Political & economic headsup: US is demonstrating unsorted systems problems in spades. Do watch your investments. As Washington DC policy gets more & more off-target, big New York investors are betting very heavily that stocks will soon crash. Gross systems mismanagement 2017-20 tanked stocks several times.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

More On Investigation Of Family For Possible Defaming Of Perugia Flying Squad

Posted by Tiziano

It is worth recalling that Amanda Knox herself may be investigated for so-far-unsubstantiated claims that the police forced her to point to Patrick Lumumba as the possible murderer.

There were various witnesses to at least parts of the two interrogations of Amanda Knox on 6 November including a high-ranking police official from Rome who watched from behind one-way glass.

Here is a translation of what Repubblica is reporting 

The parents of Amanda Knox have also been investigated for defamation by the Prosecutor of the Republic in Perugia.

Edda Mellas and Curt Knox, who arrived in the Umbrian capital yesterday in order to follow the last stages of the trial of their daughter, accused with Raffaele Sollecito - her ex-boyfriend - and Rudy Guede, (already condemned to thirty years last year at a fast-track trial) of having murdered Meredith Kercher, her English housemate, found themselves notified of an accusation of having defamed the Flying Squad of Perugia.

In an interview granted months ago to the Sunday Times, Curt Knox and his ex-wife in fact declared that their daughter had been brutally ill-treated during an interrogation on November 6th, 2007 at police headquarters, which ended up in the confession in which she accused Patrick Lumumba, now an injured party in the trial.

Reporting what Amanda had told them when they had visited her in prison, the two had accused the Italian police of having extorted her confession with threats and even with several blows. “And when she asked for a lawyer she was told that the intervention of a legal advisor would have worsened her situation,” Edda Mellas and her ex-husband said to the Sunday Times.

Inspector Monica Napoleoni, head of the Murder Branch of the Perugia Squad and her men, after reading the couple’s affirmations, decided to lodge a complaint.

Amanda Knox herself, during the questioning before the judge of the Court of the Assizes, repeated that she was the object of heavy pressures in the course of that night at police headquarters. “They kept repeating to me that I would spend thirty years in prison if I did not confess,” she said in court, adding that she had received a “cuff” to the neck. These accusations have always been denied by the Perugian police and they finally decided to take legal action.

The interrogation on the night of November 6th, 2007 was furthermore at the centre of the hearing yesterday in the trial of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, which has now reached its last stages.

It was reconstructed by lawyer Pacelli, the representative of Patrick Lumumba, who was arrested on November 6th after Amanda had indicated him as the murderer of Meredith Kercher. Lumumba is now an injured party in the debate, after having been absolved of all accusations, thanks to the testimony of a Swiss teacher who gave him a cast-iron alibi.

Pacelli, in an address judged by many as over- the-top, accused Amanda of being “dirty inside and out” and described her as “half Maria Goretti and half demon”.

By the way some of our own commenters and emailers also found Mr Pacelli’s religious imagery applied to Amanda Knox (he asked if she is a “she-devil”) to be way over the top.

Could The Italian Authorities Be Starting A Wave Of Libel + Slander Investigations?

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for Nick Pisa’s report on Sky News about the charges Amanda Knox’s parents are being investigated for.

The sliming of the prosecution, the police and investigators, and even the many judges in the process, never seemed to our legal contacts like a particularly good idea.

The CIA operatives trial we referred to in this post (over which the United States and the Italian prime minister could exert ZERO influence, please note) shows that Italy has a long arm and tough laws.

And the very independent judges and prosecutors are willing to take a very hard line to enforce them.

A Seattle lawyer who propagates what seems to us a pretty daffy and unfounded view of the case, made statements in the recent report by Italian network LA7 which don’t seem to have gone over very well in Italy. They may have attracted some official attention.

We dont know if the many statements made to an American audience on for example the ABC, CNN and CBS networks (most recently by New-York-based lawyer John Q Kelly) could attract investigations. But we do hear they might have all been taken note of, and it is possible the US networks might be monitoring their coverage of the case from now on.

ABC and KING-5 Seattle, both highly negative about Italy in recent months, may be particularly vulnerable.

And if and when the one administrative charge against Mr Mignini is dropped, an American crime-fiction writer and wannabe real-crime reporter might also perhaps find himself in the Italian legal cross-hairs for some very odd things he has said and written.

it will be interesting to see if any of the US-based media pick up on and report objectively on this development in Italy. Someone taking bets?

*******

Update #1: The Associated Press has just fed the defamation story to its client media outlets in the United States.

Update #2: The AP report has now gone viral. As of right now (2:00 pm New York time) Google is returning over 1500 hits. So the word is out: watch one’s tongue where Italian justice is concerned, or there may be consequences.

Update #3: Here is a safe bet based on some insider buzz. This development will make the US State Department and the American Embassy in Rome very happy. They have long wanted the sliming of Italy to stop.

Update #4: It sounds like it might make several million citizens of Seattle very happy too. They have long wanted the Mellases and Knoxes to simply stick to the truth - and address, you know, the hard evidence.

The Summations: Saturday Is Confirmed For The Start Of The Defence On Sollecito

Posted by Tiziano

Giiven the sorry state of his alibis we do look forward to this one. This below is translated from Perugia News.

Mauro Sedda “¢ 25th November, 2009 16:33

Saturday has been confirmed for the beginning of the Defence addresses for Raffaele Solleecito, accused together with Amanda Knox and Rudy Hermann Guede (condemned to thirty years in a fast-track trial) for the murder of the English student Meredith Kercher. The first lawyer to speak will be Luca Maori.

The lawyer Giulia Bongiorno, affected by symptoms of appendicitis with fever, has requested on the other hand that the President of the Court of the Assizes of Perugia list her appearance at a time later than Saturday. In fact, only on that day will Bongiorno know whether she will be in a condition to deliver her address on next Monday, as arranged, or whether it will be necessary to postpone it for a few days.

The verdict in the trial of Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox is expected on December 4th and 5th

Friday, November 27, 2009

The Summations: Court Session Concludes After Lawyer Speaks For Meredith’s Family

Posted by Peter Quennell

Above: Mr Maresca is getting robed in court this morning.

His stark and very moving remarks for the family were the last item for the day. Mr Maresca spoke extensively of the remarkable qualities of Meredith, the supreme dignity and discretion of her family, and the enormous damage done by this very callous crime.

Listening to these remarks were various members of Amanda Knox’s family and the father of Raffaele Sollecito. Meredith’s family were not present in court. It is never seems easy for them to be there.

The Italian papers still only have short-form descriptions of Mr Maresca’s speech, and the English-language media dont yet have any. We will post again later, when all stories are filed and online.

Saturday update: We are gathering all the reports of Mr Maresca’s remarks - each has one or two points the others do not - and will post on them on Sunday.

The Summations: The Defendants And Their Families In The Courtroom Today

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger image]

The Summations: Patrick Lumumba’s Lawyer Describes Defamation By Knox As Ruthless

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click here for Nick Pisa’s noon report from the courtroom. Some excerpts:

Today the lawyer acting for bar owner Patrick Lumumba, who Knox blamed for the murder, was harsh in his judgement of the American student.

Lawyer Carlo Pacelli described Knox as a ‘talented and calculated liar, who had deliberately gone out of her way to frame Patrick.’

Mr Pacelli recalled how Knox had told police she ‘covered her ears as Patrick murdered Meredith. This was all a lie, his destiny at that moment was marked.

‘It was a ruthless defamation that destroyed Patrick as a man, husband and father. By naming him she hoodwinked the officer in charge of the murder investigation.’

Mr Lumumba was held for two weeks in custody before being released without charge after witnesses came forward to say he was at his Le Chic bar the night Meredith was murdered.

Mr Pacelli added: ‘Who is the real Amanda Knox ? Is it the one we see before us her, simple water and soap, the angelic St Maria Goretti (a teenager made a saint by the Catholic Church after she was murdered by an attempted rapist)?

‘Or is she really a she devil, a diabolical person focused on sex, drugs and alcohol, living life to the extreme and borderline -is this the Amanda Knox of November 1st 2007 (night Meredith was murdered).’

As he spoke, Knox could be seen writing notes to herself on the pad before her.

‘Conclusions drawn before knowing anything,’ she wrote, before adding: ‘In prison you don’t become a better person you become worse unless you have a inner light that guides you.’

 

The Summations: The Court Agenda For Friday

Posted by Jools

This is translated from Corriere dell Umbria.

.‘Raffaele’s DNA and the PM’s Spaghetti.’

Resumes tomorrow (hearing number 46) the trial for the murder of Meredith Kercher. It is predicted that tomorrow’s speech, in this order, will be:

Letizia Magnini (representing Aldalia Tattanelli, who owns the cottage where the murder was committed).

Carlo Pacelli (who represents Patrick Lumumba in the slander case against Amanda Knox).

Francesco Maresca and Serena Perna (who represent the Kercher’s family).

Saturday it will be the turn for Raffaele Sollecito’s defense. Luca Maori will give the summation; Monday, however, it should be Giulia Bongiorno’s time.

Defenses will very much attack the DNA. On which, previously the pm Manuela Comodi summation on the last hearing gave a much locked indictment.

However it is looking as if Ms Bongiorno may not be well enough by Monday to conduct her portion of the summation for Sollecito.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Italians Have For A Long Time Known How Depraved And Cruel The Final Struggle Was

Posted by Our Main Posters

An Exceptionally Vicious Attack

As you can see in the prosecutors’ scenario posted below, we did not translate and post quite everything.

Meredith’s final 15-minute death-struggle is not there.

Back in January of this year the Micheli Report described in great detail Meredith’s autopsy, the wounds on her body, and the horrific state of her room.

Please click here for more

Possible Trial Delay While Giulia Bongiorno Gets Well

Posted by Peter Quennell

[This new image was just emailed to us - it seems that we are read in Rome]

Italian media are now reporting that Sollecito’s lead lawyer has appendicitis.

A decision as to what to do will be made by the court today. Under the agreed schedule for the next two weeks, Ms Bongiorno and Mr Maori were due to argue Solllecito’s side of things this Saturday and next Monday.

This is the second time the trial schedule has been affected by ill health. The previous time it was Judge Massei. He contracted a touch of pneumonia.

Monday, November 23, 2009

The Prosecutions’ Closed-Court Reconstruction Of A Brutal And Prolonged Torture Attack

Posted by Our Main Posters

Prosecution video not entered in evidence; this is from the fairly accurate Lifetime Movie

1. The Presentation In Closed Court

The time-line and reconstruction of the attack below were presented in court on Friday 21 November 2009 by the national crime-scene team.

From interviews Italian media reported an account of a premeditated and prolonged attack on Meredith. It included a very graphic computer simulation which upset many in the closed court.

This post relies on those media reports and documents later filed with the court. The simulation was deliberately not placed in evidence as there were fears that if uploaded to YouTube the expected highly negative public reaction could be too prejudicial to the accused.

2. Timeline For Night Of 1-2 Nov

The timing of all the events depicted were multiple-sourced except for the arrival of Rudy Guede, the timing of which is unknown but seems to have been late - maybe around 11:30 pm. Prior to that Knox and Sollecito are depicted as being on watch from the park above while a disabled car is removed. Meredith is inside from around 9:00 PM.

15:48: Meredith texts to her English friends that she will be slightly late for her dinner meeting with them.

16:00 - Meredith leaves the house in Via della Pergola to go to the home of her friends. A few minutes later Raffaele and Amanda leave the cottage in Via della Pergola to go Sollecito’s place.

18:00 - Amanda Knox leaves Raffaele Sollecito’s house. This is indicated by cell phone records.

18:27 - Raffaele Sollecito interacts with his laptop to watch the film “Amelie” alone at home.

20:18 - Amanda Knox in Via Ulisse Rocchi receives a text message (sms) from Patrick Lumumba telling her not to come to work that night.

20.30 - Amanda Knox goes back to Via Garibaldi to the apartment of Raffaele Sollecito.

20:38 - Amanda sends a text message (sms) in reply to Patrick Lumumba.

20:46 - Sollecito turns off his mobile phone. He is still at home in Via Garibaldi.

20:45 ““ Meredith’s meal of pizza with her English friends ends. She starts off in the direction of Via della Pergola with a girlfriend who will leave her halfway to go to her own home.

21:00 - Meredith is at home, she eats a mushroom, she lies down on her bed, and she reads some university lecture notes.

21:10 - From this point on there is no more human interaction with Raffaele Sollecito’s computer.

21:45 - Amanda and Raffaele leave his apartment and go to the Piazza Grimana. Less than 100 meters away from the house in Via della Pergola, the two talk and watch the house and decide what to do. They show a suspicious attitude which is reported in court by the witness Curatolo

23:20 - Amanda opens the door of Via della Pergola.

23.20 - Amanda, Raffaele and Rudy enter the house in Via della Pergola, where Meredith is already present in her room [On the court video there is no simulation of the meeting between Amanda and Rudy, because the reconstruction is based on testimony, the autopsy evidence and medical findings.]

23:21 - Amanda and Raffaele go into Meredith’s bedroom, while Rudy goes into the bathroom.

23:25 - A scuffle begins between Amanda, helped by Raffaele, and Meredith. The English girl is taken by the neck, then banged against a cupboard. Rudy Guede enters and joins in.

23:30 - 23:45 [see Part 3 below] Depiction in the timeline and computer simulation of a prolonged struggle with Meredith at knifepoint, largely undressed, with her several times trying to regain her feet. She was not raped, though sexual humiliation occurred.

23:50 - Amanda and Raffaele take Meredith’s mobile phones and they leave the apartment. Guede goes into the bathroom to get several towels to staunch the blood, then puts a cushion under Meredith’s head.

00.10 - Meredith’s mobile phones are thrown into a garden in Via Sperandio.

00.15 - From this moment, there are no certainties on the times for the rearrangement of the crime scene carried out by Amanda and Raffaele Sollecito. However according to the prosecution in the wee hours of the night Knox and Sollecito returned to the scene of their crime to try and clean up some footprints and to break the window glass of Filomena’s room. The aim was to simulate a robbery that ended in murder and they are charged with this too.

3. Reconstruction Of Attack

It must be emphasized that these EXCERPTS of SUMMARY notes by the crime scene team are only intended to accompany (1) extensive narrative descriptions by various members of the team,  (2) references to numerous items in evidence, (3) the simulation video, and (4) questions from the court.

It was made clear that the analysis indicates that Meredith put up a tremendous fight, over a period of approximately 15 minutes, with three strong attackers, before she finally succumbed holding one side of her neck to try to stop her lifeblood running out. She may not have died for as long as one hour.

Italian media reported that those in the closed court told them the Knox and Sollecito defenses raised no disputes or objections of any length except over having the video placed in evidence. Rudy Guede and his legal team had no standing in this court.   

RECONSTRUCTION OF ATTACK - FRIDAY 21 NOVEMBER 2009

Excerpts from pages 4 to 14 of the technical report on file with the court.

On the left door of the white wardrobe with sliding doors is found, at a height of approximately 50cm, a high concentration of blood traces.

It is reasonable to suppose that, at the moment of the assault, the victim was kneeling down, or in a similar position, in front of the same wardrobe.

The woman then dragged herself (or was dragged by the attacker or attackers) along the floor to the inside left shoulder of the same piece of furniture, and was later found dead in this same spot (this consideration is drawn from the presence of clear blood streaks).

This reconstruction is further confirmed from a technical scientific point of view, by the results of the technical report on B.P.A. (Blood Pattern Analysis) performed by the Principal Technical Director [D.T.P.] Physics, Dr. Francesco Camana, as a result of the site inspection on 18 December 2007”¦

On the left hand of the victim it is possible to observe numerous blood spots and, in particular, a larger patch on the tip of the index finger of the same hand.

The circumstances lead us to believe that the victim’s hand was near the wound when the blow was inflicted or was brought to that point a few moments later.

This consideration can lead us to think that the individual who was holding the victim still, immediately after this blow, struck in all likelihood by another person, relaxed his or her grip and the woman was able, at the same time, to put her left hand on the wound.

It is interesting to observe that there were no stains of a similar nature on the woman’s right hand.

It cannot be excluded, therefore, that the victim’s right arm remained in the grip of the attacker who, in so doing, probably held the body of the victim until the moment she fell onto the floor.

“¦ The observation, in sequence, of the light blue sweatshirt, of the white T-shirt worn by the victim, of the type of stain in the breast area of the victim and of the bra, allow us to develop other important evaluations.

Firstly we must focus our attention on the characteristics of the stain on the aforementioned sweatshirt.

In fact, this appears to be soaked with blood on the right hand side, i.e., in correspondence of one of the lesions produced in the victim of the attack.

This aspect is a confirmation of the possibility that the garment was worn [by the victim] at the moment of the crime.

Further observations lead us to believe the garment was rolled towards the neck and that the zipper was open.

Further, it must be held that the aforementioned sweatshirt was removed in a second moment from the body of the victim who still wore it. “¦

The clear splashes of blood found on the central part of the breasts allow us to argue as follows.

At the moment the blow was struck the breasts were covered only by the bra and as the sweatshirt and the white T-shirt were rolled up towards the shoulders….

The victim’s bra was found near the feet of the dead body, both straps and the closing band appear to be neatly cut.

On the bra cups and on the breasts of the victim there are numerous traces of blood.

Therefore, the bra was certainly worn by the victim before the violent action by the attacker [started and] caused its removal, allowing blood spray to cover that part of the body. “¦

An analysis of the autopsy photographs shows the presence of bruises on both elbows and on the right forearm of the body, caused by the tight grip of one of more persons who in one or more stages of the event interacted violently with the arms of the victim.

Such lesions are, in fact, due to the rupture of subcutaneous capillaries following strong pressure on the point “¦.

Seems Sollecito Is Feeling Really Sorry - For Himself (So What’s New?)

Posted by Peter Quennell

Seems his main problem is the framing of Rudy Guede as lone-wolf perpetrator went south. Just at the very worst time, the pesky fellow had to get caught.

And Raffaele doesn’t like prison. Just a lower class of persons in there. And as for those nasty media - well, for their coverage of this case, they just never seem to catch a break.

A hint here, to Raffaele: try telling one single story that actually explains all. Dozens of things now catch you out. And if you did commit Meredith’s murder, please look Meredith’s family in the eyes and show how desperately sad and sorry you are.

Our poster Tiziano remarked when sending along this translation from Umbria Journal: “He’s talking… wait for it… what a little wimp”.

SOLLECITO TO MAGAZINE GENTE: WITHOUT MY FAMILY I WOULD BE BENEATH THE EARTH

“If it had not been for my family, I would have ended up buried.” This is what Raffaele Sollecito said to Gente, on the newsstands on November 23rd.

“The meaning of this story” the young man said to the weekly, which has provided a preview of the article “is in the fact that the investigators have formed a mistaken idea right from the start. If Rudy Guede had been arrested before I was, before Amanda and before Patrick Lumumba, they would never have known either me or Amanda or Patrick Lumumba.”

From prison, Sollecito says: “I am psychologically destroyed, demoralised, tired. If I did not have my family behind me you would have found me under the ground at this time.”

He added: “The media have described Amanda as a Venus, a woman capable of immediate, perverted conquests. It’s nothing like this. It’s a matter of naivety. She is a simple girl, attractive but absolutely normal. At times she is guilty of ingenuousness. But the thing which has upset me most is when they attacked my family. It’s not fair, they are doing nothing wrong or incorrect if they defend me.”

Gente then reveals that Sollecito goes into specifics about the trial. “I never met Guede” he adds “I saw him once at the court. And nothing of the footprints or shoe prints found, imprints of alleged genetic material, belongs to me; simply because on the morning of November 2nd I had shoes which are not Nike brand and I don’t walk around the house barefoot.”

Saturday, November 21, 2009

The Summations: Barbie Nadeau On Mr Mignini Setting Out The Attack Scenario

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for Rome-based Barbie Nadeau’s report from the courtroom. Her excellent description includes this sad passage on Meredith.

Then he described Kercher as a woman full of life and potential, “the young woman we too often forget.” Mignini quoted Kercher’s father John on a number of occasions, especially when explaining that she was a strong woman who practiced karate and who would have fought back against an attack.

The courtroom was silent as he recalled the words of Kercher’s father: “Meredith would have fought with all her life.”

The report also includes this on possible hard drugs.

He also hinted that Knox and Sollecito might have been in a drug-fueled frenzy when they allegedly killed Kercher. He outlined the effects of cocaine and acid, and told the judges and jury how Knox and Sollecito ran with a crowd that often used these “stupificante,” or stupefying drugs.

Drugs were not proven other than that both Knox and Sollecito claimed to have smoked marijuana on the day. The two drugs mainly hypothesized up to now if there was a drug other than unmodified marijuana (cannabis) seem to have been crystal meth and skunk cannabis.

Both of them are now proving a cause of psychotic episodes which can result in fatal attacks. Genetically-engineered skunk cannabis seems to increasingly be most of the cannabis on the market.

The Summations: The Italian Press Is Now Reporting Life Sentences Are Requested

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for Romana Oggi’s report in Italian. A translation:

Prosecutors Manuela Comodi and Giuliano Mignini at the end of their indictment before the Court of Assizes of Perugia requested a life sentence for Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, the two former lovers accused of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.

The prosecution also asked for a period in isolation for Amanda Knox during the day for 9 months, and a period in isolation for Raffaele Sollecito during the day for 2 months.

The two defendants remained impassive to the request.

“This was a murder accompanied by sexual violence which was done for petty reasons against a girl 22 years old who was soon due to return to London for the birthday of her mother’’ Prosecutor Mignini said at the end of the indictment.

After he concluded, Amanda Knox stood up to make a brief statement spontaneously. “Meredith was my friend, and I did not hate her. The idea that I wanted revenge on a person who was always kind to me is absurd.”

“I never had any acquaintance or relationship with Rudy Guede. The things that were said in the past two days are pure fantasy. It is not the truth and not the reality of the situation.”

Meredith’s mother was far from well at the time, which was why Meredith was carrying two mobile phones (the two removed while she lay dying, presumably so she could not call for help) to be quite sure they could reach one another.

Meredith had been planning the trip home to London for weeks and was excited about it. It would have been her first trip home to see her family since she arrived in Perugia.

In June Meredith’s father John Kercher described how he found out Meredith would never come home. 

 

The Summations: Manuela Comodi Continues The Prosecution’s Very Hard Line

Posted by Tiziano

Wow! This summation is quite remorseless.

Both prosecutors seem to have very deep feelings for Meredith, and much contempt for those who have tried so hard to deny her justice.

And they both seem very, very sure of their case - always remember that the judges and jury have seen a LOT of evidence in those 10,000-plus sealed pages and those many closed court sessions that we the public were not party to.

La Nazione reports now some more of Ms Comodi’s summing-up this morning. She was neatly tying the many elements together, and denying that anything at all is weak. . 

PM Comodi: “The DNA was not contaminated”

The Magistrate opened her summing-up declaring that the proof which has emerged from the investigations is “irrefutable and overwhelming”. Speaking this morning was PM Manuela Comodi who began her summing-up by declaring that the proof emerging from the investigations was “irrefutable and overwhelming”. 

The magistrate underlined that no right of the defence had been harmed,  “The only right offended ““ Comodi said - was that of the scientific police and the postal police to see their work recognised.”

The PM defined the possibility of contamination of the DNA removed from the scene of the murder as “nil. 

“In every biological analysis ““ she added ““ the risk of deterioration and contamination is inherent.  Patrizia Stefanoni, the biologist of the scientific police has however put in action all the due procedures to avoid these phenomena and nobody can affirm the contrary.  The consultants for the parties then took part in all the inspections and analyses.”

The Summations: First Report On Technical Summing-Up By Prosecutor Comodi

Posted by Tiziano

[Prosecutor Comodi this morning at left with defense lawyers Della Vedova and Maori]

Corriere is reporting the start of the summation by Manuela Commodi of the technical aspects of the case. A translation:

Meredith Trial, the PM speaks: “Irrefutable proof from the investigations”

It was Assistant Prosecutor Manuela Comodi to take the floor and she dealt with the scientific aspects of the investigation.

Manuela Comodi started her summing-up this morning by underlining that the rights of the defence had not been damaged….

“Irrefutable and overwhelming scientific proof” is what has emerged from the investigations. PM Manuela Comodi started her address in this way, stressing that no rights of the defence had been injured. 

“The only right which has been offended” Comodi said “was that of the scientific police and the postal police to see their work recognised.” 

Then the PM began to speak about the data relative to the telephone cells examined during the investigation. 

[Next] it will be the turn of PM Mignini to speak again to make the request for the sentencing.

The Summations: AP’s Marta Falconi Is Reporting Life-In-Prison Request Is Expected

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for Marta’s report as carried in today’s Guardian. Some excerpts:

Prosecutors on Saturday were expected to request life in prison for an American student and her former boyfriend accused of killing a young British woman in Italy….

In her closing remarks Saturday, prosecutor Manuela Comodi said evidence presented during the trial had shown that the defendants’ cell phones were switched off the night of the crime, making their whereabouts impossible to trace.

Comodi also recalled testimony by expert witnesses who said Sollecito’s computer had not been used during the hours Kercher was stabbed to death.

Prosecutors were expected to make the sentencing requests later Saturday. A verdict is expected in early December.

 

The Summations: Additional Detail In Today’s Wrap-Up Report By Andrea Vogt

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for the full report by Italy-based Andrea Vogt.

Meredith Kercher’s homicide carries the distinct signature of a woman, Italian prosecutor Giuliano Mignini argued in fiery closing arguments here Friday, and that woman is Seattle native Amanda Knox.

“It is Amanda who started the fight , which triggered an unstoppable crescendo of violence, and it is Amanda who plunged the knife into Meredith’s neck,” Mignini said. “It is Amanda who later covers the body with a blanket””a form of pietas, of respect for the victim. An unknown male would not have any need to cover the body. As a woman, and friend, she couldn’t stand to see that nude, battered body that she was responsible for.”

On Friday, Mignini argued that Knox initiated a scuffle that degenerated into a beating, sexual assault and eventual stabbing, went on to alter the crime scene to create a clumsily staged burglary and rape, then fell into a self-made trap of inconsistencies and fibs.

“The first accusers of Amanda and Raffaele were they themselves,” he said.

But despite frequent references to all three suspects, Mignini clearly painted Knox as the mastermind of the crime, an aggressive young woman who harbored hate for her goody-two shoes English roommate, and exerted powerful influence over the other two male suspects, who were infatuated with her…

The Summations: Perenially Fact-Challenged CNN Reports On Today Correctly

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for CNN’s report by Hada Messia.

CNN of course broadcast the notorious Larry King interview with lawyer John Q Kelly and the equally notorious legal screaming-match chaired by Jane Velez Mitchell. The YouTubes of both have been quietly disappeared. And all of its online reports on the case seem to contain bias and errors.

CNN gas been periodically updating this report of Hada Messia for some days, though it still contains wrong statements. The brief new component on today’s proceedings is in fact relatively accurate.

Accompanied by two smitten young men vying to impress her, a resentful Amanda Knox toyed with a knife and then plunged it into her roommate’s neck, killing her, an Italian prosecutor charged in closing arguments Friday.

The November 2, 2007, death of British student Meredith Kercher occurred during a twisted sex game in which Knox taunted Kercher, and the two men—boyfriend Rafael Sollecito and acquaintance Rudy Guede—sexually assaulted her, prosecutor Guilano Mignini said during his seven-hour closing.

The prosecutor said Knox hated and resented Kercher and had decided the time had come to exact revenge….  Mignini said Kercher died about 11:30 p.m. after she and Knox had quarreled—either over money or Guede’s presence at the house.

The prosecutor said the men pinned Kercher down by her arms while Knox played with the knife, prodding at her throat and saying, “Ah, you were pretending to be such a little saint. ... Now we are going to show you.”

Francesco Maresca, a lawyer for the Kercher family, said he was “very satisfied” with the prosecutor’s argument, adding that the crimes should bring a life sentence.

The Summations: Late Edition La Stampa Reported More On Prosecutor Mignini

Posted by Tiziano

Please click above for the report in Italian. A partial translation:

The PM: “Amanda nursed her hatred of Meredith for a long time”

On the evening of November 1st, 2007 the moment had arrived for Knox “to avenge herself on that simpering girl” of a Meredith Kercher with whom she had been living for a few months but whom she considered “too serious and restrained”. So the young woman from Seattle killed her, together with her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and Rudy Guede “in an uncontrolled crescendo of violence”, which was also sexual.

This is the picture outlined by PM Giuliano Mignini in his summing-up in the trial of the student from Seattle and the young man from Puglia before the court of the Assizes of Perugia. The magistrate who has coordinated the police investigations from the outset spoke for more than seven hours.

He reconstructed in detail the the investigation conducted by the Perugia flying squad, the SCO and the scientific branch. He listed the names of the witnesses and the circumstances to which they referred. He spoke of a “media trial in which the central nodes vanished” (of the case actually conducted in court), and how the investigation received “voluminous and constant confirmation” of the indications of guilt, from the GIP up to the Court of Cassation….

According to the reconstruction of the PM, on the evening of November 1st Knox had an appointment with Guede, whom she knew and who had fallen for her, about matters linked to marijuana which both of them used. With him - the PM explained - she was to go to the house in Via della Pergola but then Sollecito joined them. Kercher was in the house.

“We do not know for certain - Mignini said - what they were intending to do at the residence, but it is possible that there was an argument, which then degenerated, between Mez and Amanda about the missing money, or perhaps the English student was annoyed by the presence of Guede. Knox, Sollecito and Guede, under the influence of drugs and perhaps alcohol, decide however to put in motion the plan to involve Mez in a heavy sexual game.

Amanda had nursed a hatred for Meredith and the moment has come to avenge herself on that “prissy girl”.” Too “serious and restrained for her tastes” - this is the reconstruction of the prosecution - and who accused her of “lack of neatness and cleanliness”.

This attack happens in the victim’s bedroom and was started by Knox and Sollecito while Guede is in the bathroom.

According to the PM the Ivorian arrived a little later and took part in “an uncontrollable and unstoppable crescendo of violence and sexual play”, in which the English girl did not want to participate, while he (Guede) was “convinced that in this way he would please Amanda because now the two fellows were in competition for the favours of the girl from Seattle”.

In the PM’s reconstruction it was Knox who pushed Meredith towards the wall of the room and who struck her in the kneck with a knife (while Sollecito was holding another one). The young man from Puglia is accused however of having held the victim still, but also of tearing off the fastening of her bra, and Guede is accused of sexually abusing the victim. The magistrate decribed them as “three unrestrained furies”.

 

Friday, November 20, 2009

The Summations: Defendant Leaves Court As Prosecutor Proposes What Meredith Was Subjected To

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for the full report in the Sun, once again by Nick Pisa.

Please be warned that this below is very difficult and intensely sad reading. It seems to build upon some expert testimony that was only presented behind closed doors

Murder suspect Amanda Knox broke down in tears as the case against her was summed up today.

The American student was led from the courtroom after prosecutors outlined the horrific violence British student Meredith Kercher suffered before her death.

They claimed blonde Knox, 22, known as Foxy Knoxy, “harboured hatred” for housemate Meredith - and “killed her to take revenge”.

Meredith, 21, was “too serious” for Knox, it was claimed.

When Knox returned to the courtroom in Perugia, Italy, today, she appeared shaken and her eyes puffy…

Summing up the prosecution case, Giuliano Mignini said: “Knox and Sollecito arrived at the house with Guede. Meredith was already there and the evening began to degenerate.

“Meredith and Amanda began to argue over money. Meredith was also upset that Amanda had brought another man (Guede) back to the house they shared.

“They argued about this ugly habit of hers, and the three who had arrived were also under the influence of drugs and alcohol.”

Mr Mignini added: “Meredith was far too serious a girl for Amanda, she didn’t like her or her friends because they were critical of her hygiene and habits.

“Amanda harboured hatred for Meredith and that night the time had come for her to take revenge - and that’s when Meredith’s ordeal began.”....

Mr Mignini outlined the horrific violence Meredith suffered before she died.

He said: “Amanda grabbed her by the hair and hit her head on the floor. Rudy finished what he did (sex) and Sollecito was threatening her with his knife.

“Amanda also had a knife and held it to the left side of Meredith’s throat and as the crescendo of violence grew inflicted the deepest cut.

“Meredith did not want to submit herself to the sexual violence.”

As he spoke Knox appeared to be in discomfort and took several deep breaths.

Her lawyer Luciano Ghirga held her hand reassuringly and squeezed it several times, while a female prison guard behind her stooped down and asked twice if she was ok.

Minutes later Mr Mignini’s closing speech was interrupted as Knox had to be led out to compose herself.

The court heard how Knox “dominated” her relationship with Sollecito, who in turn was “dependent on her”.

Mr Mignini claimed video footage of the couple showed computer studies graduate Sollecito “following on behind her, often kissing and cuddling her”.