Monday, October 03, 2011

Van Watch: Around 8:00 PM Perugia Time And The Vans Are Reported Still At Capanne

Posted by Peter Quennell


The BBC and other news services are keeping a close eye on the gates of Capanne Prison.

When the vans carrying Sollecito and Knox exit and head back for Perugia (at the top of the massif in the shot below) the judges and lay judges will have something to announce.

Added: the two blue vans are on their way back to Perugia from Capanne and they should be arriving at the court about now.  The defendants may enter at the level of the street tunnel that runs right under the court. If so then they walk up or catch an elevator.

When they were found guilty in 2009 they exited that same way.  The court is one level below street level but if the windows had clear glass in them the views to the east would be terrific. The court is NOT underground as some of the media commentators have claimed.


Posted by Peter Quennell on 10/03/11 at 08:54 PM in Appeals 2009-2015Hellmann 2011+

Comments

I didn’t realize you can see Perugia on the hill from the prison yard. There’s a certain justice in that.

Posted by brmull on 10/03/11 at 09:45 PM | #

Twitter—mchancecnn says knox and sollecito family in court

barbie nadeau says verdict pushed back to 9:45 local time and amanda and sollecito returned to courthouse so the verdict is in…it’s just a matter of reporting it.

Posted by mojo on 10/03/11 at 10:10 PM | #

Fox News was showing the vans heading back to the courthouse and Curt Knox and Edda Mellas and daughters already sitting in there 15 minutes ago.  Any more news?  I don’t want to look at CNN or Fox News websites.  You should have heard the commentary on Fox News from the head of FOA, i.e. ‘she never said that she was at the villa the night of the crime’ etc.

Posted by believing on 10/03/11 at 10:23 PM | #

FOA stopped short of saying she was hit on the head by police though, no mention of that this time.  Nor of being interrogated without food or water.  Just the Mignini had said to imagine she was there and that Lumumba had done the crime.

Posted by believing on 10/03/11 at 10:25 PM | #

amanda knox in courtroom according to barbie nadeau

Posted by mojo on 10/03/11 at 10:38 PM | #

CNN website has a live stream of the courtroom, should you want to watch.  Many close-ups of Amanda.

Posted by believing on 10/03/11 at 10:40 PM | #

She is talking quietly to her lawyer who seems to be reassuring her continually.  No sign of anyone else, like Raphael.  He is as usual not in the spotlight.

http://www.cnn.com

Posted by believing on 10/03/11 at 10:42 PM | #

I think she has been freed.  That’s what I heard.  Just convicted of three years for slander and to pay Lumumba.  Is that what I heard?

Posted by believing on 10/03/11 at 10:51 PM | #

I cannot believe they have just been aquitted… disgusting, I am speechless…

Posted by distemper on 10/03/11 at 10:51 PM | #

I was afraid of this.  We will see in the report why they changed their minds.

Posted by believing on 10/03/11 at 10:54 PM | #

Well now there will definitely be books, movies etc coming soon.  Lumumba will get 22,000 euros from what I heard.  That won’t be difficult.  Lots of hugging and kissing in the courtroom.

Could we have all been wrong in thinking she was guilty?

Posted by believing on 10/03/11 at 10:55 PM | #

I should have said that ‘they were guilty’.

Posted by believing on 10/03/11 at 10:55 PM | #

My heart goes out to the Kerchers, they must be devastated.

Posted by distemper on 10/03/11 at 10:57 PM | #

It’s over.  Except to see the Knox clan on television for the next month.  Then the hype will finally die down and she will be mostly forgotten.  Always a new crime coming around afterwards.  We will never know what really happened that night.  I wonder what Guede will say if anything now?

Posted by believing on 10/03/11 at 11:11 PM | #

I hope he has a lot to say, I am pleased to hear that the Italians are equally disgusted.

Posted by distemper on 10/03/11 at 11:14 PM | #

Doesn’t anyone else reading this website (400+) have anything to say or is everyone so stunned?  Just me and distemper?

Posted by believing on 10/03/11 at 11:19 PM | #

She is leaving for Seattle in a few hours… I bet she is, a murderer walks free because of a huge PR campaign America will NEVER extradite her for the Supreme court hearing…. So why even bother… She is free to do it again now, I hope to god at some point down the line she get what she deserves. I feel sorry for Rudy who is now taking the full blame..

I cannot believe all the evidence was just dismissed, ignored… everything, to numerous to mention… I am outraged by this, I was so sure this would never happen, I am speechless really…

Jo

Posted by distemper on 10/03/11 at 11:32 PM | #

Believing, it’s very difficult to access the site right precisely because so many people are reading.  The page I see right is not displaying properly.

I think all of us are stunned and trying not to find a way to express ourselves in a measured, calm manner.  We have to respect the court’s decision, even if we feel that there is a massive rift between verdict and justice.  However, in three months we will be able to read the motivation report and understand the panel’s reasoning.  Many suspect that the acquittal was not due to a belief in innocence, but to the fact that guilt could not be established beyond reasonable doubt.  At that point, we’ll have a concrete basis to consider whether this case is setting a dangerous precedent regarding the influence of PR campaigns on the judicial process.

There is one more appeal, which will give us a final verdict, and I have no reason to doubt that the Prosecution will fight hard to bring justice to Meredith and her family.  There is also Rudy Guede, currently serving 16 years for a crime that his motivation report said took three people to commit. 

In the meantime, let’s try to put our anger and disappointment aside and focus on sending our best thoughts to Meredith’s family.  They’ve been through a lot and they still have a lot to go through.  Let’s also focus on keeping Meredith’s memory alive, honor her, and do her the best justice we can from where we stand.

Posted by Vivianna on 10/03/11 at 11:43 PM | #

*Trying TO FIND a way,” sorry.  The other thing I had in mind was “trying not to act in an overly emotional manner.”

Posted by Vivianna on 10/03/11 at 11:45 PM | #

As far as I’m concerned Meredith has been killed twice. I feel so sorry for Meredith’s family and friends.

Posted by The Machine on 10/04/11 at 02:03 AM | #

A terrible outcome. So many loose ends, illogical and incongruous evidence and sequence of events are now supposed to be explained just by Guede as sole killer - apparently.

The miraculous intervention of the postal police on that morning now also comes to nothing - when this seemed to be an angel from above to help find justice for Meredith.

It seems you do not need a solid alibi for murder if your name is Amanda or Rafaelle. You do need a solid alibi if your name is Patrick Lumumba !

It seems you can just say “I wasn’t there” in a spontaneous declaration to the court - and this will suffice as an alibi.

Guede is the only remaining key to this mystery. As other posters have postulated, he probably has been leant on in prison - the chances of him taking now are now remote.

We may never get true justice for Meredith. Its no comfort, but Knox will remain a convicted criminal for life for her slander charge, and certainly will have less scope for travelling and seeing the world - I cannot imagine she will touch down in Europe again.

Posted by gabster1971 on 10/04/11 at 05:34 AM | #

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