Thursday, June 04, 2009

The Kercher Family Prepares To Testify Friday PM And Saturday

Posted by Peter Quennell


[click for larger images; shots from earlier hearings courtesy of AP]

The Italian news service AGI is reporting that the Kercher family will arrive in Perugia around mid-day on Friday.

They are expected to be on the witness stand for all of Friday afternoon and possibly for all of Saturday. This will be their second face-to-face encounter with the defendants, and possibly their first encounter with a member of Amanda Knox’s family - at Rudy Guede’s trial, Knox’s parents chose to wait at a certain distance away from the courtroom.

Prior to their testimony, on Friday morning, the prosecution team will examine one final witness - Luca Lalli - on the wounds on Meredith’s body. Then the legal team for the Kerchers, Francesco Maresca and Serena Perna, will examine their first witnesses, the medical-legal expert Gianaristide Norelli and the forensic geneticist Francesca Torricelli.

In the afternoon the team will lead each member of the Kercher family who takes the stand - most probably John, Arline, and Stephanie - through their testimony, and they can then be cross-examined by the lead judge and the defense teams for Knox and Sollecito.

Their testimony will focus on their memories of Meredith, on her decision to come and study in Perugia, on any cellphone calls received or not received by her mother, Arline Kercher, from Meredith on the night in question, and on what Meredith may have related on the relationship between Meredith and Amanda Knox.

Their testimony is awaited with great interest as they have given almost no interviews in the past year and a half, and they have never made any statements about their theory of the crime or their takes on the two defendants. In contrast to the friends of Amanda Knox, they have repeatedly expressed confidence through Mr Maresca in the Italian judges, prosecutors, police teams, and justice system as a whole.

Italy seems to be treating Meredith’s family with an outstanding display of kindness and support. This post might help to explain why.

Plus they are enormously admired for their own grace, dignity and discretion. And their obvious sense of huge loss. 

Posted by Peter Quennell on 06/04/09 at 04:21 PM in The officially involved,  Victims family,  Trials 2008 & 2009

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Comments

The Kercher family graciousness and dignity is admirable and moving me to tears. My thoughts are with them and I pray that their great inner strenght will help them to sustain their next ordeal in Perugia.

Posted by Nicki on 06/05/09 at 12:40 AM | #

I can’t help but think that the suffering they have endured has been compounded by the antics of others that create distractions from the gravity of the crime and from the focus on the real victim.

Yes, their restraint and grace has been remarkable and admirable. It is easy to see how their daughter and sister grew up to be such a remarkable young woman, radiating love, light and joy. My thoughts and prayers are with them, as well, as they make this journey back to the place where their beloved Meredith lost her life.

Does anyone know if the family is being financially compensated for the trips they have had to make to Perugia?

Posted by wayra on 06/05/09 at 05:29 AM | #

Hi Nicki and Wayra. Very nice sentiments, which seem to be widely shared right now.

Under a new EU arrangement, the legal and travel expenses of families in such cases are paid-for. However, at the start of the case, Italy had not yet completed the EU paperwork for the agreement to click in, and the member of parliament for the Kerchers’ district expressed concern and may have got things rolling faster.

The English girls who testified earlier in the trial also had their travel costs covered, though Prosecutor Mignini seems to have drawn on his own budget for that.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 06/05/09 at 05:45 AM | #

On the chance that the Kerchers might welcome some contributions to help with costs and expenses, is there a secure way to accomplish this.

Posted by jennifer on 06/05/09 at 07:35 AM | #

Read this article from the Mirror. If Meredith’s father’s recollection of the the days leading up to and after his daughter’s tragic death don’t move you I don’t know what will.

I’m with Jennnifer. I want to give money and there have been a lot of ideas thrown around. The most interesting is certainly to buy that god forsaken house and replace it with a memorial garden.

I’d really appreciate it if TJMK could get the ball rolling as I’m sure there are many others like myself and Jennifer who want to give money in some way.

The death of Meredith has really struck a chord with me and to be able to contribute to her memory living on would mean a lot.

Posted by mikeyverve on 06/05/09 at 11:36 PM | #

Mikey and Jennifer, really, thank you. So very many feel as you do, that they would like to do SOMETHING.

With the video of Meredith now surfacing, and John’s tragic tale told in the Mirror, it seems that the Kerchers are wanting to respond to the truly massive outpouring.

Our feeling has been that the way to commemorate Meredith would be easier to discuss after the testimony of the family was on record and any cross-examination of them finally out of the way.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 06/06/09 at 12:32 AM | #
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