Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Appeal Session #5: Prosecutor Alessandro Crini Concludes, Proposes 30 Years For AK And 26 For RS
Posted by Our Main Posters
Overview
This is the report on the second day of Prosecutor Crnini summarizing the entire case.
This was not attempted at such length at the 2011 Hellman appeal and that panel of judges was perhaps not ever fully in the picture. The first day of the presentation is reported on here.
Real-Time Reporting, Bottom Up
4. Assessment by main poster SeekingUnderstanding
The case put forward by the prosecution and reported to us by Yummi is almost startling in its lucid and concise approach.
It couldn’t be more in contrast to the equivocations and disingenuousness, as well as irrelevant sentimentality that we have unfortunately become used to witnessing. The cutting use of logic was therefore refreshing, and gives grounds for optimism, albeit it tempered by unknowns.
All the issues seemed to be addressed from the base line, as if from primary considerations. And many points were simply politely dismissed as being unimportant to the true case in hand -which is the establishment of the guilt (or not) of the accused. For example, it was great to hear that the reason why the knife had been brought to the cottage need not be examined - it was enough that it was there.
It seemed that where the defence had challenged the evidence, for example suggesting contamination of DNA, it was here that Crini spared no detail, and took time in bottoming out the logic, and dispensing with their points. His arguments certainly carried conviction to me.
I was glad to see motive and behavioural dynamics looked at, as indeed Cassation had requested. It seemed good too that Crini ruled out premeditation, and reduced the dynamics to something highly plausible and believable as well as simple. There are just two points I might observe :
First, it would seem within character for Meredith to have been both open and direct in confronting issues of hygiene, drug use, infringement of privacy and noise etc., (or even theft of rent money, another possibility). I am not convinced that she would necessarily have been aggressively confrontational. Someone who is relaxed within themselves, accepting of their self, is well able to be assertive in a non-provocative manner. That is quite British too - especially old-fashioned English.
Secondly, bearing in mind the possible or probable profiles of the defendants, it would not have taken more than one small trigger of reasonable confrontation to release the consequent temper-tantrum or drug fuelled rage. I do not think we are dealing with something proportionate - and this is also why it escalated in the terrifying way it did. I don’t think it is essential to hypothesize as to what in particular Meredith raised an objection to (e.g. Rudy’s bathroom event). It is probable that Meredith’s concerns were reasonable, and then the overly defensive and angry reaction to any criticism whatsoever was unreasonable. I personally think this is enough.
I liked the way Crini said that even though a source is unreliable or not credible in some ways, that does not mean they do not (inadvertently as it were) give out information that is also true and useful. Possibly other statements from Guede might be taken into account in this way?
As a psychologist, it would seem dialogue with Rudy might yet be fruitful, but, with things the way they remain with the other two, it does not seem the time now for further words. Something else needs to happen.
3. Assessment by main poster James Raper
Crini spent about 10 hours in total addressing the court and was certainly very thorough. Maresca was so impressed that there was no need for him to add anything further.
Crini came to the prosecution case without the baggage of having presented any previous scenario or of having had his reputation sullied and slandered by the Knox PR machine. He reviewed the evidence dispassionately and found it compelling.
Clearly he also found the previous machinations of C&V and the Hellmann court objectionable and went in hard here, even discussing previous cases where Vecchiotti and Conti had goofed up. Hellmann had tried so hard to avoid that coming out during his appeal.
He was not, however, averse to taking a different tack where he thought this was appropriate. A sign of his intellectual honesty which may have impressed the court.
For instance, he thought that there was no need to nail TOD down to 11.30pm as Mignini had sought to do. He allowed for an earlier TOD.
He was of the opinion that coming up with an exact time line for a period in which there is no alibi, and when there is already evidence of involvement in murder, is of only marginal interest.
He spent well over an hour discussing the knife. He did not think it necessary to mull over how it came to be at the cottage. That is speculation that need not detain anyone if the knife is accepted as the murder weapon, and he thinks that on all the evidence it is.
He ruled out premeditation, even as to a hazing, and presented a very simple scenario as to motive and the dynamics behind and during the attack on poor Meredith. Keeping it simple makes it understandable to everyone. Elaborate further and you risk alienating someone who disagrees with the elaboration and thinks they have a better theory.
My only objection is that it is a tad ridiculous to believe that Meredith objected to poop being left in the toilet, the toilet she didn’t use. But yes, the objectionable behaviour of a trio of drunken/drugged up louts invading her space would most likely have triggered argument, unpleasantness and then a fight.
There is plenty of character evidence to support that scenario and with a little imagination, and some recollection of one’s student days, one can easily see how this might have gone. In a way, and Crini admitted to this possibility, Meredith’s own behaviour, or misreading of the situation, may also have been a trigger. Whether one agrees with this or not, it is at least a believable and honest suggestion.
So he set out base camp for the court (bearing in mind that Cassation had suggested that behavioural dynamics be given serious consideration by the appeals court) and whether the judges elaborate further (perhaps by conjecturing a possible range of equally valid motives and dynamics) is up to them.
2. Assessment by main poster Hopeful
Crini is magnificent! He’s absolutely crushing the defense. He nails Knox as having left her bloody shoeprint on the pillow under Meredith.
He accepts Novelli who found Meredith’s trace on the knife. He believes Knox left DNA on the knife. He quotes from differing experts Gill and Balding and says Sollecito’s DNA on the bra clasp stands.
He describes a small, very sharp knife that he believes was used to cut off the bra in several places. He says the knifeprint on the sheet was from the big kitchen knife.
Crini contends that the strong bruise marks around Meredith’s mouth were from restraining her and blocking the scream.
He believes this fight was caused by Meredith angrily reacting to Knox’s constant dirty ways in the cottage and Guede’s nasty toilet habit along with his and Sollecito’s unwanted presence in the cottage that night.
Crini argues a crime of rage when Knox was confronted by Meredith, citing Laura Mezetti’s remarks about the cleaning conflicts. Crini says that Meredith’s scream is what caused the fatal knife blow to silence her.
Not premeditated, the murder was the final result of the perps’ terror that they had gone too far during the raging fight. He’s asking for 30 years for Knox and asks to increase sentence for calunnia to 4 years, inclusive in the 30.
He almost laughs at Knox’s weak excuse over the drops of her blood found in the bathroom, saying she would surely have known if she bled.
He confirms the storekeeper did see Knox early in the morning after the crime. He finds no proof of Sollecito being firmly at his computer sending emails during the crime. He blasts the Knox and Sollecito alibis as being a tissue of lies.
Crini has another ex-Supreme Court justice standing with him in the Florence courtroom! (Baglione). Crini has worked extremely hard. He has conquered this convoluted pack of lies and distortions and his diligence shows. He upturned the applecart of Conti-Vecchioti nonsense and thoroughly redeemed Stefanoni’s findings.
He has completely severed the heads of this Medusa Gorgon mess, Crini is the bomb!
1. Tweets continue from main poster Yummi
114. This means a total request of 30 years for Knox and 26 years for Sollecito
113. [Propose] 26 years for both for the murder
112. The murder is contextual, their was no premeditation, and no futile motive
111. Because of their staging and denials, they should not be given generic mitigation for murder.
110. Requests to increase the penalty for [Knox] calunnia to 4 years
109. But experience tells statements of unreliable perps do contain revelations about the truth. The ‘argument’ between girls, why such context?
108. Rudy Guede has no credibility, even if the Supreme Court is right that this cannot depend on his refusal to answer.
107. Crini cites Laura Mezzetti about the ‘annoyance’ caused by Knox on house cleaning issues.
106. Meredith was the one triggering an argument because of the ‘impolite’ invasion and behavior. She accused Knox .
105. Rudy was not sober, quite high, a bit annoying, and was acting the same disgusting way he behaved downstairs days before.
104. Meredith Kercher was sober, fully awake. The others were at least ‘smoked’, a bit high, Rudy was there in the house.
103. The motive is not futile, the motive is terror, it is the consequence of the prior aggressive action in which they were involved.
102. Nothing points to an agreed plan among the three that run out of control; the first cause was an aggression, a clash, impetus of rage
101. Crini: there is a prosecution duty to conjecture a motive.
100. The blood drop on the tap: a point is Knox does not explain, guesses, while she must be aware that she bled in the bathroom.
99. Crini believes the shoe prints on the pillowcase are from a female’s shoe as suggested by police
98. Knox’s DNA between the blade and the handle (36-i)is very significant. It’s not from sweat or contact.
97. The print on the bed sheet is compatible with the kitchen knife.
96. Crini: we don’t need to figure a reason for a kitchen knife to be carried from one apartment to the other..
95. The bra straps are cut in multiple points, not with a kitchen knife.
94. Sollecito cut her bra with a knife in multiple parts. hold bra to cut it - no Guede’s DNA in that point - used a small very sharp-edge knife
93. Rudy did not stab her, because he wad used both his hands, which were unarmed
92. Wounds indicate she was immobilized by multiple people, they killed her because failing to do so completely, were terrified by her scream.
91. Criticizes Torre’s theory that the large wound could be caused by a small knife: improbable, the wound has clear margins.
90. There were two knifes, one was small, not much fit to kill.
89. Ridiculous to think that Rudy Guede - which she knew - could intimidate Meredith totally to that point. She would react.
88. Specific indicator: no defence wounds; means bruises are not from fight but restraint.
87. Description of bruises and lesions around her mouth, indicates extreme force to prevent from screaming. Rest of body was also immobilized.
86. She was still wearing a blue sweater which was removed subsequently.
85. Analysis of blood drop pattern and position of victim when stabbed; body moved in a different position.
84. Location of crime - space between the bed and the wardrobe - is peculiar, analysed by UACV
83. Crini says will sketch a dynamic of events of the crime.
82. Crini says - implying Vecchiotti, Pascali - some experts should be “hold where they belong”
81. Crini recall Pascali working on the Olgiata and the Claps case (2008, 2010);
80. There is no instance of transfer of Sollecito’s DNA anywhere on the scene
79. Crini cites the Olgiata case.
78. Contamination must be deduced from context of finding and collection. You must think a practical way for Sollecito’s DNA to be transferred
77. Tagliabracci defends Vecchiotti saying the RIS statistical techniques were not used at the time; Crini cites Gill and Balding
76. Guede’s Y haplotype in victim’s vagina alone was used to identify him.
75. Sollecito’s DNA is certainly on the clasp for the police; Vecchiotti doubts but considers X separately from Y haplotype
74. The bra clasp: the first objection was the interpretation of the mixed/complex trace
73. Crini says he learned a bit of genetics working on cold cases
72. Vecchiotti and Tagliabracci have a reliability problem in relation to the case, for different reasons
71. Vecchiotti said she obtained all cooperation she required. Raw data could be accessed by accessing the machine itself as Stefanoni offered.
70. Crini says he found out the negative controls were deposited, the court will find the document of deposit etc.
69. Vecchiotti omitted to note the censures/observations written by the other consultants, this procedure is incorrect
68. Vecchiotti’s approach to the I-trace (refusal to test it ) was ‘ideological’, ‘weak’, ‘insufficient’
67. Interpretation of profile is for complex result. For non-complex profiles there is actually no ‘interpretation’.
66. Crini recalls answers by the RIS, defence tried to elicit approval of CV, but RIS said multiple test only if possible, compromise for result
65. Novelli cited saying the profile of Meredith is certain.
64. Meredith’s profile came out clean on a single amplification, means the trace is clear.
63. The meaning of test repetition is its necessity when you have a ‘dirty’, uncertain sequence like Knox’s profile on the knife
62. Novelli knows very well about double and triple amplification protocols, and Stefanoni knows well too
61. Guidelines are an indication that guide your driver, but then you have to drive
60. Someone who keeps a refrigerator like the one Vecchiotti has, should be less critical about laboratory practice
59. Crini: should we toss any result in the garbage, no matter how important and clear, whenever the test is not repeated?
58. Speaks about the single amplification by Stefanoni versus guidelines.
57. The presence of human DNA in a scratch on the blade of a knife itself is not usual
56. Crini: another introduction specific on DNA; notes btw that the new RIS finding is ‘important’ because adds information
55. Crini makes an introduction about circumstantial evidence
54. Discussion on DNA and remaining evidence will start in 1h.
53. Francesco Sollecito [in interview] was shocked, said he never expected so aggressive arguments from PG [the Tuscany Prosecutor General]
52. Yesterday, Crini spent the first hour to argue about logical ‘method’: how assess evidence altogether, examples, quotes of SC sentences
Posted by Our Main Posters on 11/26/13 at 02:58 PM in Defendants in court, Amanda Knox, Raff Sollecito, The officially involved, The prosecutors, Evidence & Witnesses, Various timelines, Appeals 2009-2015, Florence 2014+, Hoaxes against Italy, 3 No evidence hoax, 4 No firm DNA hoax, Hoaxers from 2007, Hoaxers from 2011, Peter Gill
Comments
From Andrea Vogt Twitter,
” In Florence, 2nd #amandaknox appeal prosecution delivering very aggressive closing args. Were there deliberate oversights in 1st appeal? “
https://twitter.com/andreavogt
Posted by True North on 11/26/13 at 03:31 PM | #
I am shocked that Sollecito’s father is shocked at the forceful nature of the prosecution! What does he think is going on here? A petty theft?
Unfortunately, the arrogance of the Sollecito’s and the Knox’s has forced many disgusting and unprecedented qualities on this case. What a pity for both clans that they are so misguided and deluded that they actually believed all of their lies and underhand tactics were actually going to work.
It is a pity that a more aggressive approach was not used the first time around, but better late than never. I hope that the sentences doled out to the two sadists are very, very long indeed!
Posted by MHILL4 on 11/26/13 at 03:54 PM | #
Sollecito was not in court today.
Posted by James Raper on 11/26/13 at 04:12 PM | #
It’s never over till the fat lady sings but I think we can now hear her in the wings having a prophylactic gargle.
Posted by Odysseus on 11/26/13 at 05:17 PM | #
I noted also no. 98:
Knox’s DNA on the knife is ‘very significant’ - couldn’t have been there from casual contact.
Together with Meredith’s sample, which clearly stands…says a great deal.
Posted by SeekingUnderstanding on 11/26/13 at 05:55 PM | #
This is indeed very uplifting and explains why Sollecito speech to the court was based upon: “Please I’m just an ordinary Italian kid who should have a chance at a normal life.”
In other words, his defense has told him that he will (99% notwithstanding) be found completely guilty and is facing 26 years in jail.
I have no doubt that his father (who is of course is shocked, and is finally forced to face up to the fact) had informed his son that the court was really only a formality since he was going to get off with a slap on the wrist.
I find it so very normal that people like the Sollicitos, and to the point the Knoxs far more, actually believe the lies they have told themselves, and in consequence find it a bitter pill to swallow. Finally they are forced to face up to the complete truth that the entire P/R scheme has had the opposite effect than the one they wished for.
It is indicative of the US mind set where the general populous have been brainwashed and lied to into believing they can ride roughshod over anybody else. Try students on holiday anywhere without adult supervision a-la Knox etc.
I remember years ago being in a barracks in Seattle of all places teaching a course to young soldiers who were still on basic training. I asked them what training films they were ordered to watch to which I was informed “Anything out of Hollywood or anything with John Wayne in it.”
They actually believed and were told these films were a true history of warfare from an American point of view. They also informed me that the US hadn’t actually lost in Vietnam but that it had been a strategic withdrawal and were very offended that I found humor in the statement.
Posted by Grahame Rhodes on 11/26/13 at 06:40 PM | #
@Grahame Rhodes
I was too young when the Vietnam war was going on. Image of the US did take a beating.
I have met a couple of students who served in Vietnam. They appeared demoralized.
Knoxes (or it is Knoxen?) actually believe that they are beyond the law. RS is a completely different story. Papa doc knows real life and has not done any mistake so far.
I think RS will finally honor the verdict but AK will not.
Posted by chami on 11/26/13 at 07:22 PM | #
@chami
With regard to AK. It’s on CNN and I am just waiting for the additional news item. I seriously think that AK does not have a future one way or the other. She will always be branded as a killer and anything she does either in or out of jail for the rest of her life will be tainted by the knowledge. Peter seems very confident that eventual justice will prevail and of course I am seriously extremely hopeful that this will occur. Only time will tell.
Posted by Grahame Rhodes on 11/26/13 at 08:21 PM | #
Hi, Peter,
A question(s) for our Italian legal specialists:
Thought the 3yrs sentence (already served) be increased to 4? I thought it already was a ‘definitive’ sentence?
Would this not constitute double jeopardy? (SC annulled murder acquittal, confirmed calunnia?)
Posted by Ergon on 11/26/13 at 09:07 PM | #
@ergon
Further calunnia ?
After all there’s been plenty of other obstruction of justice. Or is an actual specific charge necessary?
Posted by SeekingUnderstanding on 11/26/13 at 09:31 PM | #
Hi Ergon and SeekingUnderstanding
The 4 years for aggravated calunnia? Sure we will seek clarification. I looked at that a lot myself.
The Knox and Knox-entourage obstructions of justice are of course myriad, but I’d incline toward this “aggravated” usage being pointed at the rearrangement of the crime scene as well as the framing of Patrick, as evidence on both has been argued.
However the justice system is firing more and more warnings shots. The same prosecution office is investigating other calunnias: the false claims in the Sollecito book and TV appearances. Also it is assisting the Bergamo prosecution office in investigating the false claims in the Knox book and Oggi and TV appearances.
The claimed Knox appeal to the European Court (post coming) strikes me as hairbrained and DOA and may incur her more calunnia charges, as the dummy AGAIN says there was police brutality and THEY made HER name Patrick - even though they had never heard of him.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 11/26/13 at 09:47 PM | #
Ergon,
Double jeopardy relates to being tried and convicted again for the same offence. Whilst Knox’s calunnia conviction is now set in stone I think it may still be possible to muck around with the sentence depending on the outcome of the appeal against the first instance murder conviction.
Posted by James Raper on 11/26/13 at 10:05 PM | #
This request (to increase from 3 to 4 yrs) perplexes me. It can’t be for new elements concerning later actions, only to accusing Patrick.
Awaiting a definitive answer.
Posted by Ergon on 11/26/13 at 10:12 PM | #
Read the latest update article from journalist Andrea Vogt on why prosecutors want 30 years sentence for Amanda Knox.
http://thefreelancedesk.com/front_featured/amanda-knox-appeal-2/
Posted by True North on 11/26/13 at 11:16 PM | #
Ergon,
You may find your definitive answer elsewhere. However, as I recollect ( and you can do the actual research) Hellmann dispensed with any aggravating circumstances to the calunnia conviction because whether innocent or not Knox was quite understandably, in his opinion, confused and stressed out by the questioning, and that was the explanation for it.
Cassation did not accept this, requesting the new appeals court to evaluate the correlation between the calunnia and the murder.
Clearly if Knox committed the offence of calunnia in circumstances where she was herself guilty of the murder she was pinning on Lumumba, then that is an aggravating feature, worthy of an increase in sentence.
Posted by James Raper on 11/26/13 at 11:42 PM | #
I understand that Maresca will be addressing the court tomorrow.
Posted by James Raper on 11/27/13 at 12:22 AM | #
James is right. The big quotes from Andrea Vogt are due for psoting here tomorrow after everyone has absorbed Yummi’s report from the court.
However I was just told that she has included an answer to the aggravated calunnia puszzle. Here it is:
Noteworthy is the 4 years of jail requested for Knox for aggravated calumny related to blaming Patrick Lumumba for the murder. The request is particularly severe (aggravated) because, Crini argued, the calumny was not a separate stand-alone crime, but rather strictly related to the homicide.
Remember, three years has already been given to Knox (time served) for a simple calumny charge that she was convicted on in the first instance, in her first appeal, and definitively by the Court of Cassation.
This added time requested by Crini for the “aggravated†(i.e. particularly serious or grave) aspect of the calumny was Tuesday’s unexpected twist. In the first instance, Knox and Sollecito were convicted of 26 and 25 years respectively. Florence, it turns out, might be even more hostile territory for the two than Perugia was.
Owwww. That on the same day as it comes out that not only is Knox arrogantly flouting the Supreme Court by not paying Patrick his damages, but she is trying to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights that the simple calunnia was forced upon her.
Good luck with that one.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 11/27/13 at 01:25 AM | #
@ Ergon
This is an interesting question. The conviction/sentencing for calunnia is definitive, but was not complete, because there was a part about calunnia (the finding of no aggravation) which the SC annulled and sent back for re-assessment. In practce, this court still has to say yes or no to finding Knox guilty of the aggravationg circumstance of continuance for the crime of calunnia.
In practice this means a part of the verdict/sentecing on calunnia (guilty of the charge of calunnia, 3 years for it) is definitive, but the lenght of penalty and amount of damage payment is not, because still it needs to be assessed if the calunnia was aggravated. That could increase the sentencing adding further penalty to the 3 years.
Crini says: find her guilty of aggravated calunnia and bring that penalty to 4 years.
It is not double jeopardy because charge title and aggravation are formally separate items by the law (aggravation is an “accessory” element).
@ James Raper
Yes Maresca will be talking, all the morning at least, on Dec 16.
Posted by Yummi on 11/27/13 at 01:51 AM | #
Crini asked to increase their sentencing (in practice only one year, as it results for Sollecito) but the practical effect will be to put some more difference between the sentences of Sollecito and Knox, since much more weight is given to the calunnia.
This request for an increase from Crini is because he partly accepted the prosecution appeal by Mignini & Comodi, who argued the generic mitigation from Massei should be withdrawn, and further aggravation added for futile motives.
Crini drew a scenario where motive (terror) is not futile, but accepted the argument that they do not deserve to be acknowledged with ‘generic mitigation’.
Actually the penalty Crini requested (26 years) is lenient if you count the withdrawal of mitigation (on a multi-aggravated murder). Think about Massei handing 25 years *including* mitigation.
Posted by Yummi on 11/27/13 at 02:07 AM | #
Wow this is very strong from Crini.
Who are the people in the above photo? Is that the jury? Who is allowed to sit in the courtroom?
Strange that Sollecito was not there but he must have been scared out of his wits by yesterday. If he didn’t have a hand in the murder but “only” the clean-up, now would be a good time to say so.
Posted by believing on 11/27/13 at 04:44 AM | #
@Yummi
I was under the impression that both the judgment and sentence were confirmed by the high court?
From a layman’s viewpoint, Hellman increased the calunnia charges just to offset the time already served. And RS will certainly be given credit for his share of the time served already (in any future punishment).
Reading a summary of the report in English, a layman will certainly get the impression that Crini is asking that the calunnia be fully ofset by the time served but the sentencing is not his primary focus. He shows great familiarity with details and he is sharp with the points.
I disagree in the sense that I consider both RS and RG to be more than equal responsibility because neither can claim to have any mitigating factor (AK can claim psychological problems etc etc) AND either did had the power to stop the crime. It may appear as a negative logic but men should take care of their fair share!
Posted by chami on 11/27/13 at 05:09 AM | #
Thanks, @Yummi and Peter, for the replies I was looking for. If I may ask you two again, then Knox’s filing to the ECHR is not too late, because it was filed more than six months after Cassazione’s ruling, but too early, because the sentencing is not complete?
Posted by Ergon on 11/27/13 at 05:22 AM | #
RS did not voluntarily accuse an innocent person of a cruel murder, nor fail to retract the falsehood for several weeks afterward, nor continue to refuse to acknowledge this grave wrongdoing by not paying legal damages.
It could be argued that by withdrawing his previous alibi on the evening that precipitated AK’s proven calunnia, RS might have been showing some willingness to come clean and speak the truth, and that this might have been the time for AK to do so too.
It reflects very badly on her character that she did not.
Character (i.e. making moral choices), and psychology are different.
In my opinion, the callous treatment of Patrick, leaving him to worry and suffer in jail not just for hours, but weeks, adds considerable weight to the ‘aggravation’ of the calunnia.
If she had been coerced into a false statement (which can not be substantiated in the slightest) surely she would have wanted for him, and asked for him, to be released the next day? Partly because this might have demonstrated the coercion she was asserting?
The truth of the matter is that her behaviour is thoroughly consistent with being the person who carried out the murder, and who was panicking because her alibi had been withdrawn.
Posted by SeekingUnderstanding on 11/27/13 at 05:49 AM | #
Its fairly normal (in the UK anyway) for a sentence to be subsequently reviewed and raised (or lowered) if required.
Guilt is not being judged so there is not a hint of so-called double jeopardy.
Posted by dadredge on 11/27/13 at 10:30 AM | #
Nothing’s for sure but I think there’s a fair chance still that Sollecito will squeal - especially now he knows what he’s facing.
He still has until Jan 9/10 to admit his part (or to make a statement acknowledging some culpability - if I understand correctly what another poster decoded from Nencini’s recent enigmatic comment to RS). His father may right now be encouraging him to do the right thing: Papa has always implied that Knox was the ring-leader. Was he preparing the ground for such a volte-face with mock surprise at Crini’s proposed sentence?
If it looks like they are going to go down I’d be surprised if the Sollecitos will be keen to stay “Honour Bound” in any sense. Why on earth would they do that? Of course if the can of worms is opened it’s game set and match for Knox, and the whole PR effort will on display for what it is and has been - organised lying.
Overall this has to be the most (?) deeply satisfying denouement. Bring it on.
Posted by Odysseus on 11/27/13 at 03:00 PM | #
@Odysseus:
“...if I understand correctly what another poster decoded from Nencini’s recent enigmatic comment to RS.”
Thanks Odysseus, you do understand correctly what another poster decoded from Nencini’s recent enigmatic comment to RS. What I wrote:
[Appeal sessio 3] “32. Sollecito finishes by thanking judges for their time, judge tells him he can intervene any time during rest of appeal until they deliberate”
My take on subtext of the above item:
Judge Nencini speaking to Sollecito, to Sollecito’s Counsel, and to Sollecito’s family - Now Hear This.
On January 10th, 2014 we will Deliberate and find Sollecito Guilty. If Sollecito provided a mitigating-factor, that factor could shorten an otherwise very lengthy term of imprisonment.
A Sollecito confession would be a mitigating-factor.
If Sollecito confesses before we deliberate on January 10th, 2014, this may shorten our sentence. If not it will be too late.
Posted by Cardiol MD on 11/27/13 at 03:50 PM | #
Hi Odysseus and Cardiol
As you surely know theres some good chat and some quotes from Francesco on PMF dot org about this. I’d say chances have indeed stepped up.
We now have real interest in the Knox camp. Digging themselves in deeper and deeper seems only a sure way to bury her alive.
The modulations between hot and cold of the prosecution and judge are incredible to watch.
Remember they have all been down this road before - they have got many mafioso to talk.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 11/27/13 at 04:10 PM | #
Hi Cardiol
Yes, I thought it was you but I couldn’t be 100% sure! Thanks for the heads up anyway.
Posted by Odysseus on 11/27/13 at 04:21 PM | #
@Peter
Yes - interesting point. RS and AK are probably lightweights (if brutal murderers can be thus called) compared to the desperadoes these guys normally deal with.
Posted by Odysseus on 11/27/13 at 04:30 PM | #
Late last night I caught the news item I had been waiting for on CNN It was quite short and laid out the entire future for Knox if the US decides that the evidence is correct and that she has had a fair trial then she will be extradited.
It was pointed out that public perceptions will not carry much weight because of the extradition treaty between Italy and the USA. It was said that if the US defaulted upon any extradition then somewhere down the line there would probably be a Mafia hit man that the USA would want back so they will not mess with that. The secretary of state John Kerry would probably make the last decision if it went that high, but probably not since this case has nothing to do with FBI CIA or any government employee.
Posted by Grahame Rhodes on 11/27/13 at 05:04 PM | #
@ Ergon
The Knox submission to the ECHR could be a lie; the timing would be incorrect, because it is *too early*. The documentation about calunnia sentencing should include the aggravation charge to be complete; we still don’t have a sentencing report about it, so it’s too early for a case submission with the ECHR.
Posted by Yummi on 11/27/13 at 05:54 PM | #
@ believing
The above people are obviously the judges panel (those wearing a sash, and the two professional judges in the middle).
This picture is from the testimony of the RIS and two men sitting at table on the photo left are Berti and Barni.
The ones on the right with a computer screen are a clerk and a recording technician.
Posted by Yummi on 11/27/13 at 06:03 PM | #
I enjoyed the marvelous analyses by SeekingUnderstanding and James Raper. What balanced and exact understandings of Crini’s voluminous arguments! Thank you both. Also to Yummi for reporting.
The terms tempered and optimism are apt. The last couple of days have seen such a cleaned up and perfected account of the evidence by Crini that we may hope at last for the truth to rule in January 2014.
Crini exposes the truth in precise and complete form. As SeekingUnderstanding said, Crini dismisses the chaff and protects the valuable wheat. He hones in on the most hotly contested areas of debate like DNA contamination and rules them a vapid theory.
I also agree that the reaction of the perps toward Meredith was “not proportional” and that Meredith would have been assertive but not aggressive. She had a self-confident but gentle way, and was not reactive but proactive as in well-adjusted, strong but kind. This is borne out by everything we know about her and her British upbringing in a society known for restrained and polite speech. The provocation and goading that initiated the fight were purely the fault of the defendants.
James Raper gives good credit to Crini for not following any particular party line and hails his “intellectual honesty”, a mark of courage and integrity. Such independent thinking makes Crini even more believable.
Even if one doubts that Guede’s toilet issue sparked the controversy (and that issue was one of only half a dozen resentments perhaps never voiced), it’s best that Crini “reduces the dynamic” to a more understandable one of typical anger and hasty tempers and moves away from the sexual motive to a broader human interaction.
Crini debunks the baseless doubts about the knife DNA. He assesses the footprints in blood very sensibly. He pondered Knox’s notes, email and book and saw conflicts with her fading alibi.
Maresca will speak in December. I can’t wait. Maresca is one of my favorites and I hang on his every word.
Crini has done a tremendous job with his eminent rebuttal of the key points of the defense, few and halting though they were. He rolled over them like a tank over an empty Coca-cola can.
Posted by Hopeful on 11/27/13 at 06:48 PM | #
@Hopeful
Thank you for your Hopefulness
Posted by SeekingUnderstanding on 11/27/13 at 06:59 PM | #
Thanks to Yummi and others for reporting .
Reading Crini takes me back to the time I first read the Massei Report.
Posted by starsdad on 11/27/13 at 07:04 PM | #
About our next posts: a change of plan.
We think it is important first to nail Knox’s dishonest claims to the European Court, the report of which is carried on almost 1000 websites. Yes, that biased Press Association again…
So we will post late today to refute Knox’s claims and then after the two vacation days in the US post more details of what happened in court. Some translation is involved.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 11/27/13 at 11:00 PM | #
Thank You to ALL for these updates and reports from the Court ... I greatly appreciate it !
I truly believe that there will be TRUE JUSTICE for Meredith !
Posted by MissMarple on 11/27/13 at 11:42 PM | #
Crini seems to be the right energy at the right time.
Thank you.
Posted by Bettina on 11/28/13 at 01:49 AM | #
@Yummi, thanks for the reply, and your reporting from the courtroom. It might well be a lie, but one she reported directly on her website, and carried around the world:
http://www.amandaknox.com/blog/
November 25th, 2013
“Today, my lawyers filed an appeal of my slander conviction with the European Court of Human Rights…..
The slander conviction was upheld by the Court of Cassation in March of 2013 and my appeal to the European Court of Human Rights was filed today”
It might well be her lawyers didn’t advise her properly and the papers will be rejected. But as drama, and an attempt to preempt the negative reportage coming out of the Florence Court, I can see where she’s coming from.
Posted by Ergon on 11/28/13 at 02:12 AM | #
I am concerned over the questions that may arise over the statement by prosecutor Crini that there was no premeditation. (Item 112)
Why then take a kitchen knife as an addition to their paraphernalia of the day to day.
If there was no intention to either frighten, threaten or, sexually assault Meredith then some of the evidence prior to the murder loses significance and there is certainly no reason to carry a kitchen knife on their person, unless their had been circumstances envisaged where it might be of use. Any other purposeful knife would have been more appropriate to a purpose of defence.
The kitchen knife on the other hand would seem, by their psychic at least, less traceable back to Solicito’s reported fascination with knifes as personal property in the event of aggressive use. It is a mistake to underestimate the ability to comprehend anything more complex like sexual murder. In addition, and I have raised this point before, what audacity incited them to place the murder weapon back in the drawer after bleaching it clean, and not just dispose of it in some way. A trophy, hiding the tree in the forest, a belief in their sainted invulnerability from suspicion?
Amanda Knox behaviour after the murder seems to demonstrate psychic relief which follows release from catathymic crisis.
I prefer as a motive, therefore premeditated catathymic homicide founded on envy : The murder by itself an unexpected explosive outburst of impulsive, destructive behaviour, understandable only in terms of unconscious motivation.
In contextual terms there was emotional tension between Meredith and Knox. Knox for her part felt persecuted, by the idea that Meredith ever existed, and she obsessed about her obdurate self assurance. She felt her ego to be under attack seeing Meredith as a competitor who out did her. There were no warning signs, but a dam for anger and frustration burst asunder as layers of stabilising delusion gave way and revenge supervened. In the boundless darkness of jealous envy— Knox infers more, because she is willing to see less, of what was the essential Meredith. The intent is evident, it emerged slowly, imperceptibly over days, a projected fantasy personality, a tension filled product of emotional transference patterned by past experiences at home, verging on obsession where Knox was the victim, her judgment numbly distorted by the inferred frame of reference in her dark nights of the soul when the ice weasels come .
Meredith Susanna Cara Kercher murdered, because Amanda Knox felt persecuted, by the idea that Meredith ever existed, and she obsessed about her obdurate self assurance. Meredith was a victim of emotion fuelled anger, catathymic homicide. She had to be taught a lesson and Rudy Guede was a paraphiliac who gained sexual stimulation from the pain and humiliation inflicted upon a non consenting partner in light of self hatred. Amanda Knox, the catalyst, devalues and exploits without remorse, from a hidden well of malice she stirred from choice, perpetrated with others what she could not by herself enforce. That same ego could the more readily repress, those times she startles with sudden fear, phantoms of awful shame flocking around her, as though these horrific forms pointed their fingers, at her, and her alone.
Amanda Knox found Meredith Kercher to be offensive, her sense of duty, her honesty conscientiousness, her proud sense of honour. For above all, Amanda Knox wished to be liked, considered even, as the principal object, admired, not endured, with patient resignation- especially by her own sex. In any event there is nobody so irritating as somebody whose presence judges the ego so glibly. But catathymic crisis left her ego compromised, giving the perception that she is being left malignant memories of past abandonment and a threat to her sense of Self. A hidden turmoil seethed inside, where a foul narcissistic evil writhes. In Sollecito she found an accomplice, for cathartic revenge required an audience.
Sollecito went along for the ride and to satisfy a cowardly sadistic streak common in the weak who feel incapable of living fantasies their very inadequacy has created. They together formed a premeditated triumvirate, bound and determined to have revenge for the envy the felt. A gestalt that rose hot and steaming from the thought funk of the fiend. Any views on the adoption of non premeditation and its consequences for the prosecution? Amy I jumping at shadows? Is there a fundamental flaw in the analysis? Perhaps there is someone who might help, I am fearful of something going wrong in this protracted fight for justice and the preservation of the memory of Meredith with the truth.Truth is beautiful, but so are lies.
Posted by Macthomas on 11/28/13 at 10:11 AM | #
Some of the points raised by Macthomas are really very valid.
Perhaps RS did teach her the need for safety and advised her to carry a knife at all times, just like him.
Perhaps there was a vague feeling of being neglected or ignored and consequent anger.
But anyway it is definitely impossible to convince a jury either way.
What Macthomas has done is a psychological post-mortem and I do not know its value in a court of law. Is it an evidence?
Happy holidays to all!
Posted by chami on 11/28/13 at 12:06 PM | #
The motive for murder doesn’t always have to be logical. Have you seen the movie “Heavenly creatures”? It’s a real life story of two girls in New Zealand, who create a fantasy world and become very tight friends.
When other girl’s mother wants to separate them, the girls decide to kill her. They murdered the mother, but were released later, the other one became a known novelist, she wrote many fantasy novels, just like Amanda knox plans to do.
The other movie “Fun” is not reality, but I suppose loosely based on. Two girls become bff’s, and are bored. So they decide to go knocking on strangers doors and then stabb one old woman to death with knives.Just like AK and RS did. Amanda lives in a fantasy world, just like Raffaele has said, she has no touch with reality, “life is pure pleasure for her”.
Posted by Poppins on 11/28/13 at 04:41 PM | #
Macthomas,
Haven’t seen you here before—but definitely share your concerns for the same reason.
I too flinched when I read that Crini asserted no premeditation. When examining all of the evidence as a whole, its difficult not to see premeditation.
I’ve tried to explain to friends Knox’s psychology and how/why she did it, but you really just nailed it. I looked up, “catathymic,” and that really is just it, period. Not to mention the ‘based on envy’ qualifier.
You nailed Sollecito, too… “cowardly sadistic streak….”
Hopefully the jury will understand why Crini has opted not to try to go into the psychologically complex motive and just uphold the conviction.
And BTW, I love, “... dark nights of the soul when the ice weasels come,” and, “... phantoms of awful shame flocking around her.”
You’re quite the writer.
Posted by Hellinahandcart on 11/28/13 at 10:46 PM | #
I am not versed in law, but I expect there is a strict legal definition of ‘premeditation’, which will involve the element of planning and deliberation - and perhaps being rational about aspects of the timing or method used.
I would expect, too, for there to be good legal reasons for not wishing to claim a premeditative element - perhaps harder to prove, or easier to disprove?
People may have fantasies, subconscious urges and passions, but then actually consciously, chillingly, planning to carry them out - or even wanting to -this becomes something else.
If one considers suicide…many people might feel, at some point in their life like ‘ending it all’. But it takes many, many more steps to go from there to actually committing the final act irrevocably.
I understand that much law relates to the ‘reasonable person standard’.
And I believe it is universally acknowledged that to take or destroy someone’s life without their consent is gravely wrong, and evil. A reasonable person ought to know so, and therefore do everything within their power to prevent or restrain such action.
When such a terrible ‘mistake’ (if that’s how the perps see it) does happen, it is still deeply wrong,(intended or not), and society has to say so, clearly.
If the perpetrators will not explain what happened, then this is where we need the logic… in the investigations, in the assessment of all the facts available.
Logic is the tool of the reasonable person, - it’s the best way we have to achieve justice, which is why Cassation went to such lengths to illustrate the false or circular logic used in the Hellman appeal. They said, ‘This isn’t good enough..Italian justice is built on better, more refined, more intelligent foundations.’
There will be 30 years to contemplate the psychologies involved.
Posted by SeekingUnderstanding on 11/28/13 at 11:49 PM | #
Crini states that it is the prosecutions duty to conjecture motive. Therefore he suggests that there was No premeditation. That nothing points to the perpetrators having had an agreed plan which then ran out of control. I do not know how he knows this and upon what evidence the conclusion is hung. Perhaps it is just expediency on his part, an unwillingness to tempt fate with an overelaborate conjecture.
You are both right of course. Chami firstly it is not evidence and as such it presents a complex senario, hinging as it does on emotion which is fickle.
Secondly, Poppin, I know of the examples you have choosen to make your point and I agree that the motive for murder can come from anywhere, or, nowhere, and can be meaningful, or, meaningless as the case may be. It can even be possessed of motive for motives sake. It just seems to me that Meredith deserved better and that to know the why? and wherefor was somehow important to that end.
Posted by Macthomas on 11/29/13 at 12:53 AM | #
Thanks for the kind words, Hellinahandcart. The phrases mentioned are from my poem “Meredith.”
Posted by Macthomas on 11/29/13 at 08:49 AM | #
@Macthomas:
I too was surprised to see that premeditation was not a consideration and that no effort was made to explain how the Knox Knife made its journey from RS’s kitchen drawer to Meredith’s room and back. In that regard, look at how informative AK’s reaction to the opening of the drawer by the authorities was - it was like opening Pandora’s box: the evil therein took wing and flew throughout the room, reminding AK of what she had done and whispering in the ears of the authorities ... “I am the Knox Knife” …
I don’t think RS had to teach her about knives. His was the equivalent of a sadistic little Boy Scout knife, more for torturing small defenseless animals as was his wont, than for invoking fear in a human victim. If RS had really been an influence on AK, then he would have bought her a knife just like his, or better yet, he would have given her one of his knives as a present. I’m sure the choice of knives was hers - she looked at his and purposefully found one bigger and more threatening. Like some movie or TV show where one person pulls out a knife, and the next person outdoes them by pulling out an even bigger knife. Where did she conceal the knife as the two made their pre-appointed (another fact, in my opinion, in favor of premeditation) rendezvous with RG? And again, regarding RG, the typically American movie or TV show in which the black male is made to be the dupe, and how convenient that the innocent American white girl could further confound justice by substituting yet another black dupe for the real dupe/perp (dupe: A person who functions as the tool of another person or power). That is in itself a subconscious premeditation as well – involving RG over whom she already had control via her sexual favors as a mask or foil over whatever may occur as the revenge ensues. A useful tool.
I think the psychological explanation presented by Macthomas is very informative, and helps those who cannot comprehend the motivations for murder. That this is beyond the limits of “evidence†does not make it less significant. The similar, simplified phrase that I have used to explain this to myself is that AK felt “narcissistically wounded†by Meredith, and wanted nothing more than to inflict wounds in return. In that sense, it may be that the murder itself was not premeditated per se, although those who understand the background psychology as well as has been explained here would know that death would be the inevitable result. What of AK’s missing diary pages? The written hints of the narcissistic wounds … and perhaps the hints of premeditated revenge as well.
Other facts of premeditation: the day itself that was chosen by the assassins, who knew that everybody had left, who knew that Meredith would be alone. Why bring a knife to the house on just such a day? For God’s sake! The more I write about this the more I see premeditation around every corner of the facts. And as a result – God Forgive me – I cannot live up to Gandhi’s high ideals that “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.†My version of justice doesn’t understand why RG’s wrists aren’t themselves restrained while the source of his hormonal drive is physically removed, and why RS is allowed to skip his smug skip to the buses that await to take him to the airport, literally skipping town to Parigi … he is alone – someone quickly! And last but by no means least the seething foul source of the catathymic homicide, the consummately deceitful devil, who with every living moment is learning new tricks of lying. Let those lessons end!
Posted by Patrizio on 11/29/13 at 07:42 PM | #
Macthomas,
As a fellow writer and lover of poetry, I would love if you would post your poem, “Meredith,” here, for all of us to read. Perhaps you posted it earlier, and I missed it, but I would love to read.
As far as your response to Chami—who apparently said, at some point, that conjecture around catathymic homicide is not evidence and depends on fickled emotions… I must disagree.
After I looked up, “catathymic,” I then read, quite extensively, about it. It is not—and would not be—a prosecuting attorney’s personal conjecture, but a relatively well researched
psychological state that has lent itself to a great many crimes/murders. There is some scientific basis to this psychology.
Perhaps I give the common human too much credit, but I think most of us have experienced at least one person in our lives who has lashed out, violently, unexpectedly. Then when we begin to look at that person’s history, environment, etc.—and the finer details of the situation in which she/he lashed out—we the common human are compelled to look at and consider the deeper waters of the Psyche than we would, otherwise.
Again, perhaps I give the jury more credit than they might be due, but I think I would’ve introduced this psychological theory, rather than expecting them to believe that no premeditation was involved.
Posted by Hellinahandcart on 11/30/13 at 04:04 PM | #
Patrizio,
“... the day itself was chosen by the assassins…”
@Patrizio
Yes, yes it was. They knew that everyone in the entire building- including the boys downstairs- would be out of town or staying w/ significant others. Not to mention that it was the Day of the Dead (which might not be relevant in Knox’s case since Americans typically don’t understand anything other than “Halloween”).
But from what I’ve read, Sollecito had Manga Comics that were about killing female vampires. Is it a coincidence that Meredith dressed up as a vampire for Halloween?
Read Knox’s email to friends after she was arrested… she mentions, at one point, the “blood” (fake blood of course), that is still on Meredith’s mouth, the morning after HWeen… when Knox and Sollecito come in and talk with her.
Why is Knox focused on this? Why is she talking about it?
If nothing else in this case gives a person or people away, it would be Knox’s email to her friends and family, right after being arrested.
Posted by Hellinahandcart on 11/30/13 at 05:34 PM | #
@Hellinahandcart
“that conjecture around catathymic homicide is not evidence”
There are two aspects: it depends on the interpretation of conjecture and evidence in this particular context. And I say that these interpretations are subject to formal analysis.
Conjecture is a subjective opinion which lacks stong evidence. And evidence must be tangible and verifiable in terms of common perceptions. These two words simply do not go together.
But the problem is that we should not, it has been told so many times, reject any evidence just because it appears weak. To quote the famous line “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”. In practical terms, this means that each evidence must be weighted independently, without refering to the overall picture. Evidences that do not fit the final story must be explained.
“some scientific basis to this psychology”
We believe it to be a science, but the underlying layer, the cause, cannot be seen and hence not a tangible cause. But the effect is visible and we believe that every effect must have a cause. I would like to state here that we cannot see the electron but we do know its mass and charge and no scientist doubts that electrons exist! The reason is that we have made a consistent story using the mass and charge of the electron. It is not much different in the court of law!
Posted by chami on 11/30/13 at 07:09 PM | #
Hellinahandcart:
“Meredith” was written after the appeal overturned the guilty verdict and was an angry protest tinged with sorrow.
It has been reviewed positively by three literary sources: However, note has been taken of its explicit nature and its impact upon the feelings of Meredith’s nearest and dearest. In addition advice had to be observed that although the perpetrators Knox and her boyfriend had been cleared it still had to be verified by the Supreme Court which left the poem, in their opinion, vulnerable. Publication will have to wait even if it is secured.The poem is rather long, it could have been shorter but I didn’t have the time.
Meredith :
Dear Friend,
What can I do to prove the warm affection I have always felt for you—-
He sits in his jail cell, the Ivorian drifter.
Rudy Guede paraphiliac staring out of a smoke dried visage
on the gray disordered dusk of the things,
drawing strength from like minded individuals,
in the most unequal post in the world.
A gathering of ghosts that will not enter heaven,
breathing through the husk of what it is to be human,
While outside, two others, a man and a woman,
co-conspirators for whom there is no end to the vigil.
Knox, the catalyst, devalues and exploits without remorse,
from a hidden well of malice she stirred from choice,
perpetrated with others what she could not enforce,
one hell following another.
That same ego could the more readily repress,
those times she startles with sudden fear,
phantoms of awful shame flocking around her,
as though these horrific forms pointed their fingers,
at her, and her alone.
Raffaele Sollecito bespectacled young man, incapable of shame,
pornography and bestiality warmed his sordid soul
with themes his heart has sought as things he cannot name.
Sorrows that feed on living hopes and fears
and suck the substance from tomorrow.
Amanda Knox found Meredith Kercher to be offensive,
her sense of duty, her honesty, conscientiousness,
her proud sense of honour.
For above all, Amanda Knox wished to be liked,
considered even, as the principal object,
admired, not endured, with patient resignation-
especially by her own sex.
In any event there is nobody so irritating as somebody
whose presence judges the ego so glibly.
Knox seemed calm, gentle and oh’ so reasonable,
but catathymic response left her ego compromised,
giving the perception that she is being left
malignant memories of abandonment
and a threat to her sense of Self.
A hidden turmoil seethed inside,
where a foul narcissistic evil writhes.
In Sollecito she found an accomplice,
for cathartic revenge required an audience.
These were the ones who changed a young foolish day to tragedy.
Whose vexation made Aceldama of a small flat in Perugia.
There on the day following Halloween, weakness in all good-
and strength in evil, passed its sentence,
increased the powers of those who abhorred innocence,
those who lived through death and extinction;
deafness to suffering has came to sit at the centre of the heart,
cravings for admiration in pursuit of the winding path.
Mez to her friends,
described as conscientious, affectionate, intelligent and kind.
School and University remarked, her diligent and inquisitive mind.
It was not control of self that set Meredith apart,
but an understanding of who she was,
a refusal to relinquish her self regard.
The home values in which she had been raised ,
the sort of morals she enshrined ,
engaged with the gentle word of praise
and found that vengeance was blind.
Invariably admitted where she was wrong ,
at home genteel earnestness marked her soul ,
careful and precise, though sometimes headstrong,
yet, there was a healthy hardiness here beside
a lack of loftiness in the social dance.
Though she was fond of young men, her studies came first,
she never considered beauty a sufficient end.
In her faculties she was confident and demure,
and she lived a life other young women lived,
developed a sexual puissance from a healthy narrative,
deeds informed by experiences that good sense dictates,
held to a courage willing to vociferate,
at the dread of undetermined futures that await.
She was the quiet voice of survival that made sure,
that this too shall end, we shall endure.
She travelled as widely as she could ,
tried out for soccer and learned karate,
never played fast and loose with friends,
for slights real or imagined ,
always willing to make amends.
For no duty more obligatory,
than the repayment of kindness.
She made her acquisitions without meanness.
To enjoy the things she ought to enjoy,
and to hate the things she ought to hate,
and ever mindful of her dignity,
bring such attributes to maturity.
Her dignity was cruelly abased.
She was raped and tortured,
murdered in the end,
but her dignity was never lost.
That they could only take if once surrendered,
she held her dignity to the last,
it was never relinquished, not even in death.
The public holiday of Ogaissanti the feast of All Saints.
It’s a time well spent with family and friends.
Remember how green they were,
the green leaf’s a flower,
and how in that tradition love lives under pain,
as the days shorten.
Laying blossoms on the grave of loved ones.
One night in Perugia the feast of Pomona,
dusk falls early, cooler winds are rising.
For these are the people who long to see your face.
As memories fall thick but never fast,
sombre and slow and most of them decay
and fade back into the mould again.
As if constrained by life to explain,
that for which there is no adequacy of explanation;
the sombre season, the dissolution of the aggregates,
the very end of the warmth of the earth.
In the gardens gather the disintegrating leaves,
reading the portends and prophesying amongst themselves,
for departed souls on the long entry into winters cold.
Meredith Susanna Cara Kercher,
murdered when she was twenty one years old .
All Saints Day, the first of November, two thousand and seven
7 via della Pergola in Perugia.
Profane, All Hallows litany of the saints:
one whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
Where lies a still crumpled silent figure.
Meredith Kercher lay dead under the duvet cover,
unappeasable evil that grows out of envy,
is there at the heart of sexual murder,
integral with the evil principals of the world.
The only bystander the long legged spider,
slowed his venomous pace before an invading fly.
In the far flung corner of his empire, hung motionless,
surprised by the sudden death which lay before him.
His life a long arduous quest for guilt he never felt,
had found in the silence the cruellest lies.
Where death has penetrated the sanctum of the innocent,
seemed a mad preachment of the idiot savant.
To be compelled to kill to alleviate tension in the brain,
was a peculiar shibboleth for him
the motive that drove his lone pursuit
Came from the belly where all lessons begin
each skirmish a needs-met vignette of life and death.
that transmutes from the web he spins
a conclusion that admits of no dispute
In such a way I used to see her in my nightmares,
caught in the deceitful airs.
But now I hear her almost anywhere—
in music- in the wind- the spider stalking the fly,
she comes back unexpectedly,
-smiling at my haunted stare-
for it’s a ghosts right,
the cogency of elsewhere,
blinking white and translucent in the gloaming,
no earthly wind can stir her long black hair,
where the winds were about and walking.
I go back then to that time the day after Halloween,
when her mobile phone rang home—
around nine and once again to the Bank at ten-
did you abort an unconnected call-
Was it they cut off your phone -?
What then!
The evening wind rose and the dry branches from the hedges
swished as they moved,
amongst the leaves and sparse litter on the pavement stairs,
a scream was heard.
Did they come at you then from somewhere,
out of the shadows pretending to be friends-
you knew them well-
did they wait for you in your room- -
one or two of them-
Did you let them in-
-all three—
-We cannot tell- -
The next day someone found both your phones,
by a garden shed within a short walk of home- -
Out on the steps to hell.
Just as she walked back to her rooms,
having had tea with friends,
she might have seen the last embers of daylight die,
breathed in the violet blue-green of the sky.
A sickle moon sailed about the clouds in the evening gloom,
that broke on the shoals of days and years,
which for her was the last she would ever see;
all of the woman that she might have been
is gone from us today,
and this earthly scene is a sadder place to be—
her family have their eyes still fixed-
hoping to find once more-
her well-kent figure coming through the door-
being by human evil unrestrained-
on the bloodbath of the bestial floor.
For she bore such agonies as Christ sustained
our daughter with the ever kind eyes-
never will we sit again drawing strength from each other-
a pregnant glow that charm made wise-
while with soul kick she knits her child together;
there she sits young and beautiful-
while around her the earth grows cold.
Have you seen her come back,
mother- father- sister- brother-
Meredith our child home from the park,
Her hair flung back in just such a way,
with brother and sister on either hand.
A child striding out the dog end of the day.
From Happy Valley, or the Downs bleak moorland.
As unrestrained as when God put fire into the clay.
All Souls I Morti-
bells for the faithful departed
Two thousand and seven—
these three young people two men and a woman-
at a secret assignation in a mean Italian dwelling -
the anxious aegis of hearts malignantly driven -
into the boundless darkness of jealous envy—
because Knox infers more, she is willing to see less
of what was the essential Meredith.
The intent is evident it emerged slowly,
imperceptibly over days, a projected fantasy personality,
a tension filled product of emotional transference
patterned by past experiences verging on obsession
where Knox was the victim,
her judgment distorted by the inferred frame of reference
in the dark nights at home when the ice weasels come .
Meredith Susanna Cara Kercher murdered in Perugia,
because Amanda Knox felt persecuted,
by the idea that Meredith ever existed,
and she obsessed about her obduracy.
Meredith was a victim of catathymic homicide.
there were no warning signs,
but you are left to wonder,
but a build up of anger and frustration
as layers of stabilising delusion melt away
under the reality of the Perugia day.
One night in Perugia the feast of Pomona,
In her student bedroom. Knox helps hold her from the rear-
presses the knife against her throat—
back against the door—shouts obscenities in her ear,
while Guede lifted her in the middle-
astride her kicking legs pulled free her underwear—
her pants shoes and socks thrown wildly away ;
those whose malicious projections dwelt upon death-
whose pernicious spirit sought vengeance—-
as a purge for the envy they felt -
She was held by the two behind,
Guede between her thighs- Sollecito held her arms -
while Knox strained with one hand to release her bra -
impatient with the effort Sollecito cut it through,- -
the knife cut and jabbed as they pulled her down -
inflamed by the blood they spilled -
as a pack of wild dogs with their kill -
outspread her legs, the blood they shed-
saturated the clothes and towel under her head—
hands that grip constrict each breath till her heart aches-
a pillow under her seat which raised her hips-
as she begins to drown with each breath she takes-
the light began to fade carrying tomorrow with it- -
they as thoroughly blended with each other-
as the air they breathe:
Perhaps other souls than human are born into the world,
and clothed in flesh to insinuate themselves
wholesome but with all the seeds of malevolence
and the evil spreads as necessarily as disease.
Her fate they plucked from the impulse bearing tree,
yet still she struggled bravely- refused to submit -
she held fast against them- two men and a woman-
until her throat was slit.
Her pulse would have slowed and weakened,
it had been as a clock marking out the flight of life,
moment by moment-
she would have feared one of these might be her last-
violent pain from the thrust of penetration
brought the fear for crushed seconds between her thighs-
seed spent in a vain attempt to humiliate,
flimsy hope in the contradictions of love and hate -
that measured out that fearful throaty cry-
and might have thought to check old Time—
with a vain appeal for help-
have Knox intervene in pity—
veiled the last hope and saw it shrivel-
Knox who held a knife at her throat -
drew a bloody line with a ferocious scorn-
The Happy Valley days became remote-
blood spilled as if Knox sowed hatred on the ground—
devolved of all responsibility for her own destructive powers-
She said no last words, one long terrified scream,
no last words were possible-
her carotid artery had been cut ;
let no iniquity perish but is as seed sown out to grow-
of wrath laid up against the day of wrath—
her sweater still barely clings to a body bruised and bleeding—-
that bloody wasted knit is all she wears—
her hair holds a mockery of its shine
there’s deaths glitter in her eyes—-
and all this dark light around her was confined
to a naked body in which a fragile hope for life began to die.
A breath of heart break has passed by.
It was the same cramped space as every students knows -
the room is small wall to wall and table dotted with mementoes-
scattered clothes she recently wore—
pictures of the past—
of those she loved—-
and a loving daughter lying crumpled by the bed—
the dreary sound as the implacable cleaner returns—
the risk that heightens the reward of the mind-
that Amanda Knox so atrociously earned-
the iron heart of jealousy undisturbed -
by the morning noises from the street—
the perpetrator slunk between a blood saturated scene-
to purge all outward evidence of the crime—
those hell-nurtured souls
who bear false witness against themselves ;
how could their envy endure her happiness—
Knox,relief amiss from her corrosive sense,
dry it rustles as the fallen leaves might over graves,
to clean the scene from the death of yesterday.
Lock windows and doors for the ghost might come.
Be not afraid, can they feel, I wonder,
those white silent people we call the dead,
everything hushed, noiseless, and in deep repose.
save the storm blind waving sadly to and fro-
A spider crawling up the wall-other sounds there’s none,
silent swift clouds skim across the sky,
the cautious wind, crept after her upon the ground,
it stops to listen, and goes rustling on,
and stops again, to hear life festering.
Knox shrouded the body with the duvet cover,
left signs of incriminating blood that fit up Guede.
Then they broke the window pane,
to pretend a burglary that none can claim,
no glass strewn on the outside gives the lie.
Yet, ever in her minds eye, from the window
the way opens, the wilderness returns,
another aspect she encouraged,
its indifference to human life,
the merciless spirit of destruction,
the remorseless reminder of crucifixion.
A whore to ruin and to destruction friend:
in stained relief a lover of the beast:
And so it was! God love us, so it was she made her fate,
my heart is the life of the flesh, so let me persist
with jealousy at the core the shortest route to hate.
It was a sight that some people remembered better even than their own sorrows—
the sight in that grey November morning, their breath hanging in the air,
when the fatal hearse bearing the young women drove past—
edging its way towards the conclusion of the deliberately inflicted sudden death.
For you have stood shoulder to shoulder with me -we have shattered the taboos.
I shall show you greater things than this, I shall show you lies and abominations that go beyond those
that have made a sacrifice of this daughter of Eve -envy not the woman with the very kind eyes, for,
Lucifer is fallen!
Will you walk into my parlour said the spider to the fly——
It’s the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy.
Posted by Macthomas on 12/01/13 at 01:06 PM | #
Macthomas,
Thanks for posting your poem… it is rather good. And I hope you will be able to publish it at a later date.
Thanx again.
Posted by Hellinahandcart on 12/03/13 at 07:50 PM | #
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