Cartwheels Or No Cartwheels? You Be The Judge

Comments

For people who have been following this case, Chris Mellas has little to no credibility. He has gone on record with statements that have either turned out to have no basis in reality or that remain unsubstantiated. He has also threatened people on the internet, or allowed his associate to do so, in some cases using his own IP addresses.

But that isn’t the point. The point is that reporters who were in the courtroom and who heard the testimony given by the two officers reported what was said accurately. The two officers - Ficarra and Zugarini - may well have mistaken yoga cartwheels, splits and backbends for the more traditional gymnastic versions of these movements. Be that as it may. Italian reports from journalists in the courtroom say “ruota” and “spaccata” (the “wheel” and the “split in half”) because that is what the officers said in their oral testimony under oath.

Chris Mellas may be right in stating that his stepdaughter was actually doing moves she learned in yoga class, but he is absolutely wrong to assert that - yet again - the press got it wrong. He was neither in the courtroom nor at the police station on November 5. Personally, I think his aim was - yet again - to discredit the press in general because he does not like everything the press is reporting. It is called shooting the messenger.

Perhaps a secondary aim was to divert attention from the fact that the claim of gross mistreatment of Guantanémo-like proportions does not hold up under scrutiny. It is also part of an ongoing strategy to discredit the police. But Mellas undermines his own strategy by making statements that are not credible.

Finally, Steve Shay could and should have provided some context for Chris Mellas’s statement - such as that provided above. He could have contacted one or two journalists who were in the courtroom, to ask what exactly was said by the officers. As it stands, his article has little truth value. It merely voices an opinion we have all heard from Chris Mellas, who apparently thinks that all journalism is tabloid journalism. If so, then why did he bother talking to this journalist?

Someone in the family/friends entourage thought this article provided another good opportunity to give details about my private life - such as my name, my husband’s name and our approximate location in the small community of West Seattle. I flagged the comment (made anonymously, of course) as a violation last night, and it was removed a few minutes ago (14 hours later).

I am beginning to think that the local support movement has some fringe members who hope to shut down free inquiry that may lead in directions running counter to its own agenda. The West Seattle Herald took strong, clear and immediate exception when Dr. Mignini claimed the paper had committed defamation against him. I hope it does the same thing with regard to cyber-bullying, especially when it takes the form of posting the real names and addresses of posters whose only crime it to express an opinion and who are exercising their right to do so using a pseudonym.

I notice the bullies don’t use their real names when they “out” others. Why is that?

Margaret Ganong (who posts as Skeptical Bystander and, when that name is not allowed, as Lectrice or Lectrice56)

Ironic Cartwheels

The West Seattle Herald’s headline states, “Knox says cop misread yoga move.” 

Let’s see if we can follow this.  Amanda, very possibly, has slit her flatmate’s throat.  She in turn, according to her, is physically intimidated by the Italian police.  This pains her so much that she states that Patrick Lamumba committed the murder.  Lamumba’s logging into his till may have saved him from spending his life in prison, but also is the first proof that Amanda was lying that night. 

Unfortunately for her, that story helped focus the world’s attention on her plight.  Because of this spotlight, the case is probably being treated judicially and not politically so no strings can be pulled and no evidence is lost.  Now, there are people and news organizations who believe that she told the truth in every instance except where she tried to send an innocent father and husband to prison for the rest of his life. 

So, once she realized that lying about Patrick was an enormous error she had to do something.  Blaming it on police brutality probably seemed reasonable at this point since she couldn’t use the excuse of her being stoned to explain it.  It appears that she can stay up late at the bars in Perugia, she can stay up late playing with knives and mops, but staying up late at the police station drinking tea is too much for her and leads to her downfall.

Clearly Sir Walter Scott had it right when he wrote, “Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive!”

Programme for the next three hearing, 13, 14 and 20th March

Giuliano Mignini e Manuela Comodi have called 16 witnesses for the next hearings.

13 march, the agents mobile squad from Perugia and the central operations squad from Rome, plus an assistant from the flying squad who will testify on the interpretations made at the Police station regarding the the behaviour of AK and the English friends of Meredith.

 
14 march, the investigators of the Postal Police, who will testify about the personal computers confiscated.

20 march, will center on the mobile phones of the defendants and the victim, an investigator from the mobile squad and security people from Vodaphone will testify about the calls.

Patrick Lumumba has presented his claim for compensation for damages against Knox (516K euros), backed up by a report from his therapist on the stress suffered. Also presented a report from his accountant on the damage to his business ... he tried to reopen his pub, but was forced to close, due to lack of clients.

He commented that the experience was ‘like being on the beach and a plane falling on your head’.

There sould be a judgement within a few days.

Steve Shay seems to be losing some of his characteristic ebullience with this most recent Herald offering. Perhaps it is slowly dawning upon him that there is no Pulitzer in the works for his incisive coverage of Hurricane Amanda.

Notable: No longer on a cosy first-name basis in the headline. And no freckle-faced childhood photo accompanying the print article( which appears alongside the police blotter..)  I had to use a friend’s computer to access the Herald’s webpage (they seem to be blocking my access from home!! Did I hurt their feelings? Was it something I said about their failure, in the “local girl” article, to portray AK as an ADULT?) 

The identical “cartwheel” article does sit below a shot of the athlete, in her gym shorts. As of this evening, 44 comments followed, some sympathetic, some intelligent, one or two idiotic, per usual.(e.g., a what’s it to any of you no-lifers, anyway? Well, to me, it’s that when my 22-year-old cousin screamed as someone repeatedly stabbed her in the chest as she lay sleeping, someone closeby banged on her door (stopping the attack) and phoned the police(saving her life).

As to Mellas’s “what she told her father and me”, all I have to say is, she told her mother she “needed to buy some underwear” (because the police wouldn’t let her back into the crime scene?). Did she “need” sexy lingerie?

Also, what sort of stress prompts this great need for calming down when at home?

Forget the ironic part. Now that’s really ironic.

In my post above, I forgot the Ironic Part.  Chris Mellas, Steve Shay, et. al. are creating a rukus over the possibility that AK might not get a fair trial.  By trying to shift the blame from AK47 and others in Seattle to the Italian justice system, they have focused the world’s attention on the trial.  As a result, some of the behind the scenes political machinations have been thwarted which otherwise might have left RSAK in pretty good shape.  The last thing that FOAK really wants is for them to get a fair trial but, in part because of them, that is exactly what she is getting.

Also ironic is the sitch involving the “contaminated” bra clasp.  Someone or some people scrubbed and cleansed the crime scene other than Meredith’s bedroom leaving only evidence pointing to RG.  FOAK is arguing the shoddy police procedure resulted in the DNA being deposited on the clasp by an investigator’s foot.  Ironically, there is no source of DNA contamination because the rooms other than the bedroom contained no DNA (at least not that I know of).  Hence, and ergo, the bra clasp could not have been contaminated.

Hi Arnold,

You are very right. All over the crime scene, Sollecito DNA was only found on the bra clasp and on a cigarette butt; the source of his biological material on the clasp was defined very abundant by Dr Stefanoni and identification very clear cut, hence the probability of accidental transfer of DNA containing cells approaches zero. Defense is going to have a hard time with this one, to my opinion.

Where next:

Or to next entry Brief Explanation Of Difference Between “Calunna” And “Diffamazione” EDIT

Or to previous entry Trial: Wrap-Up On The Testimony For This Week From Officers Who Questioned Knox