Some Hard Truths Sollecito PR Puppet Sharlene Martin Omits In Her Misleading Invite To The Congress

Comments

Wow - excellent article.

Spot on.

Good overview of the situation, Pete.  I’m wondering what Martin means by “briefing” since congress is not in session this Thursday and most members will have already packed their bags and be heading out of town.

I think Martin should have billed this as a congressional “pleading” since they are actually just like panhandlers provided a 2.5 hour window in which to beg for spare change as members of congress rush past to catch the next Blue Line train to Reagan National.

Meltdown! The defense situation deteriorates day by day. Maybe we need a separate page for all breaking news just to keep up.

Today’s bad news is for DNA “expert” Hampikian who so messed up the C&V consultancy and so helped sabotage the Hellmann appeal.

Machine’s previous post:  http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php?/tjmk/comments/how_greg_hampikian_abuses_two_positions_of_trust_in_serially_misrepres/

He may be charged with obstruction of justice in Italy along with Vecchiotti who is already being investigated.

Now Andrea Vogt reports that Hampikian’s own university in Boise, Idaho is getting increasingly nervous about his role.

http://thefreelancedesk.com/the-secret-u-s-forensic-defense-of-amanda-knox/

Steve Moore was already fired by a university; could Greg Hampikian be next?

Thanks Fly By Night - who organized the highly effective Open Letters to Senator Cantwell with our terrific Seattle group - on behalf of all those main posters linked to in the post.

Sharlene Martin sure is doing a great job of helping RS to shoot himself in the foot.

Although only 2 men and a dog might attend this Thursday for the reasons you give (they made me laugh) the misguided PR may still try to make this a plus in the media, so I do look forward to reading Friday’s media reports.

Martin is drumming up book sales for her guy named Raffaele Sollecito who says on his Twitter account: “I’m sorry life, I’ve born and raised as a geek and sometimes I cannot resist to the jungle call” (Oct. 21, 2013)

He also said on Twitter recently that his father and sis paid a BIG amount of $$$ for his legal expenses. I put the all-caps on BIG, but he did say big money. Maybe that’s how he justifies selling lies in Ms. Martin’s hardback books, to repay his folks. Even the title is a lie, in which Raf suggests he is honouring someone besides himself, when really he is hiding his own transgressions as much as Foxy’s. He might have sworn some deep oath to her but it’s to hide his own knife attack on Meredith and save any shreds of his reputation that motivate him to keep mum, or how could he justify reducing his entire family to paupers. Well, he may be too young to realize the value of money yet, never having had to struggle much to earn his own bread.

I think Vanessa is paying the bills to Bongiorno more out of honoring an honest debt to a well-known attorney than for Raf’s sake. Vanessa also may be paying for Raf to lighten daddy’s load or secure daddy’s love. The Sollecito family is of course playing the long game to the bitter end, just in the chance they can get little bro off the hook given enough time. Even if they could prevail by some trick of fortune and whisk little brother home again as legally innocent, I believe they’ll despise him forever or resent him for a long time, although forgiveness is the greatest virtue of all.

The loss of Vanessa’s good Carabinieri career has already cost her big money and a good bit of disrespect. Think of a nearly ready to retire Dr. Sollecito having to push on day after day seeing more sick patients and writing prescriptions, studying medical charts while driving from clinic to hospital, when he wanted to be the one on the beach?

Raffaele seems determined to impoverish his entire family for an American idiot and to justify his own idiocy. Makes you wonder. If such fidelity were for a good cause, it would be heroic. They can’t see the forest for the trees that a dopehead liar like Raffaele is hardly a “good cause”, blood relative or not. Love is blind, and Martin’s love of money has blinded her. But hey, Tina Turner sings, ‘What’s Love got to do with it?’ Pride and ego are as likely motives.

Andrea Vogt has written a must-read article about Greg Hampikian’s involvement in the case.  http://thefreelancedesk.com/the-secret-u-s-forensic-defense-of-amanda-knox/

My previous post: http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php?/tjmk/comments/how_greg_hampikian_abuses_two_positions_of_trust_in_serially_misrepres/

More to come.

Terrific take, Hopeful.

Sollecito’s father and sister have sharp elbows and have set out at times to hurt, but at other times they both have showed they are not thrilled to be forced into such roles. Francesco pulls out his hair at RS.

Papa Doc (I always smile at seeing him called that) works for the Italian hospital system with a few private patients on the side. I have always doubted that he was ever really, really well off.

The Sollecitos have for a long time lived in Bisceglie and until several years ago they lived in an apartment on the main street headed west.

Now they live in a nice enough bungalow in a private estate - no big deal about that as most new houses in that part of Italy are in communities with gates and electric gate-openers, not guards.

Papa Doc sometimes makes appearances for the media outside that gate so the media all know where it is. Put this address of the gate into Google Earth and go to Street View and you’ll see it is not more than middle-class turf.

41°14’37.80"N 16°29’2.50"E

Beautiful stonework there, by the way. Are Italians incapable of building anything that looks less than very pretty?!

@Hopeful

It is my personal observation (very small sample size) that Italians value and respect personal and family values highly- far more than Americans.

RS is not only ungrateful to all the things his family has done for him in this stinking case, he is refusing to acknowledge his share of the guilt. Without his active support, one innocent life would have been saved.

I do not believe the bond between the two kids to be love- they have no trust or respect for each other and I am sure that you are wrong to call that surge of hormone to be love.

His father and sister loves him far more than the American kid. That I can say confidently.

Now they (the kids) need each other. They are together for the rest of their life- the crime has united them irreversibly.

Pete, isn’t 41°14’37.80"N 16°29’2.50"E in France?

Nope! Bisceglie is in south-east Italy north of Bari. Put those GPS coordinates into the Search line of Google Earth and you should after a quick trip descend right there.

Thanks Pete,

Glitch in my computer. Maybe Windows 8 glitch?

Ms Martin looks like the personification of a battle axe to me. I would not want to try and go before her in a queue.

Everyone is being very quiet as it’s close to 31st.

On another note one of the last scenes in the movie American Beauty has Jane’s boyfriend the next door neighbour coming voer to ask her to run away with him to NYC.

Her girlfriend Angela who thinks she is soooo beautiful is present in Jane’s room. Angela objects to this idea saying it is because you’re my friend says Angela.

She’s not your friend says the boyfriend she’s someone you use to feel better about yourself.

Angela says at least i am not ugly.

Yes you are says Jane’s boyfriend and you’re boring and you are totally ordinary AND YOU KNOW IT.

This is Amanda Knox she is all those things ugly boring and ordinary and she knows it.

That is why she killed Meredith. She knows all this and she hates herself.

Hi Mason2

Battleaxes (if Sharlene Martin is one - I am told she has been distracted by other ventures and possibly engaged in this half-heartedly and very ill-informed) are not what RS and AK seem to need in their corner right now.

They need someone with brains and legal acumen to talk them back down to Planet Earth and seek a B Plan.

Chris Mellas has been tweeting that this post is intimidating. Good. They might do the whole world a favor -themselves especially - by pulling the plug on this one.

Sometimes step-parents can be worse than the biological editions they are replacing: often they have this overpowering need to prove themselves as “proper” partners and step-parents.

I think Mellas falls into this category. He doesn’t really have too much concern about the long-term interests of the benighted one (that would take a brilliant step-father, ready to counter Edda’s doting love and sentimentality); his concern is how he’s perceived (not least by Edda). So, all things must be swept under the carpet as long as roles are duly maintained. Crisis management I suppose, but crises happen for a reason. Something is rotten in Knoxville, and has been for a long time, way before the boil burst.

What’s always running underground throughout this horrific crime is ego, writ large. Let justice be done so we can all restore some faith in human integrity.

Hi Odysseus.  Interesting insight. As you know Chris Mellas’s age is somewhere midway between Amanda’s and Edda’s.

It was an open secret in Knox’s Seattle circle that she kept him at arms length; and that he was part of the reason she fled to a house near the university.

In the Knox diary which the book in Italian by Sarzanini quoted, Amanda showed dislike of him and said she did not appreciate being called an obtuse retard.

Curt Knox was said to harbor much animosity toward Edda. She took him to court repeatedly to get the Knox child support paid. That apparently stopped after Edda and Chris got married.

Media people tell me they find Chris timid and whiney and not at all the kind to lash out at anyone angrily. He sure makes up for that via his multiple nasty personas on the internet.

@Peter

Does anyone know the roots of Curt’s animosity toward Edda - why didn’t he want to pay child support? All break-ups are bitter but was there some infidelity we haven’t heard about or what?

This is one for our psychologists! I do know that Nina Burleigh published that Curt was given away at birth by his real parents; that may have resulted later in his deep anger - we were told that Superior Court judges asked him to seek seek anger management; that outcome is kept hidden.

Curt and Edda came together when Edda was pregnant (with Amanda) and parted explosively when Edda was pregnant (with Deanna); could babies at a bad time be a factor? And Curt not paying child support always seemed a low blow to me.

But lately we are hearing that Curt has pulled out of the defamation effort and Edda and Chris are driving the bus full of nasties so I wonder if there is the nastiness to herself that many on PMF ascribe to her. For Knox, not a family situation made in heaven.

“For Knox, not a family situation made in heaven.”

It is not fair to dilute the share of responsibilities. What is the excuse for RS? or for RG?

At least the big kid RS could have sensed some sense and persuaded the violent American kid.

We hear too often: bad childhood, poor parents, but they are not good excuses.

They must been checked by prison psuchiatrists but the reports must be confidential.

At least RG can use some of these excuses. But he did not.

An explanation - such as psychology hopes to provide - should never be made into an excuse.
Explaining the causes behind events of wrong-doing should help one take more responsibility for them, not less. Excusing them is evading responsibility.
Understanding, too, should help reasonable and adjusted people to restrain from any future wrong-doing.
‘But I can’t help it’ is unacceptable. We have to learn to ‘help it’. Help ourselves.

Regarding Curt and Edda : I believe in looking first at what might be the simplest explanations. Did Edda want a child and decide to become pregnant, unilaterally, one might say? This would certainly account for a husband feeling resentful re support. “You wanted it, you pay for it…”?? Quite obviously Curt does or did have an anger management problem, but he also obviously feels deeply wronged in some way. Only they know.

I feel the key question re the upbringing influence would be the mother’s attitude towards ‘fibs’ - or lies - and whether or not she was willing to correct the child, or just indulge her, perhaps in a very mistaken idea of ‘protecting’. Protecting from what?  Reality? Growing up? Again, we don’t know, but this would have been formative.
Alarm bells also ring when this phrase ‘I am a free spirit’ keeps being repeated, as also ‘Mom encouraged me to be a free spirit’. I wonder if she also encouraged self-discipline, or being truthful?

@ SeekingUnderstanding, I’m with you 100% - an Explanation is not an Excuse for evading Responsibility.

Tis old Post may be relevant:

“Common-Law ‘Malice’ has historically required that an accused “knew, or ought to have known that the relevant act was wrong.”

In that “ought” lies an escape hatch.

What we believe as to the blameworthiness of these three offenders is obvious - they were committing a premeditated felony-sexual-assault using means which were foreseeably lethal, and actually were lethal.

Hellmann-Zanetti have already made clear what their blameworthiness opinion would be, although they have evaded reaching the issue by arguing reasonable doubt that two of the offenders were involved in Meredith’s murder, and deserve no blame for it whatsoever.

A legal issue which may eventually need to be addressed is whether a conviction for murder requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt using a subjective foreseeability of death standard or using an objective foreseeability of death standard.

If a subjective foresight of death were ever applied to a found-guilty AK & RS, they could plead that they just didn’t foresee that pricking Meredith’s neck with those knives could kill her; it was just a prank. For example “we were only hazing her; anyway, we were either mentally-ill or drugged or just plain dumb.”

If an objective foresight of death finding were ever applied to a found-guilty AK & RS, who were obviously committing a felonious assault using foreseeably lethal means, Meredith would get True Justice.

Posted by Cardiol on 09/06/12 at 01:33 PM in The appeals,  Dissecting Hellmann…..”

Hi, The Machine. Thanks for the links to Andrea Vogt’s article. We looked at the linkage between the Idaho Innocence Project getting involved in this high profile case a while back, and wondered why, when it’s own website http://innocenceproject.boisestate.edu/ states:

“The Idaho Innocence Project’s mission is to identify, investigate and pursue claims of wrongful conviction and actual innocence made by Idaho inmates.”

So how did they get involved in the case? It seems that Greg Hampikian, in Seattle in 2010 for a Forensic Scientists conference, was directly recruited by the FOA back then, and who were instrumental in getting American scientists to sign the open letter criticizing Dr. Stefanoni’s procedures and results. Well, Stefanoni’s work stands, and the so called independent C&V report influenced by the Americans, is now discredited.

But it really is a pity that Boise University has stonewalled reporter Andrea Vogt’s many requests to provide information about the taxpayer funded research Professor Hampikian conducted on behalf of Amanda Knox and her defense team. Using the one   exemption that Idaho State Law http://www.nfoic.org/idaho-foia-laws provides “trade secrets including academic research” they have got away with it this time, without even looking at their now high profile professors’ possible flouting of the Boise University Code of Ethics.

However, all might want to consider how Professor Hampikian may have been hoisted by his own grandstanding about how he “helped secure Amanda Knox’s release”. From this site http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-state-of-nova/post/uva-wins-key-ruling-in-prince-william-global-warming-foia-case-involving-michael-mann/2012/09/18/6c422d98-0133-11e2-b257-e1c2b3548a4a_blog.html

““Data, records or information of a proprietary nature produced or collected by or for faculty or staff of public institutions of higher education…in the conduct of or as a result of study or research on medical, scientific, technical or scholarly issues…where such data, records or information has not been publicly released, published, copyrighted or patented.”

Gosh, hasn’t he published his coke can experiment already, and hasn’t the University’s own magazine trumpeted the Idaho Innocence Project’s “success” in this case?

It really is a pity that independent journalists like Andrea Vogt, without the backing of major media organizations, have to use their own resources to do the research the media has failed to do?

Never mind. This case has the capacity to surprise us still, and I look forward to getting the results of the DNA experts review come October 31.

Thank you,  Cardiol , for the clarifying post : very important.

Objectively too, any reasonable and moderately intelligent person would foreseeably know the possible affects and risks of taking specific drugs. If they did not know, then, as adults, they had a responsibility and duty to know.
Drugs are illegal for a reason. Persons taking drugs regardless should know these reasons.
Being a ‘free spirit’ should be nothing to do with it.

BTW, Congress will not be in session tomorrow, they’re off on a “constituent break 😊

Senator Cantwell’s office will not confirm whether she will be there, but notes they rent out to all sorts of Seattle groups, including ‘shrimp fishermen’.

So I Goggled Amanda Knox and read the article.

‘To extradite or not to extradite.’

By Tracy Hoffman. an article that for once makes a lot of sense, something you never find associated with Knox and her sycophants/acolytes etc: 

Which raises the inevitable question. In the hoped for event of Knox being convicted and our hope that justice will be served. What Then?
All it will take is some US judge to order an injunction against her extradition and so on and so on into infinity. As I understand it this Italian court is not the final say since it has to go before the Italian supreme court on appeal.

The US is woefully close minded about their citizens being extradited although the US is quite ready to uphold their hypocritical double standard and try to extradite anybody else they think has done them wrong. Edward Snowden is a prime example here and is accused of treason by the US although in some circles he is considered to be a hero.

So what about Knox? Of course if she is convicted then Sollecito will be also and I suspect and hope that he will come clean, and then there’s Rudy Guede waiting in the wings to tell his story and since he is probably broke I can see that coming up too.

So the question remains where do we go from here? If, and when, Knox is convicted perhaps the best we can hope for is that she will be ostracized and vilified for the rest of her natural life. It’s for sure that no matter what she does she will always be known as a convicted murderer. Although I can see all the sick talk shows who’s only consideration is ratings anyway.

Last thought. Perhaps if that is the case then we can keep her in the public spotlight. I for one (no matter the eventual outcome) am not going away.

Thank you for another interesting post.

I have nothing meaningful to add for now except that I’m loving the photo of Martin on the right.

Looks like her head’s being devoured by a Scottish Terrier

@bucketoftea

Yes, now you mention it..!

John Douglas is presumably the heavy hitter on Sharlene Martin’s weak panel. The ex-judge and ex-security-guard never comes across very well. We need to shoot down in a post what John Douglas claimed about Knox.

He makes wild assumptions and shows a complete lack of any science all the way through. Read his claims here:  http://truejustice.org/ee/documents/perugia/DouglasOnKnox.pdf

What with these silly claims of John Douglas and Saul Kassin about Knox, no wonder the perception of the efficacy of criminal profiling in the real world (though not yet on TV) has taken a few hard knocks.

Oddly, not even one reviewer on Amazon questioned whether John Douglas’s claims about the interrogation were right - even though Knox testified on the stand that it was nothing like what Douglas states as fact.

The book at present has 27 5-star reviews, 6 4-stars, 1 3-stars, and 2 2-stars. There is not even one 1-star review. And yet the book is so misleading so wrong about the interrogators and all the other evidence, it really should be withdrawn.

http://www.amazon.com/Law-Disorder-Legendary-Profilers-Relentless/dp/0758273126/ref=la_B000APBAP4_1_4_title_1_har?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383163668&sr=1-4

Hi Graham

Cheer up! We have covered extradition from the politics, legal and State Departments angles and none of the good cards are in the hands of Knox.

Is it honestly worth dignifying any of John Douglas’ comments with a response?

The guy was largely discredited ever since he took well over $50,000 from John Ramsey shortly after the death of JonBenet. 

Twice, on National Television, he claimed to have been briefed on the autopsy report, firstly by Officials, and then, when they denied it, said it was directly via the defense attorneys.  Problem was, the coroner responded to Larry King that the autopsy report hadn’t even been finished yet.

He broke his own rules by conducting joint interviews with witnesses/suspects, and it eventually emerged that he saw nothing of the police reports, autopsy report, crime scene photos or forensic evidence.  Yet he was somehow able to declare the Ramseys innocent in under 5 days.

John Douglas is an international joke and a laughing stock.  Does anyone listen to him?!

Hi Mr Brownstone

You raise an interesting point. Whose claims to explore and whose not? Our experience over the long term is that anyone with public status is worth an attempt to chill. Many in fact have been chilled, we should post the long list.

Some presumably do know about the Ramsey payment, but check out the rave reviews for him on Amazon and see what you think? You might be inspired to do our top post.

Graham Rhodes has the right idea I think - we hope justice prevails this time but if not we can be sure it WILL be done in the fullness of time. Let’s take the longer view. Knox and Sollecito think they can escape external “justice”, with all the arrogance of Bonnie and Clyde. This may be true for a time.

What they can never escape is the justice that comes from within, from their own repressed self-discipline and authority, which will be forever haunting and directing them on the extreme fringes of consciousness and creating even more challenging life situations - until they admit and own their guilt. Despite what they ignorantly think this is the only way they will ever find “freedom”.

Tout finira par s’arranger, as I think they say in France (hope that’s right, my French isn’t what it used to be to - and even then it was pretty dismal!).

Hi Odysseus

Le Diable est dans les details. Vrai la justice prevaudra sur la coupable.

Thank you for your kind words.

Pas du tout! I like “Vrai la justice prevaudra sur la coupable” - very appropriate.

The deadline for filing of the the Carabinieri DNA test results was pushed forward a day (to today) with Judge Nencini’s agreement.  Although the working day is not over in Rome or Florence, it has only an hour or two to go. If there’s “new news” we’ll be quick to post it.

It is unlikely that the prosecution will make any public statement before court 6 November and extremely unlikely that they will leak - neither the Perugia or Florence prosecutors have any history of unsourced leaks, and in each city their Attorney General is encouraging everybody on their staffs to play by the book.

Will the defenses leak today? Maybe not, if for them it is bad news - if a second trace of Meredith’s DNA has been found on the knife.

Maybe they are holding off on bad news so as not to undercut the hapless panel, which already has to contend with a disinterested Senator Cantwell, panelists with proven feet of clay, and members of Congress keen to get out of Washington to home for a long weekend with their constituents.

****

We were intending to add another post to this one to guide Congress to authentic and honest descriptions of the case, but that is now being taken care of by others. Radioactive was not such a bad way to describe the group assembled by Sharlene Martin.

DNA testing by the labs of the Carabinieri. This is a repeat of what is in the Breaking News box at the top for the sake of continuity here.

Breaking news on DNA testing. Sollecito defense leaks as follows. Third trace of Knox is confirmed on the knife. No new trace of Meredith. No DNA of Sollecito or Guede. Sollecito lawyer Bongiorno announces that now there is even less proof against Sollecito. Knox team seems very silent. Guede to speak on Italian TV Friday.

LATEST FROM ANDREA VOGT TWITTER:

” RIS: New trace of DNA found on knife blade is #amandaknox, near other trace attributed prior to Meredith, according to @lastampa update.”

How did you find out Guede would speak on TV and how is that allowed if he is in prison?

Does anyone know anything about the Rudy interview or interviewer? It sounds odd. And oddly timed. This case and all of the shenanigans associated have got me really suspicious. About everything.

Could it be that he’s been approached? These defenses and defendants are clearly desperate and have proven that they will stop at nothing. Clearly not deterred by rules or protocol and not even by ethics or common decency.

And now there are so many more careers and so much potential money at stake…

I can’t imagine what the Kercher family must be feeling right now. I’m sending my thoughts their way… strength… peace…

@Grahame Rhodes.

There are so many things that incense anyone who comes to understand the basic dynamic of this case.The toxic couple of Knox and Sollecito along with Guede lead to the murder of a wonderful girl.Knox & Sollecito both wrote books and garnered blood money.Knox appears to be devoid of any feeling whatsoever. And quite, shy Sollecito harbours the heart of a sadist..IMO. So whatever dirty dealings lead to the temporary aquittal they are certainly not likely to be repeated in this appeal.
The original reasoning that underpins their conviction in the Massei report still stands up to scrutiny. It appears there is another trace of Knox’s DNA on the knife. Sollecito’s knife. Also Sollecito’s DNA on the bra clasp has not been shown to be due to a real case of contamination.

The original conviction will be re-affirmed.Extradition is an obligation. Pete’s previous post on Robert Lady Seldon was of real interest. The USA adminstration had to have him mysteriously disappear. There was no way they could be seen to get into an international extradition dispute. And if they were not going to dare do that for an ex CIA team leader.Does it seem likely that the likes of Amanda Knox merits any kind of official support? So Amanda either goes on the run or goes back. She even mentioned that life on the run was not in her plans. But who knows…she has never been able to face what she did. Sollecito on the hand might want a way to deal with what they did and for that he has no option but to tell the truth on NOv 6th.

As you say this will never ever go away for them..and why should it. Though it now seems that Guede is finding that he can possibly make a life after jail.

Let’s see if he really has anything to say on Quatro Grado tomorrow? Knox and Solecito will be glued to the TV!

Hi Believing

“How did you find out Guede would speak on TV and how is that allowed if he is in prison? “

That was tweeted by Barbie Nadeau.

“Barbie Latza Nadeau ‏@BLNadeau 58m

@GianluigiNuzzi interview w/Rudy Guede on Quarto Grado Nov 1,on 6yr anniversary of #meredithkercher murder, will be interesting”

I think Rudy Guede still has the capacity to surprise us. I look forward to hearing what HE has to say. We’ve heard enough from the two accused, already. 
And Meredith? We never get to hear the victim’s voice, except in the courtroom. Shame on those who tried to suppress that voice and corruptly influence the system of justice.

Hi Ergon,
I am not sure what Guede wants to achieve. Or even if legally he is allowed to speak on the case outside of a court hearing..His motive may be an attempt towards rehabilitation.Remember he can be on working parole in a year or two.
Would he even attempt to tell the truth? Can he have an impact on Sollecito if he does indeed turn up in Florence? Who else would be on the Quatro Grado panel? Will they likely focus on Sollecito’s return?
Will Papa Doc be available for comment on anything Geude may say? The only thing tht would really would surprise me would be Sollecito turning up to tell the truth. Always remembering the Kercher familiy’s loss. And hoping that this at least brings them one step closer to the truth they and Meredith deserve.

Where next:

Or to next entry Why DNA Test Results 6 November May Leave No Further Argument Over Knox And Sollecito Guilt

Or to previous entry The Meredith Case Wiki: A Highly Objective Summation Of The Case From Original Docs And Transcripts