go against my honour, and I have to obey my lawyers, but I can repeat what the court said”. The family would interpret him as fighting against his “honour” but insinuating enough to get the “facts” out there.
Of course it leaves my outstanding question to Sollecito and the members of the Sollecito clan: while the court proceedings are one thing, there is nothing in the world stopping Raffaele from releasing the details of when he says Knox went out and when she came back.
If, as I’m given to understand, members of the extended Sollecito family think often of Meredith, that would be the Christian thing to do to help the Kercher family would it not? So why hasn’t he done it? Why won’t he even explain why he won’t give the time out and time back? Why don’t they ask him that question and give us an answer.
Of course, the real answer is that it wouldn’t help him at all. In fact it would damn him as this article shows. She did go out and independent witnesses know when she was back. Unfortunately the extended family members cannot let go of their affection for the boy that Raffaele once was and see the devastating but appropriate conclusions that come from this…
Posted by SomeAlibi on 07/06/14 at 10:37 PM | #
Also note in the video how Raffaele’s eyes are constantly flitting from left to right gauging the reaction of the audience as Bongiorno gives the tortuous explanation.
He wanted to see how it went down. This is not the action of a man telling a simple truth - it is the action of someone trying something on imho.
Posted by SomeAlibi on 07/06/14 at 10:45 PM | #
Brilliant, SomeAlibi. You explained it all so well.
affaele called a press con to make it known that his lovely fox had left his apartment for awhile before the murder, but he had forgotten about his dad’s phone call and Popovic’s sighting of Amanda that tells us when she must have returned to his apartment. Those times were verified at close to 8:45pm to 9:00pm.
Compared to the late hour of the crime, this relatively early return of Knox to Raf’s apartment is the choke point that Raf didn’t consider before calling a press conference. Raf thought to be clever by withholding the time she returned when it is no mystery.
All he does at the presser is tell us HOW LONG Knox was gone from him, which means how much time she had to find Guede, discuss a deal, and return to Raf’s nearby apartment.
Posted by Hopeful on 07/06/14 at 11:33 PM | #
@SA:
Thanks. As you imply: “on the route to Lumumba’s Bar.” Is not “en route to Lumumba’s Bar”, so Knox had ample time for the other bad stuff you list, including the acquisition of Meredith’s money.
@Pete:
“Meredith could have taken up to another 1 hour to die, clutching the wounds at both sides of her throat to stop the blood flowing out.”
Both sides of her throat - Absolutely.
Posted by Cardiol MD on 07/07/14 at 12:26 AM | #
Hi SomeAlibi
On whether the RS and AK financial situations explain this and the many lawyers and experts needing to get paid.
If Bongiorno did get a quick promise of a payment from Seattle it would perhaps explain the oddness of this event. She still drops Knox in it but maybe more gently than the two had intended.
We know the addresses of the two places where Sollecito lived when he was growing up, apartments near the center of Bisceglie right there on Google Street View. Neither suggests a very rich doctor of a dad.
Francesco’s bungalow now in a gated community is very nice, but not a mansion for sure. Sollecito was left some money by his mother but that may have been squirelled away.
Jools has uncovered some odd business doings in Cyprus which we may be able to report on some day.
Stilicho who is in financial management doesnt estimate Knox’s final take from the book to have been very great. Her “reasons” for not paying Patrick his award are not only very dangerous (she could get charged yet again), but seem mean and desperate.
This post said nothing that any good American lawyer could not have told them, and yet word is it really shook them up a lot.
http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php?/tjmk/comments/legal_nightmare_for_knox_how_tough_american_laws/
Running on empty, or trying hard to look like it? Maybe it depends on the intended audience. Telling the lawyers one is broke may not assure their future help.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 07/07/14 at 12:58 AM | #
Given the amount of time Knox was ‘out’ highlighted above, then wouldn’t the garage video purportedly showing Knox walking away from the cottage support the idea she had been back to steal Meredith’s rent money?
Particularly if she had bumped into RS in or just near Piazza Grimano as SA suggests.
If the CCTV grabs are taken seriously within the context of SA’s scenario, they show AK walking away from the cottage and then Meredith returning shortly afterwards.
That could confirm the account given by RG that Meredith and Knox argued about the missing money later when they were all in the house.
Posted by thundering on 07/07/14 at 02:36 AM | #
Pete wrote: “This was not just one sudden shot or stab in a panic. The torturing is estimated to have gone on for 1/4 of an hour…”
Watching “Endeavor” tonight on PBS, I was trying to think like a detective. From the 47 wounds or cuts on her body, we know that this murder was not carried out by only one person. It was not done by an interrupted intruder, but was rather a group attack.
The evil represented by this attack and murder is hard to fathom.
Regarding the previous computer article by Sallyoo, I learned for the first time that the Pergola cottage did not have broadband connection. I’m wondering if Knox, fooling around on one of Sollecito’s computers, which did have Internet access, found the music video with Meredith in it. I wonder if her jealousy at that may have formed part of the motive.
Posted by Earthling on 07/07/14 at 09:43 AM | #
Hi SomeAlibi and James Raper
On why this bizarre non-event happened maybe as one datapoint among several and not at all the last one.
I think as obviously very bright lawyers with exceptional analytic skills you might agree that entire books could be written on the “touchiness” between the legal side and the PR/political/destroy-destroy-destroy side in this case here.
Italy maybe more than any other country has, because of its WWII and mafia histories, tried to push PR and politics into the wings and insulate the courts against any poisoning of public opinion.
Demanding career-streams for all police, prosecutors and judges for example, compare that with say the US system where heads of police and sheriffs, prosecutors and judges (Heavey) are often elected. Also compare the sentencing reports from panels of judges with educational thresholds with US and UK juries which mostly remain inscrutable black boxes and are joked about for being populated by dummies - from what leaks out (OJ Simpson) jury decisions can be ultra superficial. Some complex cases are heard without juries now.
Through mid 2009 the defense lawyers played a fair and honorable game. Other than being a source for Frank Sforza, they pushed back against the crazy roastings by Doug Preston and Ann Bremner and Paul Ciolino and that same Judge Heavey. They did not file a complaint against Knox’s “forced confession” which actually helped prosecution and judges in her calunnia conviction..
They seemed to me to venture onto the slippery slope of the PR + dirty tricks schemes right about the time Knox shot herself in the foot during her two days on the witness stand in July 2009 and the legal case suddenly became quite hopeless. They “secretly” distributed material from the evidence file 〈we got offers of knife evidence for example〉 and initiated the Knox HIV hoax.
http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php?/tjmk/comments/lifetime_movie_included_a_serious_wrong_charge/
They are believed to have been instrumental in engineering the appointment of Judge Hellmann, and dirty tricks certainly happened during that appeal - helped immensely by prosecutors being banned from speaking out (though Comodi did so, a little). Meanwhile Rocco Girlanda (ally of Berlusconi who could about then use some diminishing of the judiciary) attempted various political tricks (all of which eventually ran into administrative walls).
The Perugia prosecution and Cassation and the Council of Magistrates (which pushed Judge Hellmann aside) reacted as they are meant to, and in March 2013 Cassation fully put things back on an even keel.
Bongiorno in particular, a notorious sore loser, seems unable to tolerate the constraints and shed her PR addiction, and back in January Yummi was a bit startled at the degree to which Bongiorno tried to put police and prosecution on trial in her Florence summation.
So it seems to me what SomeAlibi is describing is not any careful practicing of the law here, it is really Bongiorno and the RS family in dont-give-a-damn PR mode, whipping up Italian opinion to lean against the extreme pro-Knox anti-Italy opinion which is Knox’s supposed last hope against getting extradited, leaving their guy as lead killer when they think he got ensnared by a deranged woman.
So I would like to suggest this presentation was not a single datapoint, it is just one one in various steps (two steps forward, one back) of an aggressive campaign to react to the damaging excesses of the American PR which, particularly for Knox, has assured a judicial hard line.
Little hope of reversing the conviction, but maybe RS gets sprung from prison 10 years before AK does, with his head held higher?
Posted by Peter Quennell on 07/07/14 at 01:13 PM | #
Hi again SomeAlibi and James Raper
A small Part Deux on the 2 books. Right now there is a considerable assymetry between the book situations of AK and RS.
On the Sollecito book:
RS and Andrew Gumbel are already headed for trial in Florence. The RS book essentially reflects the FOA strategy (demonize 1/2 of Italy and lash RS more tightly to AK).
It does not reflect the Bongiorno strategy, which was to leave AK to dangle and make nice to Italy. My guess is Bongiorno is really ticked at that book - RS too now.
On the Knox book:
There has so far been less legal movement, and Bongiorno will know that. It was expurgated in a hurry just before publishing and the UK and Italian editions were cancelled.
But it still contains a large number of crazy charges which make both AK and RS look worse in both legal and public eyes. For example this framing of Mignini could land Knox with more time back in prison than her framing of Patrick.
Also Knox was responsible for several interviews in Oggi based on her book. This is why the investigation and first charges for those first were requested of the Bergamo prosecutor, where Oggi has its head office.
A FULL complaint against the Knox book has not yet been lodged, in part because Knox with her crazy website and TV claims and email to Judge Nencini is helpfully digging herself in deeper. She sure irritated Judge Nencini.
The statute of limitations clock on AKs book only starts running when what is in the book “comes to the attention of” all of those Knox impugned - and there are a lot impugned, as our Interrogation Hoax series will be showing.
Most of them dont read much English, so in most cases they dont even know at the moment what has been put out about them by Knox and crazies like Moore & Fischer.
Disadvantage to Sollecito.
He & Gumbel will go to trial first, whereas it would have been greatly to his and Bongiorno’s advantage that Knox’s trial is staged in parallel or comes first, and all her nasty charges and smears of Italy are out there for the Italian public.
So from this angle, painting a big target on Knox’s back must seem essential to Bongiorno and RS. It will move Knox’s meanspirited, dishonest and xenophobic book (also shadow-written by the FOA) to the front burner.
Ironically this would help not only RS but the prosecutions - what prosecution does not love a circular firing squad among troublesome perps?!.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 07/07/14 at 02:10 PM | #
I got my copy of ‘Misleading DNA Evidence’ by Gill. Errors there are a plenty, but I’ll write on them soonest. He may not be expressing an opinion on guilt or innocence, but he’s slanting that way.
Note:
- The knife wasn’t transported in a “shoe box” from Sollecito’s apartment, but a box that used to contain a diary. No contamination path for how Meredith’s DNA shown, even for “contamination” which is what he’s suggesting..
- The knife wasn’t chosen on a “policeman’s hunch”, but because
a) It was exceptionally clean, as if someone had made an effort to rigorously scrub it.
b) it had longitudinal scratches along half it’s length
c) the apartment smelled of bleach
d) The imprint of a knife on Meredith’s bed matched the shape and dimensions of a kitchen knife, so a trained investigator would look for a kitchen, not bread knife, duh.
- He acknowledges the bra clasp has “probative value” but farts around with “kicked around” etc like any FOA.
- Too many ifs and possibles.
Stay in the Ivory Tower, Professor Gill.
Posted by Ergon on 07/07/14 at 07:27 PM | #
Hi Ergon,
As I suspected, somebody has selectively fed Professor Gill misinformation which he hasn’t bothered to verify for himself. The claims that the knife was chosen on a policeman’s hunch and the bra clasp had been kicked around are FOA myths. There is no evidence the bra clasp had been kicked once let alone kicked around. I wouldn’t be surprised if there there are more FOA myths in his book.
Posted by The Machine on 07/07/14 at 08:17 PM | #
Indeed, Machine. And most jarring of all: the title of his chapter on Meredith Kercher misspells her name as “Meridith”. His list of Key Reports on page 136 are:
1. The Massei Report (from the Wiki)
2. Conti/Vechiotti Report (FOA translation)
3. The Hellmann Report (FOA translation)
4. The Galati-Costagliola appeal (FOA translation)
5. The Supreme Court of Cassation Motivations Report (except it’s not available, he says, even though it was published in June 2014 and we had the translation up on September 09, 2013. Oh, well, I can see why he neglected to read the judges reasoning)
He sorta agrees with Balding the bra clasp indicates Sollecito, but then tries to downplay it, says Conti-Vecchiotti made fair criticism” 😊 and quotes an unnamed author (source: Amanda Knox’s website) revealing a two person DNA mixture on 36-I of the knife “attributed by the prosecution to Amanda Knox and another individual”.
Ahem, didn’t we already have other academics ‘who made claims without bothering to verify himself’? (Kassin, Hampikian)
Posted by Ergon on 07/08/14 at 05:18 AM | #
@cardiol and Thundering… One thing that we know is that Know started work at 10pm. So being 10 odd minutes from Piazza Grimana by foot to Patrick’s bar, something we can be pretty sure of is that she didn’t leave Raffaele’s to go to work an hour and three quarters before she started.
My belief is her original intention was to go back to the cottage to do some preparation for the trip to Gubbio the next day and get changed for work. She received Patrick’s sms near Piazza Grimana and ran into Rudy. Timing to be back upstairs at Raffaele’s at 8.40 is quite tight if she goes to the cottage also and comes back and gives him the money there and then. Not impossible though and it explains the expediency of using Meredith rent money. In the alternative,the simplest explanation for why Guede has to go to the cottage after the three hook up sometime after 9 is because it was cash-on-delivery and be he goes to get paid. This relies on him being able to score on account with someone else.
Posted by SomeAlibi on 07/08/14 at 08:42 AM | #
Hi, SomeAlibi. The only sense I can make of this news presser is of a drowning man, clutching at straws.
He stresses the evidence against him is weak, throws Knox’s alibi out the window.
I look at the crime scene. They must have been in the kitchen at some point, but, few fingerprints are found. In fact, very few fingerprints are found in the entire cottage, most are smudged http://themurderofmeredithkercher.com/Fingerprints
Yet Guede had time to go to the toilet. Did he arrive at the cottage first for his appointment? Invite himself in and tell Meredith, whom he’s met before, he’s waiting for Amanda?
And Knox, for some reason, carried a knife in her bag. Was she expecting a confrontation about the missing rent money? Or was she in an incandescent rage about Meredith? I keep coming back to the transport of the knife. At some level, maybe abetted with whatever drug, she intended to kill Meredith.
Posted by Ergon on 07/08/14 at 03:39 PM | #
SA, when AK got Lumumba’s message at 8:17 she may have already been to the Cottage, or was still there.
Shortage of time may not be an issue.
Posted by Cardiol MD on 07/08/14 at 04:40 PM | #
I stand by my original claim that this was just another “fog of nonsense” photo opportunity for a man who has never had to grow up and take responsibility for anything in his entire life. Sollecito spent his whole time in court staring off into space while his lawyer conjured the imaginary “lovebird” trope out of thin air. It’s obvious that Sollecito has himself realised that there was no cushy Microsoft job waiting for him in Seattle and that the Knox family couldn’t care less if he spends twenty-five years in jail while she pretends to sob for Chris Cuomo and Simon Hattenstone.
Posted by Stilicho on 07/08/14 at 09:20 PM | #
I think that Guede’s role was somewhat different than that portrayed above. There’s one aspect of Guede’s behaviour that is confirmed independently by multiple sources and that is his affection for Knox. He knew it. She knew it. The men who lived downstairs knew it. Chances are Sollecito knew it.
This provides us with a dynamic more personal and even more visceral than a mere opportunistic encounter with a random guy along the streets of Perugia in the middle of the night.
Intoxicants may have been involved but they were not the central theme.
Don’t forget that Knox admitted on her own blog to have staged a crimescene in Seattle before she departed for Europe. She’s done this kind of thing before.
Posted by Stilicho on 07/08/14 at 09:34 PM | #
Quite right, Stilico, and taking Knox’s personality into account, this would give her (from her point of view) a source of power over Guede, which she wouldn’t hesitate to use, one way or another. Guede was therefore likely blinded by his desire and shocked (too late) when everything escalated, rapido.
Posted by SeekingUnderstanding on 07/08/14 at 10:05 PM | #
Hi Stilicho and SeekingUnderstanding
Seems to me also a timely comment. I wonder what SomeAlibi makes of it. We all sorta know that Guede had the hots for Knox but maybe dont make enough of it. Yes it is important that Guede (and RS) were both in mindframes to be easily led by the nose.
This little ratpack emerges in the context of Knox not having a deep circle of friends back in Seattle and some weedy boyfriends to say the least, and an escalating unpopularity and aversion in Perugia. She was sort of being disempowered and empowered at the same time.
And her idea of having a good time could take on an intensely meanspirited hue - after which sometimes she’d get flustered into trying to make amends. I think the make-amends part surfaced in Knox a few times through to Dec 17 but parents and defense lawyers worked hard to bottle it up.
Mignini would have been way less threatening them, in fact, if he was not such a nice and magnetic guy. In Perugia he is very much liked and now he is often on national TV. Knox knew who he was from the first day after the attack on Meredith at the house and was drawn to him for weeks but tries to explain her hots for him by falsely claiming in her book she thought he was… the mayor.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 07/09/14 at 03:36 AM | #
Why so little response from the Knox camp, and that so timid?
Knox and Sollecito have quietly been at one another for years but SomeAlibi shows that this has become the entire ballgame. “We have met the enemy and he is us.” AK and RS as one anothers nemeses.
Most of the pontificating in the US for Knox has had zero explanation for why Sollecito as an Italian was “gone after”. Way too late to correct that one. He is trying to shake off his own albatross of a book shadow-written by them and may do this most effectively for an Italian audience by firing on them.
Not surprising that they have their heads down.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 07/09/14 at 10:52 AM | #
I’ve sent a tweet to Charles Mudede saying I’d like him to write an article about the media blackout in Seattle concerning any negative news about Amanda Knox. Please retweet. Thanks.
Posted by The Machine on 07/09/14 at 05:15 PM | #
More on the books. NOBODY knows yet except possibly RS and Gumbel exactly what statements are being targeted in RS’s and AK’s books with the exceptions of (1) Sollecito’s claim that the prosecution sought a deal, and (2) Knox’s claim that Mignini forced her into her “confession” at a time when he wasnt even at the police station.
But the books are certainly target-rich environments. Charges will be both defamation of justice officials and villependio which is defamation of the system.
The Florence and Bergam chief prosecutors have never released the complaints - they have no intention of giving the defenses and especially the PR any headstart.
While prison is unlikely fines and awards could be huge and most importantly all of the wild claims of the FOA throughout the books will have to be either proven true or a proven crime.
This will open the way to suits against the publishers and wild-eyed serial defamers like Fischer, Moore and now Basile.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 07/09/14 at 10:13 PM | #
It was predictable that the Amanda Knox fans would start turning on each other after Sollecito stopped providing Knox with an alibi for the entire evening:
http://www.perugiamurderfile.org/download/file.php?id=10196&mode=view
Posted by The Machine on 07/10/14 at 08:51 AM | #
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