Thursday, April 23, 2015
Knox Interrogation Hoax #18: Final Pre-Trial Opportunities Which Knox Flunked
Posted by Our Main Posters
Image of Judge Micheli who presided over the hearings that remanded Knox to trial.
1. Overview Of The Interrogation Hoax Series
In Post #1 there’s a long summary of what various courts concluded in sentencing Knox for calunnia to three years.
All 17 posts prior to this one are linked-to there. The first twelve posts cover the key parts of the trial testimony and evidence from investigators for the events at Perugia’s central police station on 5-6 November 2007.
The next six including this show how Knox failed to convince numerous magistrates at many hearings that she was ever interrogated or abused or made to lie. For the most part in fact she did not even try.
2. The Six Pre-Trial Opportunities Which Knox Flunked
The previous five posts and this one cover the six hearings from late 2007 to late 2008, any one of which was a big opportunity for Knox. She could have been released if the evidence was weaker and the arguments of herself and her legal team stronger.
Knox blew all six opportunities. The judges were Claudia Matteini, Massimo Ricciarelli and two others, Torquato Gemelli and four others, and Paolo Micheli (this post). A total of 10 judges, and Dr Mignini. After the first two, one of Knox’s lawyers walked off the job.
Those ignorant of the reports of these hearings (all but one newly translated for this series with the Micheli to come) often demonize the prosecutor, Dr Mignini, as somehow taking a harder line than all those judges.
Really?
Read all of the reports and in fact every one of those judges took a harder line than Dr Mignini who worked very hard to be fair. His early version of the attack on Meredith was of an almost accidental death with sexual humiliation in the course of a hazing.
This went out the window, and all of the judges without exception adopted a harder position - that Knox’s anger had spiraled over Meredith’s difficulties with her, and a barbaric 15-minute torture-attack resulted in Meredith’s death which may have been premeditated in a timespan between minutes and days.
Judge Matteini, Judge Ricciarelli, and Judge Micheli (see below) all flat-out warned that they considered RS and AK to be dangerous to others and that they needed to be kept locked up pending trial. Judge Gemmelli and other Supreme Court judges endorsed this.
Typically Knox was constrained by her lawyers to say little or nothing.
They were already wrestling to try to wind back the three problematic statements she demanded to make on 5-6 November - mainly by changing the subject and aggressively attacking Guede.
She was allowed to be questioned by Judge Ricciarelli and she herself volunteered to be questioned by Dr Mignini three times, but her performances were shaky and erratic and once she seemed to break down in tears.
There was little or no hint of the inflammatory claims which cost her three years which Knox came up with when she had to take the stand mid-2009 to try to defend her framing of Lumumba.
3. Micheli Hearings September and October 2008
This Sky News report describes how prior to the Micheli hearings Knox’s lawyers seemed pretty desperate to change the subject.
Valter Biscotti and Nicodemo Gentile said they wanted Guede’s trial to be separate from that of Knox and Sollecito because they feared a pact against their client. Mr Biscotti added: “We feel the urgent need to have our trial heard independently of the other two suspects.
In recent weeks a lot of poison has been spread by the defence teams and we feel the necessity to find some form of serenity in a separate hearing. That’s why we have asked for a fast-track hearing just for our client and we want that hearing as quickly as possible. At this hearing we will prove that our client has absolutely nothing to do with the tragic death of Meredith Kercher.”
On 16 Sept 2008 Judge Micheli accepted the Guede team’s request for a fast-track trial and as the rules require moved all of the hearings behind closed doors.
A fast-track proceeding is closed to the public, unlike a full trial. It will be held before the same judge, who is expected to issue the verdict at the time he decides whether to indict Knox and Sollecito. The rulings are expected next month.
Judge Micheli had mountains of investigative reports and physical evidence to plow through. He heard witnesses in four hearings (with Meredith’s family present at several) on the DNA collection, on the character of Rudy Guede, and also on the three defendants acting menacing outside their house, which he heavily discounted.
Late on 28 October Judge Micheli issued a 17-page ruling which includes almost no mention of Knox implicating Patrick. He convicted Guede of murder and sexual assault, and sentenced him to 30 years. He also ordered Knox and Sollecito to stand trial on charges of murder and sexual assault.
As the UK Guardian and many other media reported, Judge Micheli assessed Knox and Sollecito as being dangerous.
The suspected killers of Meredith Kercher were refused transfer from jail to house arrest last night while awaiting trial for her murder, because of the danger that they might flee and kill again.
After 12 hours’ deliberation in Perugia, the judge, Paolo Micheli, said there was a “concrete possibility” that Amanda Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito would run off if freed from prison.
In a written ruling to lawyers, he said he believed the murder of the British student was not premeditated, but the likely “absolute disregard” shown by Knox and Sollecito for the victim’s life meant they would be capable of murdering again….
Turning down their request for house arrest yesterday, Micheli agreed with prosecutors that more than one person took part in the sexual assault and murder, dismissing claims that the 47 bruises and knife wounds on Kercher’s body could have been made by a single attacker.
He upheld the testimony of a neighbour who heard more than one person fleeing Kercher’s house, adding that while footprints there might not definitely belong to Knox and Sollecito, they did indicate more than one attacker.
He stood by forensic evidence indicating Kercher’s and Knox’s DNA on a knife found at Sollecito’s house which investigators suspect is the murder weapon, and ruled Sollecito’s DNA on Kercher’s bra strap as reliable evidence.
On 30 October Judge Micheli was interviewed. No sign in this that any claim of unfairness to Knox was on his radar.
4. Apparent False Claim Of A Statement By Knox
Bearing in mind that these hearings were all behind closed doors, none of the Italian and English-language media reports including those of the New York Times make any mention at all of Knox testifying or answering questions. Nor do the books of Sollecito or John Follain. We are still checking with Italy to make sure.
To jump the gun on the series a bit, a probable non-statement by Knox morphed in Knox’s 2013 book into this heated claim below, which we have already been told, based on court transcripts and Judge Micheli’s immediate 17 page report, was definitely not what was said, if anything, in court.
On October 28, the final day, I got to speak for myself. Since the judge understood English, I stood up without my interpreter and tried to explain what had happened during my interrogation. I told the judge that I hadn’t meant to name Patrick or to cause confusion but that the interrogation had been the most brutish, terrifying experience of my life. I’d been exhausted to begin with, and I had gotten so scared and confused that it was as though I went out of my mind. My interrogators told me that they had evidence I’d been at the villa, that Raffaele was no longer vouching for my whereabouts that night, that I had been through such a horrible trauma, I had amnesia. “I believed them! I’m innocent!” I cried.
Posts #1 to #12 have shown that Knox experienced no “brutish, terrifying experience”. Trauma was inflicted only by Sollecito and then by Knox on herself. With high confidence, we can conclude that as so often in her book Knox was simply making this up. So much for Linda Kulman’s fact checking.
5. The Micheli Sentencing Report Of January 2009
Finally three months later Judge Micheli issued a sentencing report of about 100 pages. While it has still not been fully translated we did summarise it in four posts here.
In the Italian original (which is equally firm to harsh on all three defendants) it is quite graphic about what the physical evidence says of the callous role of Knox and Sollecito in the torture-attack.
Judge Micheli does note how often Knox and Sollecito help to destroy one another’s stories which numerous witnesses confirmed helped to spark Knox’s conniption and framing of Patrick.
There is no mention at all of Knox taking exception to her “interrogation”.
Posted by Our Main Posters on 04/23/15 at 05:00 PM in Defendants in court, Amanda Knox, The officially involved, Police and CSI, The prosecutors, Supreme Court, Evidence & Witnesses, Trials 2008 & 2009, Prelim hearings, Hoaxes against Italy, 9 Mignini v Knox hoax, Hoaxes Knox & team, 15 Single alibi hoax, 16 Interrogation hoax, Hoaxers from 2007, Knox-Marriott PR, Hoaxers from 2011, Amanda Knox #2
Comments
“while footprints there might not definitely belong to Knox and Sollecito, they did indicate more than one attacker.”
Added to my List! For this other series.
Posted by Cardiol MD on 04/23/15 at 10:42 PM | #
If you are interested in motives this 2009 post is perhaps worth clicking through to.
Micheli is dismissive of a connection to Halloween though Knox seems to have been excluded by Meredith & company on that night.
And yet he talked of a plan being put into execution with Guede coming to the house by arrangement.
There are several problems with the pre-planned notion, not least that Knox did think she had to work that night. Also that in her first statement she said she headed out alone to see Patrick after he texted saying “dont come”.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 04/24/15 at 12:36 AM | #
Hi Peter or anyone in the know. I believe it would be helpful to get information on what other judges or lawyers in Italy are actually saying concerning the 5th Court-something concrete. Are any of the former judges or lawyers allowed to speak their mind or is there an unspoken rule that you do not speak out against Cassation until a written report is handed down.
Those who are familiar with Italian law might add what sanctions could be imposed or just simply a polite “suggestion” that some of the judges take a long vacation and consider early retirement? Since the judiciary is separate from the government public opinion may not affect these judges but it could impact the peoples trust in the court system. I would not be so interested but for the fact that such a miscarriage of justice has occurred and it would be nice to see some accountability but alas many people in power do not receive their just rewards (not in this life anyways).
Many of the prophets of old condemned those in power who trampled the rights of their people and Israel was judged by Jehovah because the rich controlled the justice system. I believe it was Solomon who said a people collectively groan when injustice is allowed free reign in a society. Also, it would be nice to know how the Kerchers are doing and if any others are taking civil action against the perps. I believe in America it was a ‘wrongful death’ suit that was brought against OJ.
I know about the defamation lawsuits but we need to see them convicted in a civil case so the whole world can see that justice will not be denied just because those in power decided to sweep under foot what was deemed ‘inconvenient’ facts.
Posted by Vinnie on 04/24/15 at 05:41 AM | #
Hi Vinnie,
I’d say millions especially in Italy feel rather the way you do and are invested in going the full mile. Pretty well everybody in Italy saw guilt. My hunch is one way or another in time the perps will go down.
As this post said, we are watching and waiting for reactions to the Fifth Chambers when they appear.
http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php?/tjmk/comments/a_shaky_castle_of_cards_at_best/
There are not ever a lot of long think-pieces on cases in Italy, such efforts are normally geared directly to cases in court. In part maybe because chances of lawyers ending up before Cassation are very strong, in part because of caseload, in part because of some rules.
However, there already is one reported comeback, in an academic law journal, which we should be able to get and translate. This will be based simply on what was said by the Fifth Chambers, which wasnt much, and on a knowledge of the crime and what the courts did in the past.
That the Fifth Chambers should not have invoked Article 530.2 on the evidence is the fault widest seen. Thats an article for lower courts.
The Supreme Court itself can now be sued if a ruling is unfair or makes no sense and the head of the justice system, the president, can intervene. If the judges’ report is seriously weird, which is almost certain, we’d expect one of those.
The Knox calunnia trial (for which this series is presenting the evidence) and the Sollecito book trial (we have a series on that ongoing with more to come) will push things along. Find new guilt there and the Fifth Chambers outcome will indeed look weird.
By the way, what actually brought OJ Simpson down was another crime (armed robbery) driven by mental decay. He’s had years in prison, though his original not-guilty verdict still stands. Check him out on Google News. He doesnt sleep well.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 04/24/15 at 11:35 AM | #
Thanks Peter,
I believe OJ was stealing back his own memorabilia and the judge gave him a stiff sentence. “In 1997, a civil court awarded a judgment against Simpson for their wrongful deaths; as of 2007 he had paid little of the $33.5 million judgment.In September 2007, Simpson was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada, and charged with numerous felonies, including armed robbery and kidnapping.In 2008, he was found guilty and sentenced to 33 years’ imprisonment, with a minimum of nine years without parole. He is serving his sentence at the Lovelock Correctional Center in Lovelock, Nevada.”
This quote above gives me hope. For Knox, calunnia is a serious charge but I am hopeful that this will move the case along and we will see a civil trial. I knew it probably is Article 530.2 that will figure big as they proceed. I was hoping someone had written a long piece with quotes from various professionals as we would have done in the States. I am especially interested if Nencini will speak in the future. Keep up the good work Peter. Also, I was in LA during the infamous OJ car ride to Mexico. There were a lot of African Americans cheering him on and it was extremely divisive in LA along racial lines. Kind of interesting cause he liked white women and lived in a white suburb.
Posted by Vinnie on 04/24/15 at 08:49 PM | #
Here is a link to what can happen to a perp when the first instance of justice is not upheld. This is a biography of OJ but scroll down to his murder trial and see what determined individuals did in order to track him down and see justice served.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._Simpson
Posted by Vinnie on 04/24/15 at 09:36 PM | #
Vinnie etc:
A suggestion for useful follow-up. Study the arcs of conspiracy theories; for the most part in recent years they have become more entrenched and believed more widely.
We could use examples of perps who walked but are publicly labelled as having done it (Casey Anthony and OJ obviously, but there are thousands of others) preferably in the form of main posts.
Though we have stood against the conspiracy theories demonizing many people in Italy, we’d have no problem in riding this trend against the pair in coming years as there was a REAL conspiracy to get them off using illegal means.
We know that some no-holds-barred books on the pair and their pet thugs are being worked on; one or two damning book-length psychological studies should be out soon.
With Knox broke (or claiming broke) she cannot lift a finger to hit back, or prevent this slow-moving but remorseless payback for her own massive abuse of others and her stalking of the family of the victim.
We have our own pages in the works here listing lies literally by the thousands which should make it immensely difficult in the future to argue for innocence and a fram-up
Posted by Peter Quennell on 04/25/15 at 03:33 AM | #
What is still stunning is why this Cassation panel would do such a thing, KNOWING full well what happened to Judge Hellmann after he released Knox and Sollecito, by throwing the case on appeal.
Everyone from Judge Matteini, to Judge Ricciarelli,to the 2008 Cassation panel, to Judge Micheli (above), to Judge Massei all saw reason to keep them locked up .... and Hellmann did what he did in 2011. Cassation butchered his report, and Hellmann’s career is over, and this was BEFORE Knox and Sollecito hit the media circuit.
Maybe the ‘‘powers that be’’ figured the idea was right, they just shouldn’t have bothered with the lower appeal courts—just go straight to Cassation.
Posted by Chimera on 04/25/15 at 04:58 AM | #
Hi Chimera
Yeah, read in the post what a busload of previous judges said about the evidence and the perps even before trial and the Fifth Chambers judges do seem foolhardy and setting themselves up for a fall.
We have backed off the “powers that be” explanation somewhat though. That the Renzi and Obama administrations at middle levels were concerned about getting important things done and didnt want their agendas hijacked is true.
But most informed focus now is on (1) the quirky nature of systems, and (2) Judge Antonio Paolo Bruno snowing the other judges. On both of those, read what Cardiol noted in his opening here - Cassation judges are really, really busy people, and the chances of their knowing even as much as we do are remote..
Hellmann may be largely a closed book to them, and his report was riddled with bad law anyway, so the judges may have thought that was all of it, not knowing about the incessant meddling by Hellmann with the evidence and the realities of the personalities and histories of the perps.
After the judgement was announced there was a storm of phonecalls all over Italy between top judges and top prosecutors in effect saying “Can you BELIEVE these guys?” There is a lot of anger at Italy that so many predecessor judges have been made to look bad by these judges. One critical paper is already out in a law journal in Italy slamming the judges for legally incompetent work. We will get it and translate it.
Its conjectured in Italy that Judge Marasca (believed to have argued for guilt but been overruled by 3 judges) in writing the Report is really sweating it. He knows there are ways to overturn this. So do the defense teams - note the complete absence of jubilation or talk of big financial payoffs.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 04/25/15 at 12:11 PM | #
I’m not sure why evidence was even up for debate. All the Quinta Sezione had to do was read the previous SC ruling by Chieffi & Vecchio, which laid out program fairly clearly. All SC had to do was check Nencini’s reasoning.
If anyone had doubts, they could have spoken to Chieffi & Vecchio prior to the hearing.
And Marasca has also ruled with Micheli a number of times in the past several years. So if there was any doubt about the evidence, a friendly ‘breakroom’ chat with Micheli at the Cassazione cafeteria could have clarified things.
If this judgment was due solely to incompetence, then the result is even worse, and none of the 5 judges should be allowed to continue at all.
Posted by Olleosnep on 04/25/15 at 07:17 PM | #
Peter,
I meant the ‘‘powers that be’’ comment somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Never implied either Obama/Renzi governments leaned on anyone. But accepting the legitimacy of these massively contradicting verdicts is difficult.
Certainly Cassation is busy, especially doing the rate of about 1 case/day. That said, their mandate is much more narrow in scope compared to even the lower level appellate courts. Popper’s posts were great on it.
Hellmann, on the other hand, does not have this excuse to fall back on. The 2011 appeal of AK and RS took almost an entire year, did it not? He can hardly say he ‘‘just got the case’‘.
Even if you accepted all of the defence claims about ‘‘contamination’’ and ‘‘circumstantial’‘, there are just too many red flags. 1) multiple false accusations of Lumumba and police, and 2) many false alibis. There is no innocent explanation for it.
Judge Micheli cited the false alibis as proof of guilt when he sent AK and RS to trial. He saw through them.
Posted by Chimera on 04/26/15 at 03:26 AM | #
@Chimera
“they just shouldn’t have bothered with the lower appeal courts—just go straight to Cassation”- perfectly good idea in my opinion.
Nothing succeeds like success: it worked once and why it should not work again?
It is best to keep “Obama/Renzi” out of this - what can be done by a mid-level clerk shall be done by a mid-level clerk. It must have cost much less than the PR budget.
FOAKers have successfully tarred the Italians in one stroke.
Posted by chami on 04/26/15 at 03:50 AM | #
To follow up on an earlier post, Brian Williams is now being investigated for MANY false stories. 11 and counting. Guess late scrutiny is better than no scrutiny.
Now, if we could only get this kind of attention on AK/RS.
http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/25/media/brian-williams-investigation-embellishments/
Posted by Chimera on 04/26/15 at 03:59 AM | #
I am not accusing any official in Italy but like what was previously said it is hard to believe the verdict was due simply to incompetence. This was a case the world was looking at and there was a lot at stake for the judiciary.
To completely go against previous judgements and contradict strikingly solid, strong and compelling evidence smells like something ‘fishy’ went on behind the scenes and I suspect that we may be hearing some interesting ‘information’ leaked in the coming months. I am glad information is starting to reach us concerning the confusion and consternation evident amongst the legal profession and am looking forward to hear the legal report coming out soon in English.
It was charitable to say that these Judges are extremely busy but this was and is an exceptional case and they had plenty of time to catch up on the case-maybe do some bed time reading, like us work-a-holics in the States do. I do agree the system needs to be looked at and hopefully this case will be an impetus for change.
Although R.G. is a liar we may get more information out of him in the future once he and his lawyer decide their strategy. There may be some ‘upside’ to this fiasco that none of us have foreseen. Lets hope so.
Posted by Vinnie on 04/26/15 at 06:42 AM | #
Hi Vinnie
“it is hard to believe the verdict was due simply to incompetence”
So far as I can see none of us are saying this. We are all seeing a mix of factors and we are each trying to weight each of them given the little we know so far.
I for one dont see incompetence in the mix. Cardiol did reveal for us rather astonishingly how the judges are all very overloaded.
If several of them didnt do enough homework to stand up against Bruno, to me that looks like a system problem.
This can only get clearer and clearer and our weightings better and better.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 04/26/15 at 03:18 PM | #
Hi Olleosnep
Your comment clearly opens the way to a need for some sort of series based on the “evidence bible” you and others did for us here.
http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php?/tjmkmasterevidencelist
Catnip has kindly translated 2/3 of the Micheli Report and sent it this morning NYC time.
Its a real joy to have that document, I have to confess I was one of those so totally shocked early in 2009 when Nicki did translated some of it that I suggested we do first or only the 4 Summaries Brian S and Nicki worked so hard on.
Pussyfooting in early days allowed the ludicrous Lone Wolf Theory to gather way too much momentum.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 04/26/15 at 03:19 PM | #
Who are we trying to not insult here? The Italian Judiciary? Let’s tell this like it is. It does not take a great mind to perceive that influence was used in no small measure in order to bring about this verdict. For example, if you think about it, and I’m sure you have, if the verdict had gone as it was supposed to then there would have been an international incident with both countries wrangling over extradition. I don’t believe it was just a matter of oversight, or judges being too busy to read anything… Not at all. In my view. the court was blackmailed into bringing this verdict.
Posted by Grahame Rhodes on 04/26/15 at 10:10 PM | #
Question #1: if Judge Marasca (or any other judge on the panel), does have dissenting opinions, then wouldn’t the court will tie itself in knots?—even without the other rulings to fall back on?
Question #2: out of curiosity, is Italy like Common Law systems where dissenting judges can still put their opinion in at the end?
Question #3: is there any way to delay or ‘‘sanitize’’ a motivations report, to prevent the judges from putting out anything of substance?
Question #4: can Rudy Guede actually get a new trial, or would he in essence be asking for a sentencing revision? If he is the ‘‘sole perp’‘, wouldn’t his 1/3 deductions be erased?
Peter - I suspect the reasons for no celebration are:
1) The last payoffs were considered bloodmoney,
2) The books are on trial, as you’ve kept us informed,
3) The public is at this point fed up with them, so it would backfire,
4) As you say, everyone knows there are ways to overturn it.
Slow motion train-wreck indeed.
Posted by Chimera on 04/26/15 at 10:56 PM | #
I believe someone used the word incompetence so as I thought this a fitting word I used it again. This is an umbrella term that subsumes true incompetence, negligence, fishy business, or not doing their home work or due diligence. One can add intellectual dishonesty, hubrus, scandal, lack of moral fiber,backbone, insensitivity. Let us not forget that denying justice to the Kerchers was a grave cowardly mistake. I may seem mean-spirited but when justice is denied it is a slap in the face to all those effective and diligent Judges and Lawyers that went before them-shame on them! 😊 Of coarse I would never say this face to face to an Italian Supreme Court Judge-I would just calmly say WTF were you thinking in English!!! and then smile.
Posted by Vinnie on 04/27/15 at 07:51 AM | #
Hi Grahame
Sure thing. Nothing is ruled out. Top-level politics was just somewhat weighted down as the messages we are told of were between mid-level flunkies (for deniability theres always a lot top level leaders insist on not knowing, like making sausages).
Bruno and his connections have been weighted up. The system problem is that with these automatic appeals the next court above loves to drop bricks on the court below. If Nencini had come out with another Hellmann Cassation could have gone the other way.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 04/27/15 at 01:06 PM | #
Hi Vinnie
Hard to argue with that! We are told the 5 judges know full well of the ridicule being rained on them by their own profession. None are especially famous (well except Bruno who could not be proven a media lapdog) and will end their careers on a sour note.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 04/27/15 at 01:10 PM | #
Wonderful to have such an active team while Knox people anxiously spin their wheels. For the permanent record, this is what is in the Headsup box at the top:
Heads-up. Next main post comparing justice systems by Chimera late Monday. Then more on the RS & Gumbel book trial (next court session this thursday), then Cardiol MD on more hard facts. Post on first Italian law article critical of Marasca outcome coming up. Catnip finishing English Micheli Report. Much soon on myriad false claims of Interrogation and other Hoaxes. Master Evidence List in update soon. Biggest cliffhanger: which lawyers will handle Knox calunnia #2 and how. Note Ghirga and Dalla Vedova lost on Knox calunnia #1 in 6 pretrial hearings and 5 courts, including Hellmann, and Cassation twice. This time evidence is huge.
Calunnia #1 was Knox’s false accusations against Patrick Lumumba,, Calunnia #2 is Knox’s false accusations against prosecutors and investigators on the case.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 04/27/15 at 01:38 PM | #
Chimera
“Question #1: if Judge Marasca (or any other judge on the panel), does have dissenting opinions, then wouldn’t the court will tie itself in knots?—even without the other rulings to fall back on?”
They dont really have anything to fall back on except Hellmann I guess. Any judge and lawyer in Italy KNOWS they functioned as a lower level court.
“Question #2: out of curiosity, is Italy like Common Law systems where dissenting judges can still put their opinion in at the end?”
Nothing formal but dissenting opinions do leak out, as they already have about both Bruno (hard line) and Marasca (outvoted and caved).
Question #3: is there any way to delay or ‘‘sanitize’’ a motivations report, to prevent the judges from putting out anything of substance?
In their dreams…
“Question #4: can Rudy Guede actually get a new trial, or would he in essence be asking for a sentencing revision? If he is the ‘‘sole perp’‘, wouldn’t his 1/3 deductions be erased?”
His team is not showing their formal hand. It presumably depends on how ludicrous the sentencing report is.
For all we know Guede might have been quietly encouraged to speak up, and knew he would be wound back. This is now one of several daggers hanging over the five judges’ heads. Heh heh heh.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 04/27/15 at 02:12 PM | #
The SC essentially straightjacketed Nencini because it understood the case. I believe the author of the appeal after Hellmann ensured the appropriate facts were made plain to the SC too.
With all that in mind SC5 has many issues on its hands. It did not do due diligence on the Hellmann appeal, nor the SC ruling, nor Nencini. I believe SC5 was lazy and took the easy route, despite knowing it would have to write a Motivations. Once that is released I think Italy will dine out on SC5 and they seriously risk corruption charges.
Posted by Smacker on 04/27/15 at 03:36 PM | #
I am not at all happy with the “excuse” that the judges are extremely busy. They better be, else they will simply be redundant. With so many appeals, the system simply adds additional fog to every case- and that only helps the real criminals.
If they are really busy, they should have simply sent back the case back to the lower court. They could have written a hundred page motivation report justifying why they believe that Knox was watching a movie with her boyfriend of seven nights.
Incompetence? They are the top judges and they have not arrived at that palace overnight- all know very well what they are doing. Of course everybody reaches their level of incompetence, sooner or later. But the top judges?
Things simply do not add up. There are more things between heaven and earth…
I am sure that the motivation report will certainly quote: let ten guilty person escape…
(he is letting only two!)...
I am hoping for some surprises from Guede’s lawyer.
How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?
Posted by chami on 04/27/15 at 08:03 PM | #
@chami - Thanks Mycroft (Sherlock’s smarter brother)
Posted by Cardiol MD on 04/27/15 at 08:54 PM | #
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