Trial: Defendant Amanda Knox Arrives In Court Today

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Italian media are reporting that the 94-minute video of the forensic team at work was shown to the court in closed session this morning.

This is the video which is on YouTube (in a short version) and which was on Bari TV in a longer version.

The only part of the morning’s proceedings where there was very much in the way of a verbal exchange was a witness testifying on the CCTV cameras above the house.

The testimony of Patrizia Stefanoni was postponed to the 20th to allow for full discussion of the video this afternoon and presumably into tomorrow.

Here is an interesting commentary by Clint Van Zandt, who is a former FBI agent, behavioral profiler and hostage negotiator as well as an MSNBC analyst.  He wrote this article in June of 2008.  Even though he is with MSNBC, it is not biased as the Dateline NBC program was.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25371590/

BarbM, it’s interesting to compare Van Zandt’s story with some of the scenarios that have been developed in this blog and others.  Van Zandt had a lot of the facts but did not link them together.  For example, how did they get from robbery to sex games to murder.  Over time, I have seen a plausible explanation developed which now seems to cover all the evidence presented so far. 
Having seen what the prosecution and the police have presented so far, it does not appear there is going to be much evidence presented that we don’t already know about.  I’m not sure how the public knows so much of the prosecutions case but is it possible the defense will bring up any great surprises? 
Considering what must have happened that night I find it difficult to believe there is so little forensic evidence.  Put another way, if the bra strap DNA evidence and knife DNA evidence is disallowed, Knox and Sollecito may be found not guilty.  If they did do it, they will have committed the perfect murder.

Obviously, they have not committed the perfect crime, they have been in jail for over a year.  The DNA evidence is not disallowed.  It’s like a lawyer making a statementthen being overruled, by then it’s too late - the jury has heard the ‘evidence.’

As to the photograph on this thread, the police office on the right is looking at Miss K as if she were guilty.

The wheels of justice are slow, but they grind fine.

Hi C3PO,

There is more forensic evidence against Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito than there was against Rudy Guede. There is also a very straightforward explanation why there isn’t more forensic evidence: Knox and Sollecito made a concerted effort to remove all traces of themselves from the crime scene.

I don’t think the double DNA knife or the bra evidence will be ruled out.

Patrizia Stefanoni has unequivocally stated that it is Meredith’s DNA on the blade. Dr. Renato Biondo, the head of the DNA Unit of the scientific police in Rome, has provided independent confirmation that this forensic finding is accurate and reliable.

There was an abundant amount of Raffaele Sollecito’s DNA was on Meredith’s bra clasp. It would have taken considerable contact to leave such an amount of DNA. Patrizia Stefanoni, Dr. Renato Biondo and Alberto Intini have categorically excluded the possibility of contamination.

Incidentally, Raffaele Sollecito’s forensic expert, Professor Francesco Vinci, claimed that he had found Knox’s DNA on Meredith’s bra.

Patrizia Stefanoni is la creme de la creme when it comes to forensic scientists not just in Italy, but in the world. She is an internationally renowned forensic expert who specialises in identifying the victims of disasters when the authorities are unable to do so. She helped identify the victims of the Tsunami. The judges and jury will trust her professional judgement.

The other forensic evidence is just as damning:

There are at least three instances of Amanda Knox’s blood mixed with Meredith’s blood in the bathroom at the cottage. This will be very difficult for the defence lawyers to explain away. Perhaps, Knox had a bloody earring and maybe a drop landed on a drop of Meredith’s blood, but in three different places?

The bloody footprints at the crime scene also implicate Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito. Knox’s footprint was set in Meredith’s blood in the hallway outside Meredith’s room. Another bloody footprint in the hallway and the one on the blue bathmat in the bathroom have been attributed to Sollecito. It’s blatantly obvious that the two bloody footprints, which match Sollecito’s foot size, are not Rudy Guede’s.

A policewoman testified at the trial that a woman’s bloody shoe print, which matched Knox’s foot size, was found on a pillow under Meredith’s body

The defence lawyers will find it impossible to persuade the judges and jury that there is an innocent explanation for Amanda Knox’s and Raffaele Sollecito’s multiple alibis and numerous lies.

Knox and Sollecito both gave triple alibis and lied repeatedly and in doing so, they have destroyed their credibility. They still don’t have credible alibis for the night of the murder. Amanda Knox has been flatly contradicted by a large number of witnesses. The judges and jury rightly won’t believe most of that they say.

Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito are also implicated by the tampering of the crime scene.

The crime scene had been clearly altered after Meredith had been killed. There were 32 clues or pieces of evidence that show Meredith’s body had been moved away from the wardrobe after she had been murdered. Her bra strap was cut with a knife and her bra was removed, her blue top was also removed and the duvet was placed on top of her some time after she had been killed.

Judge Paolo Micheli asked in his report, who could have returned later and staged the scene which was found? He reasoned it could only be someone who had an interest in changing what would become a crime scene found at the cottage. Who else but someone who lived there, and who wanted to mislead the coming investigation?

Filomena was staying with her boyfriend and Laura was staying in Rome on the night of the murder. It was very unlikely that it was Rudy Guede because all evidence of his presence was left untouched.

Micheli asked: who else could it have been but Amanda Knox?

It is not just the 7 separate pieces of forensic evidence that place Amanda Knox at the cottage on the night of the murder. She admitted that she was at the cottage when Meredith killed in her handwritten note to the police on 6 November. She also voluntarily made a false and malicious accusation of an innocent man in an attempt to mislead the investigators.

There is other incriminating circumstantial evidence:

Knox and Sollecito both conveniently couldn’t remember most of what happened on the night of the murder because they were suffering from cannabis-induced amnesia, which is medically impossible.

Their mobile phone activity that night was very unusual with their mobile phones suspiciously silent just at the wrong time.

Amanda Knox’s was lamp found lying on floor in Meredith’s room.

Sollecito’s pipes under the kitchen sink mysteriously breaking on the night of the murder, which necessitated Amanda Knox taking the bucket and mop from the cottage to Sollecito’s apartment on 2 November.

It’s no surprise that every single judge that has been involved in the case believes that there are serious indications of Knox’s and Sollecito’s guilt. Knox and Sollecito will be found guilty of Meredith’s murder.

I’ve followed Meredith’s sad story ever since it happened in November 2007, what a sick cowardly act these 3 evil monsters did to this defenseless stunning young woman, I would give anything to get my hands on them i would wipe that smirk off their faces, how dare they do that in front of Meredith’s family, it is beyond belief. As always my heart goes out to to Meredith and her poor family at this difficult time. R.I.P Meredith X X X

Hi lonegunman. The shot you posted under above was how AK was looking a month ago. Shots of her each of her days in court show her smiling to a greater or lesser degree each time, yesterday included (Friday) though that may have been before the Kerchers entered the courtroom after lunch.

There’s only one shot of her today and she looks solemn and perhaps nervous. She was reported to have gazed at the Kerchers for much of the time, one theory being that she was hoping for eye contact, and perhaps in that way connect. There was apparently never any eye contact, though, and she left the court with her eyes down.

Where next:

Or to next entry Trial: At The Most Dramatic Day So Far, Bloody Footprints Seem Strong Matches To Defendants

Or to previous entry Trial: The Trial Agenda For Today And Tomorrow Is Physical And Forensic Evidence