Amazingly, Wrong Facts And Defamations Of Italian Officialdom Show NO Sign Of Being Reigned In
It is very hard in the Perugia case for us to figure out who is driving the defense and PR bus.
The assumption made in standard cases is that the defendants are the clients, as it is their necks on the line, while the lawyers and any PR effort work at their command. In effect RS and AK would exercise all control, and courts would hold them responsible for what they did or should have controlled.
In unusual contrast, here we have a situation where it seems like a bunch of clowns is driving the bus.
The hard facts of the forthcoming Supreme Court appeal and the legal strength of the prosecution team seem to be absolutely damning, while the two defendants and/or their surrogates are out there in high profile playing a childish “catch me if you can” game.
Read first TJMK’s recent posts (scroll down) on how formidable the Supreme Court appeal really is, and especially this one and this one.
Then read TJMK’s recent posts (scroll down) on Sollecito and the frenetic promotion of his bizarre book. And TJMK’s dissection (not yet complete) of its several hundred faults and 20-plus serious defamations.
Then Google the recent confused and nasty utterings on Knox’s and Sollecito’s behalf (very unwisely tacitly endorsed or unconstrained by either AK or RS) by Saul Kassin, Seth Chandler, Michael Heavey, Doug Preston, Michele Moore, David Anderson, Nigel Scott, and on and on.
Fortunately the media websites allowing anonymous drive-by hatchet jobs under their reporting seems to have dwindled sharply, and are now more or less confined to the hapless low-traffic Ground Report and occasionally the Huffington Post.
Perhaps in consequence, the nasty wildly inaccurate drive-by hatchet jobs in the book reviews on the Amazon website and their reader comments continue to mount up more than ever.
I want to use as an example of this trend the furious comments below this one-star book review of Raffaele Sollecito’s book on Amazon.
The many passages I have put in bold highlight the claims that we here and officialdom in Perugia have long KNOWN to be inaccurate and often defamatory.
This series of comments displays perfectly the nasty and bullying strategy, circular arguments, and wrong facts that the anonymous supporters of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito still deploy, to ensure that their PR points get across and drown out alternative viewpoints.
The strategy of the Solllecito-Knox hit team here at work seems to be as follows:
- 1. Numerous people register anonymously and review ONLY Sollecito’s book or ONLY books about the Meredith Kercher case. These people have no other online presence on Amazon and are obviously deeply immersed in the case as they review books only about it (a more sinister explanation is that these are mostly fake reviewers posting shill reviews under different aliases).
2. They post numerous positive reviews about the slanted pro-defense books.
3. They post numerous negative reviews about the objective pro-prosecution books. For example, John Kercher’s book about his murdered daughter has numerous 1- and 2-star reviews. They were written by individuals who reviewed ONLY books on this case and who gave 5-star reviews to pro-defense books.
4. They respond to opposing viewpoints with hostile and intimidating taunts, threats, ridicule and name calling (in the Amazon thread I linked to above, you can see that those who deviate from the story that Knox and Sollecito are innocent and post alternative viewpoints have actually been called lunatics, idiots and perverts).
5. They repeat known lies and mistruths as though they are facts, using the Knox team’s PR talking points. For example, “there is ZERO evidence in this case” and “there was absolutely NO DNA evidence linking Knox or Sollecito to the crime.”
6. When someone responds with facts to the contrary and links to the evidence, they are bullied, called names, or derisively dismissed.
7. Eventually, when trying to win the argument by logic alone fails, they may finally report their opposers to Amazon so that un unknowing Amazon blocks them from making further comments in the book reviews.
Is this working? I think not. Especlally in Italy but also in the US and UK, there is a growing pool out there that is no longer fooled.
On media sites below stories, the level of skepticism is generally very high these days. After all, the truth “got” to Katie Couric and the guests on Jane Velez Mitchell’s show, so Sollecito’s book at least got poor promotion.
Legal commenters and professional reporters like Wendy Murphy, Nancy Grace, Barbie Nadeau and John Follain have all hinted or outright stated that Knox and Sollecito just might have blood on their hands.
Could that be why the campaign has turned to Amazon.com book reviews penned only by people with brand new screen names?
Knox and Sollecito’s supporters must be worried about the extremely strong appeal case the prosecution is moving forward with. Currently, the defense has NO lawyers publicly saying they were framed and NO good experts going public any more.
While their hotheaded surrogates are still out there (see above!) Knox is out of sight and Sollecito probably is too now. Also the Sollecito book is proving a considerable millstone around their own necks as it is so riddled with wrong facts and obvious calunnia.
Two of Sollecito’s key claims have already been denounced on Italian national TV by Sollecito’s own father and his lawyers. Objectively it looks like they are in a heap of trouble.
Please read the review linked to above to see some of Knox and Sollecito’s most strident supporters in action. Want to fight back? Respond back if you wish, write your own book reviews, and direct people to TJMK and PMF, and to the Massei Report and other factual sources of information. Tweeting would be especially helpful.
And do make sure that people remember that Meredith Kercher was the real victim in this case.
Posted by devorah on 11/14/12 at 03:10 AM in News media & movies, Hoaxers from 2007, Knox-Marriott PR, Raff Sollecito PR, Heavey, Bremner, More hoaxers, Hoaxers from 2009, Bruce Fischer, Steve Moore, Hoaxers from 2011, Amanda Knox #2, Raff Sollecito #2
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devorah,
I am full of admiration for the commitment, energy, vigour and clarity of thought you display when taking on these morons. This is just what is needed and you are doing it better than anyone has done for some time. Tired old hacks like me gave up a long time ago.
No one reading your exchanges with these morons can fail to be impressed nor, if they are new to the case, have any excuse for not wanting to get to the facts now.
More power to your elbow!
Posted by James Raper on 11/15/12 at 11:39 AM | #
By chance an apt quote has appeared on my Homepage today.
“Three things will never be believed. The true, the probable and the logical”
John Steinbeck
Posted by James Raper on 11/15/12 at 01:31 PM | #
Hi James
That Steinbeck quote made me smile. I have much more faith in the great moderate middle. In the space of two weeks we have seen not one but two mass delusions undermined in a shocking way here in the US.
1) That sea levels are not rising. Sea-level-rise is now front and center and may make a great difference around New York and see tidal surge gates installed at the mouth of the harbor like those huge gates on the Thames. Global warming and Kyoto 2 are also back on the front burner. A big plus for science.
2) Pervasive in the Republican party and much of the US media (and UK Daily Telegraph) was that the many pre-election polls of likely voters were slanted against them by oversampling of democrats. Nate Silver of the New York Times and several other statistical analysts said that in the aggregate this could not be true - and they predicted the outcomes with near 100% accuracy. Another big plus for science which WILL affect media coverage of all future races.
It may take a hard whack but there are enough examples of the human race doing the decent thing and/or acting smarter to keep you and the rest of us here going!
Posted by Peter Quennell on 11/15/12 at 02:07 PM | #
Devorah mentions the continuing misleading claims of the PR shills Saul Kassin, Seth Chandler, Michael Heavey, Doug Preston, Michele Moore, David Anderson, and Nigel Scott.
We have had posts rebutting most of them, the most recent being these:
1) Saul Kassin
2) Seth Chandler
http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php?/tjmk/comments/dr_galati_seems_one_of_curt_knoxs_pr_operatives/
3) Michael Heavey
http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php?/tjmk/comments/does_prominent_knox_supporter_face_uphill_task/
4) Doug Preston
http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php?/tjmk/comments/the_truth_and_nothing_but_the_truth_2/
5) Michelle Moore
6) Nigel Scott
These days the uber-angry Brits Nigel Scott and David Anderson seem to us only semi-coherent and not worth a full post rebutting them here, but Scott’s frantic rage at a fictitious Mignini in several recent posts on Ground Report were nailed by the PMF posters very nicely.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 11/15/12 at 02:33 PM | #
After reading this post last night I went over to Amazon and wrote my review of “Honor Bound”. Within an hour it had three thumbs-down flags. It’s hard to believe Groupies still patrol Amazon two months after their idol’s book was published, but obviously they do. The amusing part is when the occasional neutral reviewers wander into this swarm and says, “WTF is wrong with you people?!?”
Posted by brmull on 11/15/12 at 03:55 PM | #
Hi brmull. I know you were watching the book sales. How do you think they are doing? Is everybody involved in the publication in the legal clear and making a small fortune?
My guess is it is only a matter of time before the book is withdrawn from publication. Sollecito or his family or legal team might insist on it. The shadow writer and the publishers might do so also.
Our corrections to the book SO FAR dont tell the half of it. We will go public with the rest in a week or two.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 11/15/12 at 04:32 PM | #
devorah
Their books are going to come back to bite them, IMHO. They will serve as diaries of delusions. Amanda’s writings got her into trouble before.
Meredith’s been on my mind despite busy weeks of clothes shopping, seafood and steaks rampage along with way too many books and media fun. James Bond, anyone, the new Skyfall is great, you hang in there in London, Mr. and Mrs. Kercher.
I rewatched old (2003) Lizzie McGuire movie with Hilary Duff, was reminded of Meredith’s and Amanda’s Italian dreams. The back of Disney dvd says Goodbye home, Hello Rome! Lizzie McGuire goes on a school trip to Rome and has adventures. She cartwheels by the Spanish Steps, boy did that ring a bell. Amanda Knox was age 16 when this movie was released. Did she get influenced by travel dreams like this?
After October frenzy of football, hair perm, costume jewelry buys and autumn fests came voting for President, Storm Sandy, Petraeus nightmare so I grabbed a John Case paperback to escape: “Genesis Code”, a biomedical thriller. It reminded me of Meredith because it opens in Montecastello di Peglia which is a tiny Umbrian town near Perugia, the priest takes the train to Perugia. The author also mentions Gubbio. It brings back memories of the book Meredith was reading, “Sea of Truth” by Andrea de Carlo.
Reminders of this case are everywhere.
Posted by Hopeful on 11/15/12 at 07:09 PM | #
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