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Monday, December 09, 2013
The Rise And Fall Of "Frank Sfarzo" And His Disastrous Trip To The US And Canada
Posted by Ergon
[Frank Sforza riding high in his first days in the US]
Part II on Frank
My Part 1 post in this series is just below this post, and others will follow. Much of this first emerged on PMF dot Net. TJMK has posted about Frank in early days, and about the Seattle court.
Who is the real Frank Sfarzo?
Born July 04, 1963, in Rome, his real name is Francesco Sforza. This is confirmed by his passport data which I saw. He tried for years to hide it, and it is of public interest since, when arrested for assault, he again, deliberately misspelled his name. Like Bruce Fis(c)her, he tried to hide his many slanderous and libelous accusations on his blog behind the handle 'Frank Sfarzo'.
The son of a doctor (like Raffaele Sollecito) he got a degree in philosophy from the University of Perugia (Candace Dempsey, Murder In Italy). Then his peripatetic lifestyle took him from Florence to Naples, a stint in the US, and work as a director of production in the troubled 2006 movie And Quiet Flows The Don.
When the Meredith Kercher case broke late in 2007, he was the first blogger, on his new site Perugia Shock, to write about the case. Moving back from Florence to Perugia, he managed a student flophouse, then he lived with his mother in a flat paid for through her pension check - his pattern for some time had been to live off the patronage of women.
These articles are based on a series of posts I wrote on PMF dot Net - the SfarzoGate Papers. They are also based on interviews of many people who knew him personally - one common theme was how financially insecure he was, often to the point of stealing from their wallets/purses, and getting caught shoplifting from a local Coop store (September 06, 2010)
[Perugia Shock in 2008 stiil supportive of Meredith, sarcastic of Knox]
Insertion into the case
Despite receiving lots of moneys from US supporter networks for his local intelligence (I saw evidence that pointed to a leak from inside the Questura, for which the prosecutors began an investigation against him in January 2009) his big dream was a) to own property and b) write a book/movie about the case.
It was this that drove him into the arms of the Friends Of Amanda (see forthcoming Part III about their support for him and his blog Perugia Shock coming shortly) and to literally 'turn on a dime' in 2008 from being convinced of Amanda Knox's guilt (he has always maintained Raffaele Sollecito's relative innocence) to becoming, not just a pro-Amanda Knox blogger, but allying himself with the anti-Mignini forces in Perugia who wanted to impede his Monster Of Florence murder investigation.
The war upon Dr Mignini
The MOF series of ritualistic sex based murders took place in the Florence area in the 70's, and it fell to the prosecutor Dr Giuliano Mignini, with ace criminal investigator Michele Giuttari, to carry on the work of earlier prosecutors. Much of the misreporting on the MOF case was sourced to Mario Spezi, who, allied with American writer Doug Preston, started a campaign of slander against Mignini from 2006 on that continues to this day.
My sources tell me that Frank knows Spezi quite well, and as well he is allied with the Berlusconi forces who wanted to carry out their attack on the Italian judiciary. But, seeing how Doug Preston supposedly got a movie deal with Tom Cruise's company, then after that with George Clooney, to film The Monster Of Florence, he hoped to have a similar movie made about the Amanda Knox case, with him working on it of course.
Neither movie looks to be made now, which adds to much bitterness in some quarters.
[Knox in Seattle with Frank; she came to mistrust him]
The Perugia domestic dispute
Then, as tends to happen, the wheels came off the PR bus. Frank's sisters, concerned about how he was taking advantage of his mother, tried to intervene, he became abusive, the police were called for the domestic dispute September 10, 2010; he went ballistic, and attacked them.
It was this incident, with the resulting assault charge he has managed to avoid so far, that he has spun into a web of lies about 'Mignini's persecution' with the assistance of his muse, Candace Dempsey, author of Murder In Italy, the Friends Of Amanda Knox and Bruce Fischer, the co-owner with Sarah Snyder of the for profit Innocence-Anywhere (formerly Injustice In Perugia) website.
[The initial accomodation the Mellases hoped Frank would accept]
His begging for money
His sisters having whisked his mother off to their own home, he was without funds and about to lose his apartment. From a begging e-mail of Frank's, Feb. 23, 2012: "They knew my sister was against me, the women in my family are unfortunately bad, you guys are saving me, I will always be grateful, I will be filing the complaint to have 'Piggy' and his gang tried, I will write the movie about this case, we will do great things together".
He also claimed it was his sisters who were stealing the family funds, and that Mignini's actions in the Meredith Kercher case were 'criminal' (which is the reason for the criminal defamation lawsuit he must now appear for in Florence).
Pleas for financial assistance ensued, along with hints he might be closing down his rejigged website and moving to the United States for "other journalistic projects". He actually asked for 10,000 Euros through Bruce Fischer's website!
His attempt to move to US
The reality was, Italy beginning to pall, and with the outstanding assault charge, he hoped to make a permanent move to the US, with the help (he thought) of his prominent American supporters.
Funds began to flow, and by my estimation he has received 'donations' in the tens of thousands of dollars. Which never, sadly, was enough. Just one Canadian supporter, who was abused by Frank after arrival, sent him 7000 dollars (confirmation posted by him on dot NET) in the form of 500 Euro monthly payments, plus his return air ticket.
[The Vashon Sportsmens Club where Frank & the FOA met]
Frank arrives in Seattle
The supporter gave the date of his arrival at Seattle Air Port July 20, 2012, along with fellow Knox supporter Dr. David Anderson, with whom he'd been staying in Perugia.
Frank managed to invite himself to the Mellas household, promising to reveal all about the investigation that would blow it wide open. He also claimed to have copies of the Amanda Knox 'interrogation' by the police and PM Mignini, which also, turned out to be a lie.
[The FOA publicity planning meeting inside the bar]
His first accomodation
Offered a bunk in Chris Mellas's boat parked in his driveway, he threw a fit, and demanded to be housed in their home.
Where he ended up, staying with them for two months beginning July and including the Canadian interlude. Judge Michael Heavey who also had been sending regular monthly contributions (I am told around 300 Euros) escorted him around Washington State, then took him and Dr. Anderson to another of his pro-Knox anti-Mignini Rotary Club Club meetings on July 25, 2012.
The problem was that the Mellas clan and Bruce Fischer had already planned the big Vashon Island get together at the Vashon Sportsman's Inn, Saturday July 28, 2012, to plan and coordinate the PR push for the shortly to be released books, and thank her supporters.
Therefore, not wanting to risk a blowup, they tried to placate him, while complaining to themselves about his behavior.
Knox stepdad Chris Mellas even told the Canadian supporter that Frank was a 'difficult house guest', this a week after he'd arrived (!) while Candace Dempsey, sitting next to them, nodded agreement.
[The FOA publicity group photo inside the bar. Some in hiding, we have other photos]
Frank Sforza and Amanda
Frank sat all day next to Amanda, who seems in her pictures to have a horrified fascination with Frank, who posed front and center for many group photos, and grandiosely boasted how he was going to 'reveal all about the gang of criminals'.
The supporters, who numbered over 60, including Judge Heavey, Steve Moore, Tom Rochelle, Joe Bishop, and Bruce Fischer, all lapped it up. Later, when the infamous finger salute Group Photo was taken, it was with the instruction to "send a message to Mignini". Shouts of "Pignini" rang out.
Frank was working very hard after that to find a way to stay in the US. He looked into obtaining a Green Card, but most of the female supporters were already married/not interested. Photos taken of him with them at the time show an adoring, rapturous group, though that changed after the stories came out.
[Frank points to Screech Rum bottle from "Bill Williams" in kind host's house. He looks very angry]
Frank's Canadian interludes:
His first visit over the border for a week, went well. His Canadian supporters, one of whom, "Bill Williams" (a Canadian reverend) posts thousands of Groupie posts, met him with a bottle of "Screech Rum".
The second visit, though, was when it all began to unravel.
A Canadian border service agent intercepted Frank, and, not believing his story why he was visiting Canada, seized his passport, and ordered him to report back to the agency the next day, August 25, with his Canadian sureties, "Bill", and "Peter". He was allowed to stay over, but things began to unravel after that. (I saw the passport seizure document)
Frank became increasingly erratic. Not satisfied with the money already received from his host, "Peter", he requested a 'business loan' of $25,000 to set up a beach bar. "Peter", a successful retired businessman, was struck by Frank's lack of business acumen, said the plan was unfeasible, and declined.
Frank Sfarzo, who had never held a long term job or owned property in his life, began to insult him, calling his $750,000 home a 'barn' and other personal insults. Yet all he did in the nearly a month he was there was watch soap operas all day long, plus work on his blog, which his supporters helped him edit.
In the end, when one of Frank's tirades became too unbearable, his host, concerned for his safety, called the RCMP at 4:00 AM in the morning, who then escorted Frank, uttering threats of "suing" everybody, to the border, and expelled him from Canada. He is now barred from entering the country. In turn, Frank accused his 71 yr. old host of sexually molesting him! The police didn't believe him, of course.
Frank is back in Seattle
Frank returned to Seattle, where he was asked to leave the Mellas home after making a pass at Amanda Knox. Chris Mellas famously called him a "mooch" and an "exploiter", and asked the Hawaiian supporter to delete Amanda's personal information from Frank's telephone, but everyone was too scared of him to do much else.
Frank then stayed a few days Edda Mellas's sister, Janet Huff's home (he calls her and her daughter a 'bitch') then various homes until he ended up in a rooming house owned by another supporter, at 2283 Viewmont Way W. Seattle, on a three month lease beginning October 01, 2012 at $525 a month (paid for by the FOA, Frank's funds were running low)
[The hotel where Franks kind host paid his bill]
Frank's Hawaiian adventure
Frank's visitor's permit running out, he accepted an invitation from another American supporter, then a long standing member of Bruce Fischer's forum. He thought she was rich, she thought he was a misunderstood soul who corresponded with her regularly (she paid for a month's rent, sent a ticket as well to Kona airport).
Frank arrived November 08, 2012, on a seven day ticket. He was due to return November 14, but his plans were to get married, and obtain a Green card.
Surprise. She wasn't rich, wasn't interested in marriage, and lived off the land in a little mountain community. He started the usual pattern of verbal abuse. They were peasants, she was a 'loser', etc. The people there were going to beat him up, she saved him from that. Even the dogs hated him.
Trying to salvage the trip, she took him to a hotel room (which she paid for) for the last day on the island. Frank started with the abuse again, struck her, she fled to the desk and called the police. She just wanted him removed and to catch his flight, he threatened to sue the police, they arrested him for assault. He claimed she threw luggage at him, but it was she who had the bruises to show to the police. She fled the room right after.
He was held overnight, released the next day and told to appear in court the next week on assault charges. Which he did, and she, just wanting to have him leave the island, declined to press charges, which can still be reinstated, should she chose to do so. Copies of all his arrest warrants and charges have already been published on PMF dot NET and PMF dot ORG.
[Seattle Municipal courthouse where Frank was supposed to attend trial December 31, 2012]
When the news of his arrest broke, there was shock all around at PR central and Bruce Fischer's ORG. Bruce tried to cover it up, deleted his forum member's allegations (I found and saved it in the hour it was up)
I expressed sympathy on PMF dot Net, she read it, contacted me, and the rest, as they say is history. Bruce tried to intimidate her by revealing her past sexual history, which Frank passed to him (so she posted it herself, she's a victim of sexual assault, and decided she didn't ever want to be a victim again)
Then when Peter, the Canadian host spoke up on her behalf, Bruce tried to pass it off as 'just too much to drink on both sides' and this caused an uproar in his own forum, as members, appalled, quit in droves. And some of them, contacted me.
Of course, Bruce, who likes to intimidate and abuse, (as former friend Steve Shay found out) allowed Knox 'family friend' Karen Pruett to reveal the accuser's identity, even though we had obscured her name in our reporting.
Frank got into an argument with two men at the rooming house who called him out on his behavior, he sucker punched one from behind and bit another, a disabled person. He was arrested and charged with assault, held overnight, arraigned the next day, probable cause found, and he was told to appear in court December 31, 2012. Which he didn't, having fled back to Italy.
Just like in Hawaii, he provided false ID and was charged as "Francesco Sforca" though we were able to locate the court records anyway. His supporters say he was stopped at the border from returning, but that is a lie. He was in Italy throughout that time, my sources tell me. Someone is out $2,500 bail money.
[Seattle airport where Frank took off from after arrest, never to return]
Francesco Sforza, also known as Frank Sfarzo, who travelled with and left behind files, photos and videos of a murdered girl in three different cities, should know that all his 'property' has been forwarded to the authorities to return to their rightful owner, whoever that might be. I do not know whether that forms or is part of an investigation into his activities, nor do I care.
(To be continued in Part III, Frank Sfarzo and the FOA, due sometime this weekend)
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Thursday, December 05, 2013
The Rise And Fall Of "Frank Sfarzo" And How "Sfarzogate" Ripples On And On
Posted by Ergon
[Image is from Francesco Sforza's early days in Seattle last year when he felt he was riding very high]
December 06, 2013. Francesco Sforza also known as Frank Sfarzo is due to appear today in a Florence criminal court.
He is charged with aggravated defamation (art. 595 of the Italian Criminal Code) against the Deputy Prosecutor General for Umbria (Perugia's region) Dr Giuliano Mignini, because he is a very senior officer of the court, with the alleged intention of obstructing justice on Knox's behalf.
The charges refer to multiple accusations of criminality Sforza made online on his now hidden or defunct blog "Perugia Shock". A prison term is unlikely if found guilty at this one trial, but the problem is that he faces a trial for violence against police in Perugia as well.
Who is Frank Sfarzo? Is he "a Perugian blogger and investigative journalist" and "personable black haired man with intense brown eyes"? (Candace Dempsey, who relied extensively on his personal contacts and blog for her book "Murder In Italy")
Or as journalist Andrea Vogt wrote in a May 27, 2009 Seattle PI article,
Dempsey was one of the first U.S. bloggers to post key court documents. (Sourced from Sfarzo) She is now writing a book on the case. The other defense site is Perugia Shock, the first blog about the case, which started Nov. 2, 2007. Perugia Shock's comment threads are home to some of the most heated Knox-related exchanges online.
Perugia Shock is hosted on a California server and financed by an American firm, according to the Perugia-based blogger who covers the case and operates the site under the alias "Frank Sfarzo.
"Also known as Frank Sfarzo, this home-spun blogger set up his blog "Perugia Shock" the day after (sic) Meredith's body was found. The Knox family initially relied on his local intelligence, and he exchanged videos and information with pro-Amanda Seattle blogger Candace Dempsey". Source: Darkness Descending page 324.
The journalist Barbie Nadeau has this to say about Sforza in "Angel Face" pages-89-91:
The first blog dedicated to the crime, Perugia Shock, was set up on November 02, 2007, the day Meredith's body was discovered. The blogger, Frank Sfarzo, a skeletal man with a waxed crew cut, ran a student flophouse in town and believes that he missed a call from Meredith while she was looking for lodging.
When I later asked him in an e-mail why he started the blog, he explained the connection and described how Meredith had looked at the coroners: "Seriously, she was so beautiful and sweet, she seemed to be alive, with the mascara on her eylashes (sic), just like ready to go out.
"Sfarzo hid behind the handle, "Frank the blogger," and he would never confirm whether he actually saw Meredith on the autopsy table or simply saw the coroner's photos. (He saw the photos, and obtained copies) He ingratiated himself with several clerks and cops around town and, curiously, often had a document no one else could get or a scoop that beat out the rest of the press."
He started out as an objective observer, slightly sympathetic to Meredith, but became a rabid proponent of Amanda's innocence. He was the quintessential blogger—a smart, cryptic, insomniac. Even the chief prosecutor, Giuliano Mignini, read his posts.
Mignini always believed that Frank's blog was intellectually inspired and financially subsidized by Mario Spezi, the Italian journalist who covered the Monster of Florence serial killer for La Nazione. During the 1970's and 80's, several couples were murdered as they made love in their cars in the foothills around Florence. Spezi followed the investigation for years and pinned his reputation on a theory of the case that Mignini disputed. Eventually, Mignini had Spezi jailed for obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence.
Note: this is how the American fiction writer Douglas Preston got involved with Spezi, and latched on to the Meredith Kercher murder case as a way of getting back against Mignini, also supporting Frank Sfarzo behind the scenes.
Why is Frank Sfarzo so important to this case? It is about public perception about the guilt, or innocence of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, and how he was the source of many of the myths about the case and prosecutor Giuliani Mignini that have made it into the mainstream media. Yes, he had many police files, improperly obtained, and insecurely kept.
This article is the first of a series of posts about his activities in that regard, the true story of his so called 'persecution' by Dr Mignini, and the financial and other support he received from the supporters of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, and their families. He even hid his relationship with OGGI magazine.
It reveals why he really fled Italy to America, attempting to get a green card in the process, and the many cases of assault that are still outstanding against him. It details the story of his arrests for assault in Perugia, Hawaii, and Seattle, and the circumstances of his expulsion from Canada.
It will tell how he received tens of thousands of dollars in 'donations' from prominent supporters of Knox and Sollecito funneled through Bruce Fischer's organizations "Injustice in Perugia" and "Injustice Anywhere" as well as his and other people's PayPal accounts (I have the details) And it will detail the behind the scenes efforts to influence the case using Frank Sfarzo as a source for the allegations against Mignini through websites like IIP and Ground Report, which then made its way into the media.
This series will also reveal much about Frank Sfarzo, the man. Someone who believed primarily in Knox's guilt (with Sollecito as the roped in sex-slave) it shows a flawed being willing to compromise himself to make money, and also, fulfill his long held dream to have 'books written and movies made'.
In the course of this investigation, I met with and interviewed many previous supporters who now wish they had never met him, and some, who even, conclude that his reporting on the case was based on self-serving lies. The behavior of those that enabled him also comes under scrutiny, and, their attempts to intimidate people into not speaking up about his actions.
They indeed, had much to hide.
This report is based on the hundreds of posts I made on him at PMF dot Net, with much help from the posters and editors there and at PMF dot Org. It was heartening to see the cooperation between the two sites and thanks are due to them, and also to Peter Quennell, who first invited me to join the Meredith Kercher community three years back (I'd been posting on the case at Huffington Post previously)
What will happen to Frank in court? I do not know, but it does appear, that the falsehoods he spread are beginning to unravel. I see he has surfaced again, after hiding from the authorities for so long. Reporting on Bruce Fischer's blog, he writes "they attack me for speaking up". No, I'm sorry. In this, as it always has been, the blogger Francesco Sforza, also known as Frank Sfarzo, is the author of his own misfortune.
Part II of the series, "The Sfarzo~Gate Papers", will be published here next week. ~Ergon
[Below: This picture has a story behind it. Frank Sfarzo stayed almost two months at the Mellas household, and was later shunted off to various supporters when he made a sexual move on Amanda Knox.]
Archived in Diversion efforts by, The Knox-Mellases, Francesco Sforza, Michael Heavey, Steve Moore, Bruce Fischer, More sockpuppets, Other legal cases, Associated trials
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Wednesday, December 04, 2013
With Sollecito's First Plea For Mitigation Seen As A Flop, His Behavior Seems Increasingly Erratic
Posted by Peter Quennell
Sollecito has not ever taken the witness stand.
And given the minefield his foolish book and media claims amount to, don't hold your breath expecting otherwise soon. However, last month Sollecito did use the Italian accuseds' privilege of making an impromptu plea to the judges.
He was not under oath and not subject to cross-examination by the prosecutors. He did not address the copious evidence, and was seen as attempting to humanize himself to perhaps get some years knocked off a final sentence.
As always, Knox forces were left confused, thinking he had somehow helped both of them. But Sollecito repeatedly drew attention to his being an Italian and in effect to Knox and Guede not being Italians, thus once again separating himself from Knox on lines Barbie Nadeau also described here..
Our main poster Yummi was in the court and reported in part as follows:
One of the woman judges kept staring elsewhere and almost never watched Sollecito all the time he was talking. Sollecito's speech itself was actually not that exciting. It was so overt that he was focused on portraying himself as a person who is so good and cannot hurt anyone, not the bad guy described in the media. The real and only topic of Sollecito's statement was himself, who he is, his "true" personality, he begged them to look at what a good and suffering a boy he is…
And believe me, Sollecito was just whiny. For a big part of his speech he was just putting distance between who he is today and the person he was when he was 20 years old. He talked about the impossibility of finding a job (the job he would like to have in a corporation, obviously, not just any job) and wanted the judge to project to his condition from that of young Italians who can't hope to see a future.
Then 10 days ago the skilled senior prosecutor Dr Alessandro Crini fired back, and effectively demolished Sollecito's premature statement. As we reported, Dr Crini took nearly two days to do that.
Sollecito was again in court on the first day, but was seemingly unable to face Dr Crini's onslaught on the second day. He remained holed up at his hotel.
Although Dr Crini settled on a lowest-common-denominator motive - a Lord of the Flies flare-up which had escalated into mob violence and the fatal stab to Meredith - his recounting of the evidence and associated behavior of the pack was comprehensive and very hard.
Meredith was treated "as if she was an animal." In this way Dr Crini defined the dynamics of the murder of Meredith Kercher during his indictment. According to Dr Crini, the attack escalated to the point where the attackers felt they "needed to get rid of a girl they had abused". While Rudy Guede sexually abused Meredith Kercher, supine on the floor of her room, Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox, according to the reconstruction, were at each side of the body of the victim.
"The mouth and neck of the victim were contained in a fierce way to avoid Meredith going berserk and screaming, and when Meredith did in fact manage to scream, she received the final fierce stab to the throat." Two knives were used in the crime at the house in Via della Pergola on the night between 1 and 2 November 2007"...
Dr Crini referring to the bra clasp of the victim, said that "the presence of the DNA of Raffaele Sollecito is quite certain" and explained at length why there was no "possibility of contamination".
Amanda Knox was at the scene of the crime, according to the identification made by the scientific police in Meredith's room of an imprint of a shoe (female size 36-38 according to the results of the analysis)... On the pillowcase, the center of gravity of this bloody history, were found a palmprint of Rudy Guede and this print of the shoe."
Dr Francesco Sollecito was reported as being shocked by the unrelenting tone of the indictment. However, Sollecito's plight is not nearly as bad as the ever-stubborn Amanda Knox's.
Knox has already served three years and was fined heavily for obstruction of justice. She could face another year for that if it is found to have been aggravating. And as the post below mentions, she could face as many as three more charges for aggravating obstruction of justice.
Sollecito in contrast has respected the court by actually showing up, and, unlike Knox, has lately shown restraint in accusing his accusers.
However, the day after Dr Crini 's indictment, it looked like Sollecito was taking off out of Italy like a rabbit.
La Nazione reported that police at Florence Airport had held back a fully loaded Air France flight to Paris while they checked with the prosecution that he was indeed allowed to leave the country. La Nazione said the prosecutors have some concern that he might skip and not come back, but he did come back from Santo Domingo, and his family has always ensured a presence in court.
But next TGCom24 reported that Sollecito's father had claimed that Sollecito had already gone home to Bisceglie, although he is a free citizen still in possession of a passport and can travel anywhere if he wishes.
But then TGCom24 reported that he had indeed flown to Paris, and had turned around and come straight back again, to stay with family friends. And that on 8 December he will sit his final exams in computer science at the University of Verona.
However soon after that La Nazione reported that Sollecito's father had been contradicted by his lawyers, and his erratic son had slipped through his fingers and flown "for his work" back to Santo Domingo. Translation by Jools:
1 December 2013 – SCOOP. Denials, lies, game by the defenders. But in the end it's up to the lawyer Luca Maori to admit: "Raffaele Sollecito returned to Santo Domingo, as anticipated on Friday by La Nazione"
He embarked from Florence's Peretola Airport and made a stop-over in Paris, from where he then flew to the Caribbean island where he spent the last few months that preceded the start of the new appeals process. "But there is nothing strange - minimizes the lawyer - Raffaele went back to pick up the things he left there, will be back in ten days for the final exams and to await the judgment. With anxiety, but self-assured."
No escape, just a normal "work" trip. Permissible, since there is no measure that prevents the accused to leave Italy. But the departure of Sollecito, accused of the murder of Meredith Kercher along with former girlfriend Amanda Knox (already sheltered in the U.S.) caused some sneering. And even the agents of the Border Police, when they saw him in front of the [departure] gate, made a phone call to the Procura to be sure whether the journey in the midst of the appeal process was really "normal."
IN FACT. Sollecito 's father, in an understandable effort to defend his already too overexposed son, slipped on the so-called banana peel, placing the young man within a few hours in various locations, but never in the true destination across the ocean: in Verona, preparing for the final exam in computer science in regard to the thesis, or in Paris, but just for a flash-stay from which he was back the day after. At Christmas, maintained the father, Raffaele will return from abroad. Maybe for the last break before the final rush of the Mark II process, which, according to calculations by the Assize Court of Appeal, could be concluded on January 15.
Meanwhile, the hearing on 16 December is for the remaining civil parties, then double date for the defence, (December 17 and January 9) and hearing on the 10 dedicated to counter-argument. With Sollecito in the courtroom, assures the lawyer.
More grief for Papa Doc…. In the movie Groundhog Day the obnoxious hero had to repeat a single day of his life again and again till he hit upon the right things to do and say. Judge Nencini did leave Sollecito an opening to address the judges again.
It is in Sollectto's own best interests to go back to court, and try and try and try to look and sound chastened till he gets it right. Knox too.
Archived in Officially involved, Raff Sollecito, Public evidence, The two knives, Crime hypotheses, The psychology, Diversion efforts by, The Sollecitos, Sollecito's book
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Saturday, November 30, 2013
Note For Strasbourg Court & State Department: Knox Herself Proves She Lies About Her Interrogation
Posted by James Raper
In our previous post Kermit nicely shows how, under the European Court of Human Rights' own guidelines, Amanda Knox's "appeal" won't put her out of reach of the fair and painstaking Italians.
If any of the busy, hard-pressed ECHR investigators do choose to press beyond the ECHR guidelines, they will almost instantly establish that in her voluntary interview on 5 November 2007 Knox was treated with complete fairness.
Also that her false accusation of Patrick (which she never retracted) was entirely of her own doing.
And also that she is not only trying to throw sand into the wheels of Italian justice during an ongoing judicial process (a felony in Italy) but she is trying to welsh out of paying Patrick his damages award of $100,000 (a contempt of the Supreme Court) thus foolishly risking two more charges of aggravated calunnia.
This post derives from a post of mine last May. In another post, we showed that Dr Mignini was not present for the interrogation that night, and Knox maliciously invented an illegal interrogation at risk of a third aggravated calunnia charge.
In fact Dr Mignini met with Amanda Knox only briefly, later, to charge her and to warn she should say no more without a lawyer. He asked her no questions.
I will compare the various accounts of the interrogation to demonstrate that Amanda Knox is indeed lying to the ECHR, just as she did repeatedly in her book this year and also on US and European television.
- There are two main bodies of truth about the interrogation: (1) all of those present at various times on that night and (2) Knox's own testimony on the witness stand in mid 2009.
- There are two main bodies of lies about the interrogation (1) The Sollecito book and (2) the Knox book, which by the way not only contradict one another but also contradict such other accounts as those of Saul Kassin and John Douglas.
The police had called her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito in to the station for questioning and Knox had accompanied him because she did not want to be alone. They had already eaten at the house of a friend of Sollecito's.
Knox's interrogation was not tape recorded and in that sense we have no truly independent account of what transpired. The police, including the interpreter, gave evidence at her trial, but we do not yet have transcripts for that evidence other than that of the interpreter. There are accounts in books that have been written about the case but these tend to differ in the detail. The police and the interpreter maintain that she was treated well. Apart from the evidence of the interpreter all we have is what Knox says happened, and our sources for this are transcripts of her trial evidence and what she wrote in her book. I shall deal with the evidence of the interpreter towards the end of this article.
I am going to compare what she said at trial with what she wrote in her book but also there was a letter she wrote on the 9th and a recording of a meeting with her mother on the 10th November which are relevant.. What she wrote in her book is fairly extensive and contains much dialogue. She has a prodigious memory for detail now which was almost entirely lacking before. I am going to tell you to treat what she says in her book with extreme caution because she has already been found out for, well let us say, her creative writing if not outright distortion of facts. I shall paraphrase rather than quote most of it but a few direct quotes are necessary.
Knox arrived with Sollecito at the police station at about 10.30 pm (according to John Follain). The police started to question Sollecito at 10.40 pm (Follain).
In her book Knox describes being taken from the waiting area to a formal interview room in which she had already spent some time earlier. It is unclear when that formal questioning began. Probably getting on for about 11.30pm because she also refers to some questions being asked of her in the waiting room following which she did some stretches and splits. She then describes how she was questioned about the events over a period from about the time she and Sollecito left the cottage to about 9 pm on the 1st November.
Possibly there was a short break. She describes being exhausted and confused. The interpreter, Knox says, arrived at about 12.30 am. Until then she had been conversing with the police in Italian.
Almost immediately on the questioning resuming -
"Monica Napoleoni, who had been so abrupt with me about the poop and the mop at the villa, opened the door. "Raffaele says you left his apartment on Thursday night," she said almost gleefully. "He says that you asked him to lie for you. He's taken away your alibi.""
Knox describes how she was dumfounded and devastated by this news. She cannot believe that he would say that when they had been together all night. She feels all her reserves of energy draining away. Then -
"Where did you go? Who did you text?" Ficarra asked, sneering at me.
"I don't remember texting anyone."
They grabbed my cell phone up off the desk and scrolled quickly through its history.
"You need to stop lying. You texted Patrick. Who's Patrick?"
"My boss at Le Chic."
Stop right there.
How were the police able to name the recipient of the text? The text Patrick had sent her had already been deleted from Knox's mobile phone by Knox herself and Knox hasn't yet named Patrick. In fact she couldn't remember texting anyone.
It is of course probable that the police already had a log of her calls and possibly had already traced and identified the owner of the receiving number for her text, though the last step would have been fast work.
In her trial testimony Knox did a lot of "the police suggested this and suggestd that" though it is never crystal clear whether she is accusing the police of having suggested his name. But she is doing it here in her book and of course the Knox groupies have always maintained that it was the police who suggested his name to her.
The following extract from her trial testimony should clear things up. GCM is Judge Giancarlo Massei.
GCM: In this message, was there the name of the person it was meant for?
AK: No, it was the message I wrote to my boss. The one that said "Va bene. Ci vediamo piu tardi. Buona serata."
GCM: But it could have been a message to anyone. Could you see from the message to whom it was written?
AK: Actually, I don't know if that information is in the telephone…………………..
GCM : But they didn't literally say it was him!
AK : No. They didn't say it was him, but they said "We know who it is, we know who it is. You were with him, you met him."
GCM : Now what happened next? You, confronted with the message, gave the name of Patrick. What did you say?"
AK : Well, first I started to cry…....
And having implied that it was the police who suggested Patrick's name to her, she adds….. that quote again -
"You need to stop lying. You texted Patrick. Who's Patrick?"
"My boss at Le Chic."
Here she is telling the Perugian cops straight out exactly to whom the text was sent. "My boss at Le Chic".
But that does not quite gel with her trial testimony -
And they told me that I knew, and that I didn't want to tell. And that I didn't want to tell because I didn't remember or because I was a stupid liar. Then they kept on about this message, that they were literally shoving in my face saying "Look what a stupid liar you are, you don't even remember this!"
At first, I didn't even remember writing that message. But there was this interpreter next to me who kept saying "Maybe you don't remember, maybe you don't remember, but try," and other people were saying "Try, try, try to remember that you met someone, and I was there hearing "Remember, remember, remember…..
Doesn't the above quote make it clear that the police were having considerable trouble getting Knox to tell them to whom her text message was sent? It would also explain their growing frustration with her.
But perhaps the above quote relates not to whom the text was sent but, that having been ascertained, whether Knox met up with that person later? Knox has a habit of conflating the two issues. However there is also the following quote from her trial testimony -
Well there were lots of people who were asking me questions, but the person who had started talking with me was a policewoman with long hair, chestnut brown hair, but I don't know her. Then in the circle of people who were around me, certain people asked me questions, for example there was a man holding my telephone, and who was literally shoving the telephone into my face, shouting "Look at this telephone! Who is this? Who did you want to meet?"
Then there were others, for instance this woman who was leading, was the same person who at one point was standing behind me, because they kept moving, they were really surrounding me and on top of me. I was on a chair, then the interpreter was also sitting on a chair, and everyone else was standing around me, so I didn't see who gave me the first blow because it was someone behind me, but then I turned around and saw that woman and she gave me another blow to the head.
The woman with the long hair, chestnut brown hair, Knox identifies in her book as Ficarra. Ficarra is the policewoman who started the questioning particularly, as Knox has confirmed, about the texted message. "Look at this telephone! Who is this? Who did you want to meet?" Again, surely this is to get Knox to identify the recipient of the text, not about whether she met up with him?
In the book though, it is all different.
In the book, the police having told her that the text is to someone called Patrick, Knox is a model of co-operation as, having already told them that he is her boss at Le Chic, she then gives a description of him and answers their questions as to whether he knew Meredith, whether he liked her etc. No reluctance to co-operate, no memory difficulties here.
Notwithstanding this, her book says the questions and insinuations keep raining down on her. The police insist that she had left Sollecito's to meet up with - and again the police name him - Patrick.
"Who did you meet up with? Who are you protecting? Why are you lying? Who's this person? Who's Patrick?"
Remember again, according to her trial testimony the police did not mention Patrick's name and Knox still hasn't mentioned his name. But wait, she does in the next line -
"I said "Patrick is my boss.""
So now, at any rate, the police have a positive ID from Knox regarding the text message and something to work with. Patrick - boss - Le Chic.
Knox then refers to the differing interpretations as to what "See you later" meant and denies that she had ever met up with Patrick that evening. She recalls the interpreter suggesting that she was traumatized and suffering from amnesia.
The police continue to try to draw an admission from Knox that she had met up with Patrick that evening - which again she repeatedly denies. And why shouldn't she? After all, she denies that she's suffering from amnesia, or that there is a problem with her memory. The only problem is that Sollecito had said she had gone out but that does not mean she had met with Patrick.
Knox then writes, oddly, as it is completely out of sequence considering the above -
"They pushed my cell phone, with the message to Patrick, in my face and screamed,
"You're lying. You sent a message to Patrick. Who's Patrick?"
That's when Ficarra slapped me on my head."
A couple of blows (more like cuffs) to the head (denied by the police) is mentioned in her trial testimony but more likely, if this incident ever happened, it would have been earlier when she was struggling to remember the text and to whom it had been sent. Indeed that's clear from the context of the above quotes.
And this, from her trial testimony -
Remember, remember, remember, and then there was this person behind me who—it's not that she actually really physically hurt me, but she frightened me."
In the CNN TV interview with Chris Cuomo, Knox was asked if there was anything she regretted.
Knox replied that she regretted the way this interrogation had gone, that she wished she had been aware of her rights and had stood up to the police questioning better.
Well actually, according to the account in her book, she appears to have stood up to the police questioning with a marked degree of resilience and self- certainty, and with no amnesia. There is little of her trademark "being confused".
So why the sudden collapse? And it was a sudden collapse.
Given the trial and book accounts Knox would have us think that she was frightened, that it was due to exhaustion and the persistent and bullying tone of the questioning, mixed with threats that she would spend time in prison for failing to co-operate. She also states that -
(a) she was having a bad period and was not being allowed to attend to this, and
(b) the police told her that they had "hard evidence" that she was involved in the murder.
Knox has given us a number of accounts as to what was actually happening when this occurred.
In a letter she wrote on the 9th November she says that suddenly all the police officers left the room but one, who told her she was in serious trouble and that she should name the murderer. At this point Knox says that she asked to see the texted message again and then an image of Patrick came to mind. All she could think about was Patrick and so she named him (as the murderer).
During a recorded meeting with her mother in Capanne Prison on the 10th November she relates essentially the same story.
In her book there is sort of the same story but significantly without mention of the other officers having left the room nor mention of her having asked to see the texted message again.
If the first two accounts are correct then at least the sense of oppression from the room being crowded and questions being fired at her had lifted.
Then this is from her book -
In that instant, I snapped. I truly thought I remembered having met somebody. I didn't understand what was happening to me. I didn't understand that I was about to implicate the wrong person. I didn't understand what was at stake. I didn't think I was making it up. My mind put together incoherent images. The image that came to me was Patrick's face. I gasped. I said his name. "Patrick—it's Patrick.
It's her account, of course, but this "Patrick - It's Patrick" makes no sense at this stage of it unless it's an admission not just that she had met up with Patrick but that he was at the cottage and involved in Meredith's death.
And this is from her trial testimony -
GCM : Now what happened next? You, confronted with the message, gave the name of Patrick. What did you say?
AK : Well, first I started to cry. And all the policemen, together, started saying to me, you have to tell us why, what happened? They wanted all these details that I couldn't tell them, because in the end, what happened was this: when I said the name of Patrick I suddenly started imagining a kind of scene, but always using this idea: images that didn't agree, that maybe could give some kind of explanation of the situation.
There is a clear difference between these two quotes.
The one from her book suggests that she was trying hard but that the police had virtually brought her to the verge of a mental breakdown.
Her trial testimony says something else; that a scene and an idea was forming in her mind brought on by her naming of Patrick.
In her book she states that a statement, typed up in Italian, was shoved under her nose and she was told to sign it. The statement was timed at 1.45 am. The statement was not long but would probably have taken about twenty minutes to prepare and type.
The statement according to Knox -
... I met Patrick immediately at the basketball court in Piazza Grimana and we went to the house together. I do not remember if Meredith was there or came shortly afterward. I have a hard time remembering those moments but Patrick had sex with Meredith, with whom he was infatuated, but I cannot remember clearly whether he threatened Meredith first. I remember confusedly that he killed her.
The fact that the statement was in Italian is not important. Knox could read Italian perfectly well. However she does insinuate in the book that the details in the statement were suggested to her and that she didn't bother to read the statement before signing.
Apart from what has been mentioned above, there are some other points and inferences to be drawn from the above analysis.
- 1. Knox's account destroys one of Sollecito's main tenets in his book Honour Bound. Sollecito maintains that he did nothing to damage Knox's alibi until he signed a statement, forced on him at 3:30 am and containing the damaging admission that Knox had gone out. But Knox makes it clear that she had heard from the Head of the Murder Squad that he had made that damaging admission, at or shortly after 12.30 am. Or is Knox is accusing Napoleoni of a bare-faced lie?
2. It is valid to ask why Knox would not want to remember to whom the text had been sent. Who can see into her mind? Perhaps Knox realized that discussion of it would confirm that if she had indeed gone out then it was not to Le Chic, where she was not required. However even if she thought that could put her in the frame it's not what an innocent person would be too worried about. Perhaps she did just have difficulty remembering?
3. If there was no fuss and she did remember and tell the police that the text was to Patrick, and the questioning then moved on to whether she met up with Patrick later that evening, what was the problem with that? She knew the fact that she hadn't met up with him could be verified by Patrick. She could have said that and stuck to it. The next move for the police would have been to question Patrick. They would not have had grounds to arrest him.
4. Knox stated in her memorial, and re-iterates it in her book, that during her interrogation the police told her that they had hard evidence that she was involved in Meredith's murder. She does not expand on what this evidence is, perhaps because the police did not actually tell her. However, wasn't she the least bit curious, particularly if she was innocent? What was she thinking it might be?
5. I can sympathise with any interviewee suffering a bad period, if that's true. However the really testy period of the interview/interrogation starts with the arrival of the interpreter, notification of Sollecito's withdrawal of her alibi and the questioning with regard to the text to Patrick, all occurring at around 12.30 am. There has to be some critical point when she concedes, whether to the police or in her own mind, that she'd met "Patrick", after which there was the questioning as to what had happened next. Say that additional questioning took 20 minutes. Then there would be a break whilst the statement is prepared and typed up. So the difficult period for Knox, from about 12.30 am to that critical point, looks more like about 35 to, at the outside, 50 minutes.
6. Even if, for that period, it is true that she was subjected to repeated and bullying questions, and threats, then she held up remarkably well as I have noted from her own account. It does not explain any form of mental breakdown, let alone implicating Patrick in murder. In particular, if Knox's letter of the 9th and the recording of her meeting with her mother on the 10th are to believed, that alleged barrage of questions had stopped when she implicated Patrick. An explanation, for what it's worth, might be that she had simply ceased to care any longer despite the consequences. But why?
7. A better and more credible explanation is that an idea had indeed formed suddenly in her mind. She would use the revelation about the text to Patrick and the consequent police line of questioning to bring the questioning to an end and divert suspicion from her true involvement in the murder of Meredith Kercher. She envisaged that she would be seen by the police as a helpless witness/victim, not a suspect in a murder investigation. As indeed was the case initially. She expected, I am sure, to be released, so that she could get Sollecito's story straight once again. If that had happened there would of course remain the problem of her having involved Patrick, but I dare say she thought that she could simply smooth that over - that it would not be a big deal once he had confirmed that there had been no meeting and that he had not been at the cottage, as the evidence was bound to confirm.
At the beginning I said that we also have a transcript now of the evidence of the interpreter, Anna Donnino. I will summarise the main points from her evidence but it will be apparent immediately that she contradicts much of what Knox and her supporters claim to have happened.
Donnino told the court that she had 22 years experience working as a translator for the police in Perugia. She was at home when she received a call from the police that her services were required and she arrived at the police station at just before 12.30 am, just as Knox said. She found Knox with Inspector Ficarra. There was also another police officer there whose first name was Ivano. At some stage Ficarra left the room and then returned and there was also another officer by the name of Zugarina who came in. Donnino remained with Knox at all times
The following points emerge from her testimony :-
- 1. Three police officers do not amount to the "lots of people" referred to in Knox's trial testimony, let alone the dozens and the "tag teams" of which her supporters speak.
2. She makes no mention of Napoleoni and denied that anyone had entered the room to state that Sollecito had broken Knox's alibi. (This is not to exclude that this may have happened before Donnino arrived)
3. She states that Knox was perfectly calm but there came a point when Knox was being asked how come she had not gone to work that she was shown her own text message (to Patrick). Knox had an emotional shock, put her hands to her ears and started rolling her head and saying "It's him! It's him! It's him!"
4. She denied that Knox had been maltreated or that she had been hit at all or called a liar.
5. She stated that the officer called Ivano had been particularly comforting to Knox, holding her hand occasionally.
6. She stated that prior to the 1.45 am statement being presented to Knox she was asked if she wanted a lawyer but Knox said no.
7. She stated that she had read the statement over to Knox in english and Knox herself had checked the italian original having asked for clarification of specific wording.
7. She confirmed that that she had told Knox about an accident which she'd had (a leg fracture) and that she had suffered amnesia about the accident itself. She had thought Knox was suffering something similar. She had also spoken to Knox about her own daughters because she thought it was necessary to establish a rapport and trust between the two of them.
The account in Knox's book is in some ways quite compelling but only if it is not compared against her trial testimony, let alone the Interpreter's testimony: that is, up to the point when she implicates Patrick in murder. At that point no amount of whitewash works. The Italian Supreme Court also thought so, upholding Knox's calunnia conviction, with the addition of aggravating circumstances.
Archived in Officially involved, Amanda Knox, The defenses, Diversion efforts by, The Knox-Mellases, Knox's book, The many hoaxes, Knox interrog. hoax
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Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Amanda Knox Lies Again To Get Herself Into Another European Court "But Really, Judge, Its Only PR"
Posted by Kermit
[Amanda Knox's lawyer Luciano Ghirga (right): "Amanda wasn't hit, we made no complaint"]
This is the first of two posts on Knox's claim to have sent an appeal to the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Last Monday the main event that followers of the Meredith Kercher murder case were awaiting was the closing argument by Prosecutor Alessandro Crini in Amanda Knox's and Raffaele Sollecito's appeal trial.
Dr Crini's structuring of the prosecution's case in 16 points demolished the defendants' efforts to present the volume of evidence against them as an incredible, long series of mistakes, coincidences and misunderstandings.
It seems, however, that Amanda Knox and her people didn't want the public to be too fascinated by Dr Crini's devastating argument. They really wanted them to be distracted by what can only be seen as an ill-judged public relations move, breaking yet more laws along the way.
Knox attempted to blow smoke over the prosecution's arguments by grandly announcing "today, my lawyers filed an appeal of my slander[sic] conviction with the European Court of Human Rights." That explanation of her PR ploy calls for a close review of her eligibility (here) and her so-called proof (next post).
Knox's eligibility or otherwise
The European Court of Human Rights, is a supranational European tribunal dedicated to – as its name suggests - human rights.
It is not dedicated to criminal or civil proceedings on murder, sexual assault, theft, simulation of a crime, or any of the other charges that Knox faces.
In fact, to avoid the many unnecessary or spurious applications which hamper real cases getting attended to, the ECHR provides a number of online resources on who may apply and how and why.
One of the first issues that its advice underlines is that it is not a glorified appeals court:
It is strange then, that Amanda Knox claims that her lawyers have "appealed" her case to the ECHR.
Either Knox's legal advisors are just ignorant (which ones? The Italian professionals, or the American media hacks?) or this is simply a last-ditch Hail Mary action as an extradition request moves inexorably closer.
If the ECHR makes clear that it isn't a court of appeal, there shouldn't be any direct correlation between the Supreme Court confirming her as a convicted criminal and her application to the ECHR.
If that is in fact the basis of their application, it will not go far before rejection. In fact, the vast majority (more than 95%) of applications get rejected:
"For a number of years now, and owing to a variety of factors, the Court has been submerged by individual applications (over 130,000 were pending as at 31 August 2010). The overwhelming majority of these applications (more than 95%) are, however, rejected without being examined on the merits for failure to satisfy one of the admissibility criteria laid down by the Convention.
This situation is frustrating on two counts.
Firstly, as the Court is required to respond to each application, it is prevented from dealing within reasonable time-limits with those cases which warrant examination on the merits, without the public deriving any real benefit.
Secondly, tens of thousands of applicants inevitably have their claims rejected, often after years of waiting."
It would be a outrageous if other, real human rights cases were delayed due to a Public Relations ruse as part of an extra-judicial strategy to undermine a request for Knox's extradition.
Other ECHR on-line resources help potential applicants decide if they be eligible to be heard at the Court.
Below, a work-flow chart presents the main steps, including various "Admissibility Criteria":
A first admissibility criterion
The first Admissibility criterion is that an applicant has exhausted "domestic remedies" in pursuing the recognition and correction of the human rights he or she feels have been abused.
Knox in her application to the ECHR directly relates the Italian Supreme Court final confirmation of her "calunnia" sentence (three years for obstruction of justice for framing her kindly boss Patrick Lumumba as the murderer of Meredith Kercher, thereby throwing off the course of the investigation) to her application to the ECHR.
But what were the supposed human rights abuses suffered? What did she do to remedy them?
The first requirement of exhausting "domestic remedies" means that the rights abuses that Knox alleges she has suffered have been pursued in Italy, and that all possible instances of reclamation in Italy have been visited.
However, as far as the public knows, Knox has not even placed a formal complaint concerning supposed civil rights abuse. Certainly her own Italian lawyers have said they havent.
The US and Italian publics would be interested in seeing her specific claims to the ECHR and whether there is any registration of such claims or complaints with the Italian police or other administrative or NGO offices.
Knox's needling stepfather, Chris Mellas, stated in April 2008 on a precursor to the PMF discussion forum that a complaint had been filed concerning Amanda being hit during questioning.
[Click for larger version]
However, nothing more has ever been heard of this complaint, which definitely would have been a starting point for pursuing domestic Italian remedies to the claimed rights abuse.
Since it appears zero rights abuses have been pursued in Italy, and the date of Knox's application to the ECHR is in effect unrelated to her "calunnia" sentence confirmed by the Supreme Court, the six month limit beyond national remedies related to the rights abuse for applying to the ECHR is irrelevant here.
It should be noted that when Prosecutor Crini asked this week for an addition to Knox's confirmed sentence for "calunnia", adding another year to the three years already served by the convicted criminal, this is not a reopening of the "calunnia" case or an example of "double jeopardy", but rather the reassessment on appeal of a separate, pending issue related to the basic calunnia charge: whether it should include an additional year of sentence for being aggravated.
Since this aggravation addition to the charge is awaiting determination, and follows from instructions of the Italian Supreme Court (and could result in an additional year in prison), it is not part of the prior, confirmed sentence.
A second admissibility criterion
Now just in case Knox or her lawyers would like to allege any perceived human rights abuse whatsoever in their ECHR application, the Strasbourg court insists on the reclamation in question being directly related to one of the sections of the European Convention on Human Rights
I've gone through it and I see chapters related to illegal detention (detention permitted only following arrest) and torture, but nothing related to getting cuffed on the back of your head.
If such an event ever occurred, it shouldn't have, but quite likely one of the other authorities or rights bodies listed by the ECHR may be better equipped to deal with it.
This is a second Admissibility Criterion that filters out many applications: one can't simply run to the ECHR saying "my rights have been abused" – the issue at hand must be directly related to the European Convention on Human Rights.
I seriously doubt the "hitting" event ever occurred because Knox's own Italian lawyer Luciano Ghirga denied it, stating to the Press on 21 October 2008:
Amanda wasn't hit. There were pressures fom the police, sure, but we never said she was hit.
As our next post here on this same subject will show, even Knox herself admitted she was treated well.
[Above: Amanda Knox's Italian courtroom lawyer stating to the Press in 2008 that she had not been hit.]
If Knox hasn't even tried to remedy being allegedly hit in Italy by suing or making formal complaints, nevertheless the Italian police certainly have acted upon such suggestions.
A number of legal processes are under way against Knox and her family members for slander and calunnia. Knox might face two more charges of aggravated calunnia. Why do I doubt that Knox has even mentioned those other legal processes in her application to the ECHR?
Those charges would of course have to be taken care of (as part of "exhausting domestic remedies") before the ECHR would be able to consider her application, assuming it surmounted all of its other shortcomings to get to the ECHR judges' hands.
A third admissibility criterion
Another Admissibility Criteria is the "Significant Disadvantage" filter. If an alleged rights abuse is minimal – compared to the very serious issues that the ECHR was created to consider – the application will go no further.
The only violent description of Knox's alleged beating was given by her stepfather, Chris Mellas: "She was interrogated, and hit, and threatened," he typed. "Tortured. Physically and mentally".
However, there was never any medical or forensic notification of such "torture" before or after her incarceration in Capanne Prison.
Rather, Knox spent her time in prison receiving regular visits from a lovelorn Italian politician who befriended her, and participating in prison musical and theatrical activities.
[Click for larger version]
In underlying the "significant disadvantage" requirement, the ECHR states in its examples of rejected claims, that it can't be distracted by the French driver who lost a point on his driver's licence, or the Romanian who claims 90 euros from the State, when the Court has real and serious Human Rights cases to deal with such as:
- El-Masri v. the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Article 3 of European Convention on Human Rights: Torture and inhuman and degrading treatment during and following applicant's extraordinary rendition to CIA)
- Hirsii Jamaa and others v. Italy (Article 4 of Protocol No. 4: Return of migrants intercepted on the high seas to country of departure)
It's almost certain that Knox has not pursued on an Italian level any remedies to her alleged human rights abuse (whatever it was), nor is there any evidence that the investigation into Meredith Kercher's murder and the subsequent trials of Knox, Rudy Guede and Raffaele Sollecito were affected in their outcome by the rights abuse.
This is especially the case if the limit of Knox's human rights suffering is that described by a talky ex-FBI helicopter pilot turned ex-college security guy turned Amanda Knox groupie, Steve Moore.
Moore describes the "frightful" circumstances of Knox's witness questioning on the night of 5 November 2007 for the couple of hours (perhaps even somewhat less) that it lasted:
No food, no coffee, no bathroom breaks – nothing.
Above is ex-college security man Steve Moore, right, together with PR flunkie Bruce Fischer, left, both flanking "Frank Sfarzo", a Knox-Mellas family friend.
Francesco Sforza is currently a fugitive from the Seattle courts on two counts of Assault-Domestic Violence, who continues to support Amanda in ongoing Internet blog posts, from wherever he may be.
See below. Click for larger. In purple, my corrections to Knox's "what-I-want-the-World-to-believe" post about applying to the ECHR.
In conclusion
Between the manifest doubtfulness of the acceptability of Knox's application to the European Court of Human Rights, on one hand, and the falsehoods and half-truths in her announcement, on the other, why do I get the feeling that the only reason and hope she and her team have in announcing the application (whether really filed or not) is to distract the attention of the followers of her appeal trial from the prosecution's weighty arguments?
This will have little if any effect on the wheels of Italian Justice, and probably even less on a State Department more concerned with maintaining good relations with European allies while diplomatic challenges occur in the Middle East and Asia, than with a lobby plan to prevent Knox's extradition.
[Below: The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg France]
Archived in Public evidence, Knox's alibis, Diversion efforts by, The Knox-Mellases, Knox's book, The many hoaxes, Knox interrog. hoax, Amanda Knox
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Meredith's Perugia #35: A Main Draw For Her, The Exuberant Baroque And Renaissance
Posted by The TJMK Main Posters
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Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Appeal Session #5: Prosecutor Alessandro Crini Proposes 30 Years For Knox And 26 For Sollecito
Posted by Peter Quennell
Assessment by main poster SeekingUnderstanding
The case put forward by the prosecution and reported to us by Yummi is almost startling in its lucid and concise approach.
It couldn't be more in contrast to the equivocations and disingenuousness, as well as irrelevant sentimentality that we have unfortunately become used to witnessing. The cutting use of logic was therefore refreshing, and gives grounds for optimism, albeit it tempered by unknowns.
All the issues seemed to be addressed from the base line, as if from primary considerations. And many points were simply politely dismissed as being unimportant to the true case in hand -which is the establishment of the guilt (or not) of the accused. For example, it was great to hear that the reason why the knife had been brought to the cottage need not be examined - it was enough that it was there.
It seemed that where the defence had challenged the evidence, for example suggesting contamination of DNA, it was here that Crini spared no detail, and took time in bottoming out the logic, and dispensing with their points. His arguments certainly carried conviction to me.
I was glad to see motive and behavioural dynamics looked at, as indeed Cassation had requested. It seemed good too that Crini ruled out premeditation, and reduced the dynamics to something highly plausible and believable as well as simple. There are just two points I might observe :
First, it would seem within character for Meredith to have been both open and direct in confronting issues of hygiene, drug use, infringement of privacy and noise etc., (or even theft of rent money, another possibility). I am not convinced that she would necessarily have been aggressively confrontational. Someone who is relaxed within themselves, accepting of their self, is well able to be assertive in a non-provocative manner. That is quite British too - especially old-fashioned English.
Secondly, bearing in mind the possible or probable profiles of the defendants, it would not have taken more than one small trigger of reasonable confrontation to release the consequent temper-tantrum or drug fuelled rage. I do not think we are dealing with something proportionate - and this is also why it escalated in the terrifying way it did. I don't think it is essential to hypothesize as to what in particular Meredith raised an objection to (e.g. Rudy's bathroom event). It is probable that Meredith's concerns were reasonable, and then the overly defensive and angry reaction to any criticism whatsoever was unreasonable. I personally think this is enough.
I liked the way Crini said that even though a source is unreliable or not credible in some ways, that does not mean they do not (inadvertently as it were) give out information that is also true and useful. Possibly other statements from Guede might be taken into account in this way?
As a psychologist, it would seem dialogue with Rudy might yet be fruitful, but, with things the way they remain with the other two, it does not seem the time now for further words. Something else needs to happen.
Assessment by main poster James Raper
Crini spent about 10 hours in total addressing the court and was certainly very thorough. Maresca was so impressed that there was no need for him to add anything further.
Crini came to the prosecution case without the baggage of having presented any previous scenario or of having had his reputation sullied and slandered by the Knox PR machine. He reviewed the evidence dispassionately and found it compelling.
Clearly he also found the previous machinations of C&V and the Hellmann court objectionable and went in hard here, even discussing previous cases where Vecchiotti and Conti had goofed up. Hellmann had tried so hard to avoid that coming out during his appeal.
He was not, however, averse to taking a different tack where he thought this was appropriate. A sign of his intellectual honesty which may have impressed the court.
For instance, he thought that there was no need to nail TOD down to 11.30pm as Mignini had sought to do. He allowed for an earlier TOD.
He was of the opinion that coming up with an exact time line for a period in which there is no alibi, and when there is already evidence of involvement in murder, is of only marginal interest.
He spent well over an hour discussing the knife. He did not think it necessary to mull over how it came to be at the cottage. That is speculation that need not detain anyone if the knife is accepted as the murder weapon, and he thinks that on all the evidence it is.
He ruled out premeditation, even as to a hazing, and presented a very simple scenario as to motive and the dynamics behind and during the attack on poor Meredith. Keeping it simple makes it understandable to everyone. Elaborate further and you risk alienating someone who disagrees with the elaboration and thinks they have a better theory.
My only objection is that it is a tad ridiculous to believe that Meredith objected to poop being left in the toilet, the toilet she didn't use. But yes, the objectionable behaviour of a trio of drunken/drugged up louts invading her space would most likely have triggered argument, unpleasantness and then a fight.
There is plenty of character evidence to support that scenario and with a little imagination, and some recollection of one's student days, one can easily see how this might have gone. In a way, and Crini admitted to this possibility, Meredith's own behaviour, or misreading of the situation, may also have been a trigger. Whether one agrees with this or not, it is at least a believable and honest suggestion.
So he set out base camp for the court (bearing in mind that Cassation had suggested that behavioural dynamics be given serious consideration by the appeals court) and whether the judges elaborate further (perhaps by conjecturing a possible range of equally valid motives and dynamics) is up to them.
Assessment by main poster Hopeful
Crini is magnificent! He's absolutely crushing the defense. He nails Knox as having left her bloody shoeprint on the pillow under Meredith.
He accepts Novelli who found Meredith's trace on the knife. He believes Knox left DNA on the knife. He quotes from Gill and Balding and says Sollecito's DNA on the bra clasp stands.
He describes a small, very sharp knife that he believes was used to cut off the bra in several places. He says the knifeprint on the sheet was from the big kitchen knife.
Crini contends that the strong bruise marks around Meredith's mouth were from restraining her and blocking the scream.
He believes this fight was caused by Meredith angrily reacting to Knox's constant dirty ways in the cottage and Guede's nasty toilet habit along with his and Sollecito's unwanted presence in the cottage that night.
Crini argues a crime of rage when Knox was confronted by Meredith, citing Laura Mezetti's remarks about the cleaning conflicts. Crini says that Meredith's scream is what caused the fatal knife blow to silence her.
Not premeditated, the murder was the final result of the perps' terror that they had gone too far during the raging fight. He's asking for 30 years for Knox and asks to increase sentence for calunnia to 4 years, inclusive in the 30.
He almost laughs at Knox's weak excuse over the drops of her blood found in the bathroom, saying she would surely have known if she bled.
He confirms the storekeeper did see Knox early in the morning after the crime. He finds no proof of Sollecito being firmly at his computer sending emails during the crime. He blasts the Knox and Sollecito alibis as being a tissue of lies.
Crini has another ex-Supreme Court justice standing with him in the Florence courtroom! (Baglione). Crini has worked extremely hard. He has conquered this convoluted pack of lies and distortions and his diligence shows. He upturned the applecart of Conti-Vecchioti nonsense and thoroughly redeemed Stefanoni's findings.
He has completely severed the heads of this Medusa Gorgon mess, Crini is the bomb!
Tweets from main poster Yummi
114. This means a total request of 30 years for Knox and 26 years for Sollecito
113. [Propose] 26 years for both for the murder
112. The murder is contextual, their was no premeditation, and no futile motive
111. Because of their staging and denials, they should not be given generic mitigation for murder.
110. Requests to increase the penalty for [Knox] calunnia to 4 years
109. But experience tells statements of unreliable perps do contain revelations about the truth. The 'argument' between girls, why such context?
108. Rudy Guede has no credibility, even if the Supreme Court is right that this cannot depend on his refusal to answer.
107. Crini cites Laura Mezzetti about the 'annoyance' caused by Knox on house cleaning issues.
106. Meredith was the one triggering an argument because of the 'impolite' invasion and behavior. She accused Knox .
105. Rudy was not sober, quite high, a bit annoying, and was acting the same disgusting way he behaved downstairs days before.
104. Meredith Kercher was sober, fully awake. The others were at least 'smoked', a bit high, Rudy was there in the house.
103. The motive is not futile, the motive is terror, it is the consequence of the prior aggressive action in which they were involved.
102. Nothing points to an agreed plan among the three that run out of control; the first cause was an aggression, a clash, impetus of rage
101. Crini: there is a prosecution duty to conjecture a motive.
100. The blood drop on the tap: a point is Knox does not explain, guesses, while she must be aware that she bled in the bathroom.
99. Crini believes the shoe prints on the pillowcase are from a female's shoe as suggested by police
98. Knox's DNA between the blade and the handle (36-i)is very significant. It's not from sweat or contact.
97. The print on the bed sheet is compatible with the kitchen knife.
96. Crini: we don't need to figure a reason for a kitchen knife to be carried from one apartment to the other..
95. The bra straps are cut in multiple points, not with a kitchen knife.
94. Sollecito cut her bra with a knife in multiple parts. hold bra to cut it - no Guede's DNA in that point - used a small very sharp-edge knife
93. Rudy did not stab her, because he wad used both his hands, which were unarmed
92. Wounds indicate she was immobilized by multiple people, they killed her because failing to do so completely, were terrified by her scream.
91. Criticizes Torre's theory that the large wound could be caused by a small knife: improbable, the wound has clear margins.
90. There were two knifes, one was small, not much fit to kill.
89. Ridiculous to think that Rudy Guede - which she knew - could intimidate Meredith totally to that point. She would react.
88. Specific indicator: no defence wounds; means bruises are not from fight but restraint.
87. Description of bruises and lesions around her mouth, indicates extreme force to prevent from screaming. Rest of body was also immobilized.
86. She was still wearing a blue sweater which was removed subsequently.
85. Analysis of blood drop pattern and position of victim when stabbed; body moved in a different position.
84. Location of crime - space between the bed and the wardrobe - is peculiar, analysed by UACV
83. Crini says will sketch a dynamic of events of the crime.
82. Crini says - implying Vecchiotti, Pascali - some experts should be "hold where they belong"
81. Crini recall Pascali working on the Olgiata and the Claps case (2008, 2010);
80. There is no instance of transfer of Sollecito's DNA anywhere on the scene
79. Crini cites the Olgiata case.
78. Contamination must be deduced from context of finding and collection. You must think a practical way for Sollecito's DNA to be transferred
77. Tagliabracci defends Vecchiotti saying the RIS statistical techniques were not used at the time; Crini cites Gill and Balding
76. Guede's Y haplotype in victim's vagina alone was used to identify him.
75. Sollecito's DNA is certainly on the clasp for the police; Vecchiotti doubts but considers X separately from Y haplotype
74. The bra clasp: the first objection was the interpretation of the mixed/complex trace
73. Crini says he learned a bit of genetics working on cold cases
72. Vecchiotti and Tagliabracci have a reliability problem in relation to the case, for different reasons
71. Vecchiotti said she obtained all cooperation she required. Raw data could be accessed by accessing the machine itself as Stefanoni offered.
70. Crini says he found out the negative controls were deposited, the court will find the document of deposit etc.
69. Vecchiotti omitted to note the censures/observations written by the other consultants, this procedure is incorrect
68. Vecchiotti's approach to the I-trace (refusal to test it ) was 'ideological', 'weak', 'insufficient'
67. Interpretation of profile is for complex result. For non-complex profiles there is actually no 'interpretation'.
66. Crini recalls answers by the RIS, defence tried to elicit approval of CV, but RIS said multiple test only if possible, compromise for result
65. Novelli cited saying the profile of Meredith is certain.
64. Meredith's profile came out clean on a single amplification, means the trace is clear.
63. The meaning of test repetition is its necessity when you have a 'dirty', uncertain sequence like Knox's profile on the knife
62. Novelli knows very well about double and triple amplification protocols, and Stefanoni knows well too
61. Guidelines are an indication that guide your driver, but then you have to drive
60. Someone who keeps a refrigerator like the one Vecchiotti has, should be less critical about laboratory practice
59. Crini: should we toss any result in the garbage, no matter how important and clear, whenever the test is not repeated?
58. Speaks about the single amplification by Stefanoni versus guidelines.
57. The presence of human DNA in a scratch on the blade of a knife itself is not usual
56. Crini: another introduction specific on DNA; notes btw that the new RIS finding is 'important' because adds information
55. Crini makes an introduction about circumstantial evidence
54. Discussion on DNA and remaining evidence will start in 1h.
53. Francesco Sollecito [in interview] was shocked, said he never expected so aggressive arguments from PG [the Tuscany Prosecutor General]
52. Yesterday, Crini spent the first hour to argue about logical 'method': how assess evidence altogether, examples, quotes of SC sentences
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Monday, November 25, 2013
Appeal Session #4: Today Lead Prosecutor Alessandro Crini Summarises The Prosecution's Case
Posted by Peter Quennell
Good reporting on the court today
Andrea Vogt has posted an objective report here and Barbie Nadeau an objective report here. We will post excerpts from both and other sources after the appeal session on Tuesday is done.
Warning about AP's Colleen Barry
The Associated Press's Colleen Barry is once again filing highly biased reports from the court. This is an appeal by Knox and Sollecito AGAINST a guilty verdict (by Judge Massei) and not an appeal by the prosecution to "reinstate" a guilty verdict. Get a grip.
Final post from the court today
It is 5:30 pm in Italy. Judge Nencini has declared today's session at an end and he has allowed the prosecution to resume its presentation tomorrow. Prosecutor Crini has about 1/3 of his presentation on the evidence still to come.
Tweets from main poster Yummi
Yummi has warned us that the wireless internet bandwidth inside and just outside the courtroom gets overloaded late in the day as the reporters get busy on their reports. Yummi does have a way around this but it involves leaving the courtroom when key arguments might be made and walking some distance away. So there might be some slight delays.
[More pending; Dr Crini has alerted that his presentation will be in 16 chapters]
51. [Judge] Nencini suggests to interrupt and go on tomorrow with following prosecution's points. New schedule.
50. Chapter 11. is DNA. Crini says we may have evidence enough by now anyway
49. Crini censures Hellmann-Zanetti's reasoning about calunnia (why not indicate the real culprit?). Says H-Z committed 'physical violence' on trial file
48. Knox's calunnia is a strategy protracted over time says Crini
47. Dreamlike component in Knox's statement, fish blood, are devices needed to surround a calunnia strategy
46. Knox needed to put some additional content into the 'calunnia', says Crini, or wouldn't be believed, so she puts in pieces of truth
45. Knox spoke about a scream an a sexual violence before anyone knew. Sollecito said nothing was stolen before they knew.
44. Points out Sollecito says Romanelli's door was wide open; Knox doesn't notice theft. Crini highlights the 'combination' of inconsistencies
43. Knox thinks locked door is normal; does not flush toilet when finds feces; does not notice blood before having a shower; thinks blood is ok
42. Notes Knox's statements are inconsistent and ommisive before her interrogation.
41. Crini speaks about Knox's declarations. Interested in the timings. Says too much was repeated to be coerced.
40. Crini speaks about chapter 9, the statements of Sollecito. His call to her sister. His alert was late but even so preceded the postals arrive
39. Bathmat print and luminol prints were chapter 7. of Crini's argument; 8. is the staging of theft.
38. The most significant stain may be the one in Romanelli's room, says Crini.
37. Speaking of a female's print left in luminol, Crini sounds outraged, saying other substances is vague unsubstantiated conjecture [eg it was blood not bleach]
36. Guede's sentencing was not well calibrated says Crini. But a Guede alone scenario is not tenable
35. Does it make sense for Guede to leave there the evidence of (putative) theft, and clean footprints?
34. The unitary sense made by elements like the bloody print, is a cleanup. Considers the lone-perp scenario: inconsistent
33. Crini: starts talking about the isolated bloody print; calls it a 'talking element'. Why is that print alone?
32. Suspects are only ones with a 'logistic' capability and an interest to 'clean' the murder scene. They aimed at 'diminishing' the evidence mass
31. Knox's lamp was the only light in her room.
30. Crini: the perp(s) organized a rather complex plan to clean up and 'sidetrack' at the murder scene.
29. Still to be determined if calunnia was "occasional" due to pressure, or "aggravated" [sidetracking]; Crini saya a 'depistaggio reale' (sidetracking) occurred
28. Crini: suspects' statements are extremely interesting: RS's statements; AK's e-mail, internet statements, [Knox's] memoriale
27. Crini: a most fertile chapter of analysis is the 'post-factum' actions and behaviors of defendants
26. Crini has unfolded five chapters. Says he has a total of sixteen
25. Quintavalle, details of his testimony and woman's description are exceptional indicators of accuracy.
34. Crini: it is unlikely that Quintavalle got it wrong. Because of contextual elements.
23. It is incorrect to dismiss a witness a priori because late. But for reasons totally different. Sometimes late is symptom of reliability.
22. Wants to deal with the issue of the fact that he came forward late, urged by an acquaintance
21. Crini: fifth argument is Quintavalle. He says he is sure about his testimony. Is a different kind of witness
20. Crini accepts both alternatives on time of death, after 23.15 or before 22.30 (but seems to prefer the earlier one)
19. Crini: Do not overestimate importance of timings that are not anchored accurately or cannot be proven
18. Crini: timeline is marginal to the case. All unproven timings to be taken cautiously.
17. Crini starts fourth theme: timings. Says they are very vague, except the tow truck
16. Crini: Curatolo is no 'super-witness', but can contribute to helping the court to draw their scenario
15. Curatolo saw a couple discussing and this memory is very specific, peculiar
14. Curatolo did not confuse night with Halloween, because it was big party in piazza the previous night, and because it did not rain
13. Crini: the court saw Aviello, shows what top [level] of unreliability is; the SC suspected so unreliable that calunnia elements had to be assessed
12. Crini: many trials could not exist if drug addicted testimonies were dismissed
11. Crini: the H-Z court assessed Curatolo a priori based on him as a person, stemming from questions of the court itself
10. Crini about Curatolo, describes Piazza Grimana; he was an habitual presence of the piazza, proven reliable in other cases
9. Crini: computer records and alibi point to Sollecito being not at home but on murder scene
8. Crini cites the log files of Fastweb: no internet activity, only automatic connections.
7. Crini: failure of computer alibi is evidence against, not just lack of confirmation.
6. Nencini notes prosecution did not ask to interrogate Sollecito. Crini cites D'Ambrosio's computer expert report. No interaction before 5am
5. Sollecito gave computer alibi days later, and words his statement in the singular form.
4. Crini: first theme he deals with is presence of crime scene; alibi, if it's false it is evidence no matter why false (cite from Guede trial)
3. Crini attacks the method of logic reasoning of annulled appeal: parceling out evidence, parrots aspects of civil procedure
2. Crini: Supreme Court censure was against the foundations of appeal , all parts not just some errors; appeal was 'razed to ground'.
1. Crini: this appeal is unusual, not because of the case but for the course followed. Usually appeals are narrow, this SC annulment is not.
Tweets by Andrea Vogt
3. At Crini's side in amandaknox appeal today is veteran Florentine prosecutor Tindari Baglione. Before this, he was in Cassazione.
2. Prosecutor Crini in Florence: don't repeat error of Perugia appeal. Consider evidence wholly, including Curatolo.
1. Will prosecutors ask life sentences in amandaknox appeal today? Will Sollecito's presence in court benefit him? Verdict January 10.
First post
This is the prosecution's day. Sollecito is reported as being in court but low-key.
Various reporting notes the significant presence of Dr Tindari Baglione, formerly with the Supreme Court, about whom we posted on in September as follows:
The new Prosecutor General of Tuscany (Florence's region) Dr Tindari Baglione, the chief prosecutor of Tuscany's appeal court, is selecting the prosecutors for the appeal. He arrived in Florence in May of this year. He is said to be formidably unbending. He recently imposed tough sentences on 27 people for the environmental damage caused by illegal work in Mugello on the high speed rail link between Florence and Bologna.
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Saturday, November 23, 2013
John Kercher's Excellent Book "Meredith" On Meredith's Friends Lloyd, Natalie, And Helen
Posted by Hopeful
Mr. Kercher's biography of his daughter continues to charm and amaze.
It seems Meredith almost got married before she went to Italy. Her suitor was a dance teacher, named Lloyd Thomas. He was nineteen years old and they met at Leeds University on the dance floor. Mr. Thomas was teaching break-dance to the crowd and Meredith and her friends went out on the dance floor and began to dance. (p. 66)
Lloyd said, "I…thought that she looked like a movie star." They had never spoken, but he had seen her once before, a month previously. Obviously the lovely lady had stayed in his mind. In the winter of 2006, at dance class, he struck up a conversation with her and called her later.
They decided to meet on the steps of Leeds University and began one of their many rich long talks, which later blossomed into going steady. "I was so taken with her amusing conversation," he said. (p. 66) "After our third date, we saw each other about four evenings every week and we were always together, although she had a lot of university work to do."
Mr. Kercher relates how Meredith was able to go with Lloyd and his parents to a hotel called Ponden House, "set in Charlotte Bronte country in West Yorkshire, for a weekend…She really loved it." She rang Mr. Kercher to tell him how beautiful the scenery was.
Lloyd said (p. 67) that Meredith "never really spoke much about what she wanted to do when she graduated, but she had her heart set on going to Italy as part of her studies…"
About seven months into their relationship, Lloyd realized he wanted to marry Meredith. He booked a table at a Japanese restaurant in Leeds and proposed to her "with a ring that I had bought. I think that she was somewhat surprised and didn't say yes or no. She kept the ring for a couple of days, but didn't wear it, and then she politely returned it to me."
(p. 67) Mr. Kercher explains that naturally things changed between Lloyd and Meredith after that decision, but that Meredith was just being practical. "Despite her obvious affection for Lloyd….She still had her current year at university to complete, a year in Italy studying, and then a further year of her degree, before she graduated. She was simply being sensible.
Yet the two of them remained friends and a couple of weeks later in January 2007, Lloyd joined our family and Meredith in an Italian restaurant in Croydon to celebrate her 21st birthday. Stephanie had arranged a special cake with a photograph of Meredith as a one-year-old superimposed on it…".
"Who would have dared to think that this would be Meredith's last birthday?" writes Mr. Kercher (p.67). In retrospect, it seems appropriate that the young man who admired Meredith so much at Leeds University and wanted to marry her, should be at her final life celebration.
We know that Meredith a few months later in August flew to Rome, on wings of hope and dreams. She went from there to the University for Foreigners in Perugia. She settled in to her first home in Italy, the Via della Pergola cottage. Even before that while still at a Perugian hotel she was calling Mr. Kercher "enthusing to us how beautiful the city was." As was her habit, Meredith called Mr. Kercher every evening and talked about how she was getting on. She also called her mom and sister with frequency.
(P. 69) In one call she elaborated to Mr. Kercher about the Eurochocolate Festival that stretched "from Rocca Paolina to the Carducci Gardens, Piazza della Repubblica and Piazza IV Novembre." Meredith was fascinated by the chocolate statues and sculptures and all the candies sold at the stalls.
At the end of the festival the chocolate statues were happily broken up into pieces and given to the public. Meredith had bought some of Mr. Kercher's favorite chocolates to give to him when she returned to England a few weeks later for Arline's November birthday. That trip never happened, as tragedy intervened.
Meredith met Natalie Hayward while in Perugia. Natalie had gone to study in Perugia "because I had heard that it was beautiful and romantically old, in addition to being quite international." (p. 70) Natalie had been studying history and Italian at the University of Sussex. She had found an apartment in Perugia with a couple of Italian girls, and began studying at the University for Foreigners where she met Meredith and Amy Frost.
Natalie said, "Because the three of us were the only English students in the class, we became known as 'Little Britain'."
Natalie said, "I was so encouraged by the fact that Meredith accepted me, because I wasn't a particularly confident person. But she was always texting me to come out with her and other people and trying to include me in things, which I appreciated."
Despite a known tendency to be late for lectures, Natalie says that Meredith "was exceptionally good at taking lecture notes. You might not have thought it, but she worked so hard. I was jokingly jealous of her note-taking. The Italian lecturers would speak so quickly and be quite complicated, but Meredith could keep up with them."
More accolades from Natalie, (p. 71): 'Socially, Meredith was wonderful to be with. She was always smiling and making us laugh. She was never judgemental. And she and Amy would walk miles for a low-price meal!" Mr. Kercher earlier says that Meredith asked him to check on rental rates to make sure the deposits for the Pergola cottage were a normal rate. Meredith seems to have been quite thrifty and not one to squander her resources.
After Meredith's murder, Natalie went back to England to finish her studies there. No doubt she was desolate at the loss of this kind and tender friend who had sincerely reached out to her.
Helen Power was another British student who met Meredith September 1, 2007 in Perugia. Helen had finished a language course and had one day to relax in Perugia before flying back to England for a couple of weeks. Amy Frost had invited Helen Power out to dinner and Meredith met them by the fountain in the center of town.
(P.72) Helen said, "As it was too early for us to eat, we sat outside and enjoyed some aperitivi from the cake shop on the main street. I remember that Meredith said she had forgotten to pack socks and that she hoped her dad would bring some out when he came to visit. Despite being tired from travelling, she was chatty, friendly, always smiling and making witty jokes. You only had to meet Meredith once to be struck by her beauty, quick wit, and infectious smile."
The three girls ate a huge dinner at Il Bacio restaurant. Later in September, Helen's mother visited Perugia and was introduced to Meredith at Piazza Italia as they waited for a minibus. She said, "Meredith made a lasting impression on me as we chatted. Not only did she show a genuine interest talking to us but she was so bubbly and full of life…I was so pleased to think that Helen had met such a delightful girl to be friends with during her Erasmus year." (p. 73)
Meredith even noticed that Helen had gotten her hair cut and mentioned it at the Erasmus welcome meeting. Helen said, "I was surprised that Meredith had noticed. I thought that it was extremely observant of her, as she had only met me once, three weeks earlier. But that was the kind of girl she was; always making time for other people and taking note of even the smallest things." Later they went out to dinner and dancing. Helen says, "...no one could out-dance Meredith." (p. 74)
Halloween night immersed in parties and excitement was the last time Helen saw her. She said (p. 75), "At the age of twenty, it never crossed my mind that it might have been the last chance to see a friend again. Those first two months were such a wonderful and happy time and, although I didn't know Meredith for very long, I shall never forget her, and I have learnt so much from {her being} such a strong woman…I make certain that I enjoy and appreciate life and those around me and, most importantly, smile."
Archived in Concerning Meredith, Her memory, Her family, Reporting on the case, Honest reporting
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Friday, November 22, 2013
US Judge Startles Legal Watchers By Overturning A Unanimous Verdict: Is This Hellmann Part Deux?
Posted by Peter Quennell
Martha Moxley's murder 1975
Martha Moxley's is a case with quite a few similarities to Meredith's case - and after 38 years it has once again flashed back into the US news.
Greenwich, where 15-year-old Martha lived, is a few minutes drive up the Long Island Sound shoreline from New York City. Great wealth resides there. It is the US zip code with the highest family income and net wealth, and there are many mansions set in large estates.
The brutal murder of Martha happened on Halloween Night of 1975. She was beaten to death with a golf club by someone around 10:00 pm soon after leaving a Halloween party at the Skakel house across the street. No physical evidence ever tied anyone to the crime.
The main suspects in the case
Michael Skakel was a close neighbor (with his large family, he lived in a mansion diagonally across Walsh Lane from Martha's smaller one-storey house) and a school classmate of the same age as Martha. He had a troubled record of misbehavior and substance abuse (he was later sent to a special school) who Martha's diary later revealed had a history of pestering her. The golf-club came from the Skakel house.
He was not the only suspect. A new tutor at the house was long considered. And Greenwich police first interviewed and polygraphed his brother Tommy, who was very friendly with Martha, and with whom she was seen flirting at the party at the Skakel's house the same night. Between the two brothers, there was bad blood.
Read here the final entries in Martha's diary which seem to show her attraction to Tommy but none at all to a jealous Michael.
Michael Skakel's conviction in 2002
Michael Skakel over the years (seemingly proud of himself, and sounding quite like Sollecito) came to hint and even openly claim more and more that he was the one that killed Martha. Skakel also claimed to have been up in a tree or a treehouse peeping through windows on the same night. An alibi that he was across town during the party at his house fell through.
In 2002, after these pointers to himself reached critical mass in police investigations and various books and reports, he was put on trial and unanimously found guilty by a jury, and then (controversially) sentenced as an adult to 20 years to life. As with Sollecito and Knox in Italy, the vast majority of the population thought it was a fair cop.
There are of course some differences between the two cases.
In Perugia the police and prosecutors really did do a good job and didnt blink under the considerable pressure of TWO families and TWO defense teams playing all manner of dirty tricks. They never backed off, whereas the Greenwich police (who never called for outside help) seem to have become timid and indecisive and simply wanting the case to go away. And in Martha's case DNA has not yet reared its intrusive head.
But the two cases also have a lot in common.
Commonalities of Martha and Meredith cases
1) Martha was younger than Meredith but given time would have emerged to be a very similar girl. She also was ambitious, talented, hard-working, eye-catching, witty, and the apple of their eye of various boys which might have sparked jealousies in some.
2) The attack involved a number of ferocious blows over several or some minutes with a golf-club, suggesting not a burglar or prowler who did not know Martha but someone who did know her who was in a considerable rage. The golf-club broke, and the shaft was thrust through her neck. She was then dragged alternatively face up and face down quite a few feet to a place under a tree. There was a lot of blood, and as some of her clothes were down there may have been a simulation of a sex crime.
3) The rich and connected Skakel family (among which Michael did not stand out as the major achiever) was not especially helpful in the investigation, and they blocked certain important moves by the Greenwich police. They have spent huge sums of money (possibly up in the millions) on lawyers and detectives and still do. Theirs was a fairly sharp-elbowed media campaign and it looks as if it was driven more by family reputation (the Skakels are related to the Robert Kennedys by marriage) than by deep conviction that Michael was a good boy.
4) The evidence presented was a mosaic that had been accumulated over time. Alibi and behavior mattered a lot. It required very close attention to absorb it all and to assemble it into an incriminating pattern. At trial prosecutors did a good job. In this case no incriminating DNA was found at all, although it is possible that for the new trial new tests will be done on Martha's clothes. The conviction by 12 jurors was unanimous. They did a very careful job, and their deliberations lasted four days. Those who seek to argue that they have it wrong usually pick on isolated points.
5) Various books have been published to explain the case. The most-read book is by ex-police-detective Mark Fuhrman titled Murder in Greenwich published by HarperCollins (Amanda Knox's publisher) in 1999. He claimed he broke the case though police said they needed no help.
6) There are several websites like PMF and TJMK with no vested interest at all which seek to keep the victim's presence alive, and to seek justice for her in face of many attacks and dirty tricks. See the forum Campy Skakel here and the website MarthaMoxley dot com which is or was being run by Tom Alessi who was a classmate of Martha at school.
And the sudden new situation
Now Connecticut's Judge Bishop has decided that Skakel didnt get the best of defenses by the high-profile legal talking head Mickey Sherman (who back then seemed to be hired for his high public profile) and noted several things Sherman could have done. Also the evidence seemed to Judge Bishop to be slim (what, no DNA?!). So he has ordered that Skakel can face a new trial.
A second judge has just released Michael Skakel on $1.2 million bail and he must wear an electronic bracelet in case he decides to skip. He will apparently head for a secret location to wait for the new trial to begin.
Although Judge Bishop is well qualified (unlike Hellmann) and seems impartial and detached, he has startled the legal community and crime followers by going against both a well-informed trial jury which really saw a lot of evidence and against a whole row of previous judges who had considered and declined Skakel's requests for appeal.
Judge-shopping till the "right one" appears is often how big money wins out, and the general US reaction to the annulled verdict seems to be "What?! Not again?!"
Michael Skakel may perhaps win at a new trial with new lawyers and a new strategy - there is still a theory that his brother Tommy really did the crime, though the Skakel lawyers may not be allowed to play that card.
However, as in Meredith's case, legal and public opinion is against him, and Martha's mother and the victim websites still fight on bravely.
[Below: Michael Skakel(right) with defense lawyer Mickey Sherman in 2002 who he now says let him down]
[Below: Directly ahead is where the crime took place; a new mansion has replaced the Moxley home ]
[Below: The Skakel mansion, which is diagonally across Walsh Lane from the old Moxley home]
[Below: Mark Furman's diagram of his scenario of the murder in "Murder in Greenwich"]
[Below: Judge Bishop of the Connecticut courts who has ordered a new trial for Skakel]
Archived in Appeals 2009-2014, Hellmann appeal, Hellmann outcome, Other legal cases, Others elsewhere
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Wednesday, November 20, 2013
The Considerable Number Of Suspected Perps That Countries Extradite Daily To Other Countries #2
Posted by Peter Quennell
[Interpol HQ is now in Central France, a new HQ is planned for outside Paris soon.
Extradition: a hardball game.
This is the latest of many posts which include this legal take explaining the gloomy prospects for Sollecito and Knox if their final conviction comes down.
Complete refusals of extradition by any countries other than Russia and China seem increasingly rare, as that can cause a rebound effect and economic retaliation in response. The United States very rarely refuses to extradite.
If anything, the US is stepping up the pace of its extradition cases - both ways. The US at federal and state level is at any one time processing hundreds of requests, and transporting suspected perps back and forth.
These are some of the high-profile extradition cases in today's news:
The US/Italy Robert Lady case
The twists and turns in the story of the fugitive from Italian justice and former CIA chief in Milan Robert Lady were last posted on here. He scampered out of Central America back to the United States mid-2013.
But now official Washington seems to be giving Mr Lady a very hard time which may have him voluntarily headed to Italy to seek a break.
When the anniversary of 9/11 came around this year, Robert Seldon Lady was moving between low-end hotels around Miami. An international arrest warrant keeps him from returning to his home in Panama. He says he's flirting with personal bankruptcy, fears for his life, and is "getting pretty desperate." His marriage is broken. He blames this hard luck on his former employer, the Central Intelligence Agency
Mr. Lady helped CIA contractors and agents snatch an Egyptian Islamist off the streets of Milan and deliver him to an interrogation cell in Cairo. This so-called extraordinary rendition—one of 130 or so carried out by the Bush administration—set in train events that soured America's relations with Italy and upended the life and career of Mr. Lady and other CIA agents.
Saying "I'm fed up with all this," Mr. Lady has some extraordinary steps in mind to change his fate. His actions and outspokenness are going to add to the discomfiture of his former bosses at Langley over this messy episode from the early days after 9/11.
If the muddle-headed Knox and Sollecito enablers can find any solace in that, good luck. Mr Lady was a top government employee, who claims he was doing only what he was told.
The Brazil/Italy Henrique Pizzolato case
Believe it or not the former director of the Bank of Brazil has fled to Italy to ensure a fair trial.
Sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison for bribery, embezzlement and money laundering, Pizzolato announced in a letter that he fled to have, according to him, a new trial in Italy "removed from politics and electoral motives" and in "a court not subject to the impositions of the media".
Brazil might ask Interpol for a "red notice" which is the highest form of international arrest warrant and often has the same wanted result as formal extradition.
A red notice chills renegades' possibilities worldwide.
In fact so tough is life on the lam under a red notice that perps often simply cave before too long, and head back to defend themselves or pay their dues without any court moves or official transport required.
The US/Italy Raoul Weil case
Finfacts reported on this case last month.
Raoul Weil, a former UBS wealth management chief, was arrested last weekend in Italy and faces extradition to the United States to answer charges of aiding and abetting tax evaders.
Weil left Switzerland's biggest bank in 2009 after he was declared a fugitive from US justice by ignoring a criminal indictment issued in 2008. UBS was forced to pay a $780m fine in 2009 after admitting to actively assisting US tax evaders to break US law.
Several Swiss bankers and lawyers have since been indicted in the US for their alleged role in helping wealthy US citizens hide their assets from the tax authorities.
Weil is one of the most high-profile of the accused as a then head of UBS's wealth management and he is now a temporary resident of an Italian prison, likely fearing a longer spell in a US one.
A Florida court indictment charged Weil with having a prominent role in aiding UBS's US clients to hide around $20bn in undeclared assets between 2002 and 2007.
He however has strongly denied the allegation but would not risk defending himself in a US court.
Italy is giving Mr Weil a pretty hard time and accedes to all American extradition requests except where the death sentence might be involved.
The US/Russia gangsters case
The US is trying hard to get some Russian gangsters (okay, alleged gangsters) extradited from countries around the world and Russia is resisting this "extraterritorial application of America law".
U.S. organized crime experts say Russian criminals working overseas often have connections within the Russian government, and that the Russian government's defense of them is designed to keep those links from emerging in public light….
In the past six months, Russians have been a frequent target of arrest warrants executed at the request of U.S. prosecutors.
On Aug. 1, the Dominican Republic extradited 24-year-old Aleksandr Panin to stand trial in federal court in Atlanta on charges related to cyberscams using SpyEye malware, which enables the theft of online banking information. Panin is accused of stealing $5 million from U.S. banks.
In mid-August, Lithuania extradited an alleged arms dealer, Dmitry Ustinov, to stand trial in the United States for allegedly negotiating to sell restricted night-vision goggles. He faces a 20-year sentence.
Another Russian, Dmitry Belorossov, was arrested at the Barcelona airport Aug. 17 upon triggering an Interpol fraud alert. Belorossov's extradition to stand trial in the United States is pending.
When U.S. prosecutors seized Liberty Reserve in late May, they said the company had laundered "more than $6 billion in criminal proceeds." Liberty Reserve allowed clients anonymity and offered them a digital currency, known as an LR, to facilitate payments for criminal activity.
The US/Spain Javier Martin-Artajo case
Banker Javier Martin-Artajo now in Spain is refusing to be extradited to the United states - because the crime he is accused of took place in England. Good luck with that one. JP Morgan Chase Bank has just paid a huge fine in the US so THEY accept the crime took place there.
Archived in Appeals 2009-2014, Knox extradition, Other legal cases, Others Italian, Others elsewhere, The wider contexts, American context
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Saturday, November 16, 2013
After 5 Years Heavey Is Still Heedless Of His Errors Pointed Out Again & Again & Again
Posted by pat az
Overview of this post
This post corrects an error-filled letter to President Obama and the Congress dated 16 May 2011.
First, note that Michael Heavey has a considerable record of interventions that seriously mislead. Often corrected, he gravitates no closer to the truth.
Prior misleading Heavey interventions in 2008
During this year Heavey (then still a judge, though one who was merely elected - nothing compared to the rigorous process Italian judges must go through) sent three erroneous open letters (posted on the web and widely copied) to senior justice officials in Italy about the case.
TJMK posted on the errors in December 2008.
Prior misleading Heavey interventions in 2009
By way of interviews in the media, Heavey continued his campaign. He has claimed that his motives really are noble: in effect, Knox could have been his own daughter, though his daughter has distanced herself from this campaign.
Prior misleading Heavey interventions in 2010
One of the 2008 letters to Italy was sent on official judicial letterhead, as if he was speaking for the State of Washington. In 2010 the Washington State Commission on Judicial Conduct disciplined Heavey although it was only for an illegal use of the official letterhead, not for wrong claims.
The initial announcement was posted on here. The details of the charges were posted on here. The disciplinary penalty was posted on here.
Prior misleading Heavey interventions in 2011
In April 2011, one month prior to his misleading letter, Heavey was a droning presence on a panel before an audience of 35 at Seattle University. His familiar talking points were again repeated.
It is cross-posted from my own website here. Links to previous posts about Heavey on TJMK for the period 2008 to 2011 appear at the bottom of this post.
The 16 May 2011 letter to President & Congress
On May 16, 2011, Judge Heavey (now retired) apparently sent US President Barack Obama a letter regarding the Amanda Knox case.
This document was retrieved from the King5.com news site under a search result for "Amanda Knox." The subject of Judge Heavey's letter was "Re: Failure of Rome Consular Officials to protect the rights of U.S. Citizen Amanda Knox."
The new Heavey letter was written on letterhead "From the chambers of Judge Michael Heavey." The address given is his house address.
The Judge charged that the State Department absolutely failed to look out for the rights of Amanda Knox. Nowhere in the letter does Judge Heavey actually address any of the evidence in the case.
Ten times in his letter, he charges consular officials failed to take action when they should have.
However, many of his points are false or misstate the events. In many instances, Judge Heavey is proven wrong by statements from Amanda Knox herself.
This letter, full of errors, was carbon copied to Members of Congress AND the Secretary of State (at the time, Hillary Clinton).
These mistakes would have known at the time Judge Heavey wrote his letter by using the interviews and documents available at that time. This did not stop Judge Heavey from writing an error-laden letter to the President and Congress. These errors are detailed below.
Additional signatories to the letter (on letterhead from "from the chambers of Judge Michael Heavey") include Friends of Amanda representative Thomas L. Wright, and author of "The Framing of Amanda Knox" Dr. Mark C. Waterrbury.
Judge Heavey had been admonished for using court resources and stationary as a part of his advocacy in the Amanda Knox case, as well as his public speeches while he was a sitting judge.
The admonishment only covered the letters written to Italian court officials and prosecutors, using court stationary and court staff. The letter he apparently sent to Obama and congress was not included in the admonishment.
The following is a point by point review and rebuttal of the by-now admonished Judge Heavey's Letter to President Obama and Congress
False brutal interrogation claims
The letter opens up with a summary of the argument- that this case was a prosecutor's vendetta against Amanda Knox, and that her rights were violated, and Consular officials did nothing. The letter is arranged as a series of points, which are discussed below.
Judge Heavey writes: "Amanda Knox was arrested for the murder of her roommate after an all-night interrogation [...]. The Perugian Police denied her food and water, cuffed her on the back of the head, and, most importantly, prevented her from sleeping."
However, Amanda Knox was not the one called into the station. Raffaele was; and they went right after having dinner!
A UK based paper had published the day before an article with quotes from Raffaele. Raffaele said he and Amanda went to a party on the night of the murder. Police were likely calling in Raffaele due to the conflicting stories.
Amanda's "interrogation" didn't start until at least 11pm. Police have testified she was offered food and water. She went to sleep after signing her second statement, at 5:45 am. There was a break between signing her first statement at 1:45 am and signing her second statement (after being warned by Dr Mignini to say nothing further without a lawyer) at 5:45 am.
Here is Amanda Knox:
"Around 10:30pm or 11pm Raffaele and I arrived at the police station after eating dinner at the apartment of one of Raffaele's friends. It was Raffaele who the police called, not me, but I came with him to the Questura anyway while he was to be questioned for support, as he had done for me many times." -Amanda Knox, letter to lawyers, 9 Nov 2007
"I signed my second "spontaneous declaration" at 5:45 AM [...]. I asked permissions to push two metal folding chairs together, balled myself into the fetal position, and passed out, spent. I probably didn't sleep longer than an hour before doubt pricked me awake… " -Amanda Knox, Waiting to be Heard
To this day, Raffaele Sollecito has not corroborated Amanda Knox's alibi in court.
False no-lawyer claim
Judge Heavey writes: "When a witness becomes a suspect, the police are obligated to appoint a lawyer"
Knox was not a suspect and the interview was merely a recap/summary session with someone who might have information as the defenses themselves agreed. Knox herself twice declined a lawyer before insisting on writing three statements out.
Prosecutor Mignini was interviewed by CNN ten days before Judge Heavey wrote his letter. In the interview, Mignini describes the questioning of Amanda:
"And thus her interrogation as a person informed of the facts was suspended by the police in compliance with Article 63 of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure [c.p.p. - Codice di Procedura Penale], because if evidence appears that incriminates the person, the person being questioned as a person informed of the facts can no longer be heard, and we must stop. "Everyone stop! There must be a defense attorney [present]". And thus the police stopped and informed Amanda" -
Prosecutor Mignini, CNN interview, May 6 2011 (Ten days prior to Judge Heavey's letter)
Thus, it was known on national television in the US what the sequence of events was. This did not stop Judge Heavey from writing an error-laden letter to congress.
False no-recording claim
Judge Heavey writes: "Article 141 of the CCP requires that every interrogation of a person in custody (for any reason) must be fully recorded by audio or audiovisual means"
However, Amanda Knox was not in custody during her questioning on Nov 5th & 6th. She was not a suspect, and this was not a suspect interview. She merely eagerly listed seven names. She was only at the station because Raffaele was called:
"It was Raffaele who the police called, not me, but I came with him to the Questura anyway while he was to be questioned for support, as he had done for me many times. "
-Amanda Knox, Letter to Lawyers, 8 Nov 2007
False no-interpreter claim
Judge Heavey writes: "Amanda spoke little Italian, yet was not allowed to have an interpreter to assist her with understanding the questions put to her, the charges against her, or anything else."
Two sources refute Judge Heavey's point- official court records of the questioning, and Amanda Knox's own statement on trial and in her book:
From Court documents
"…assisted by the English-speaking interpreter Anna Donnino" -Signed 1:45 AM statement.
"….assisted by the English-speaking interpreter Anna Donnino" -Signed 5:45 AM statement.
And from Amanda Knox:
November 2nd: "…they brought in an english-speaking detective for hours two through six." -Waiting to be Heard
November 4th: "AK: So, it seems to me that Laura and Filomena were there, but they had arrived with other people, while I was in the car with the police and an interpreter, that's it." -Trial Testimony
November 5th/6th: "The interpreter, a woman in her forties, arrived at about 12:30 A.M." -Waiting to be heard
False vengeful prosecutor claim
Judge Heavey simply engages in a character assassination of Prosecutor Mignini:
"[...] Mignini was well known in Italy for a bizarre theory [...] under investigation for abuse of office [...] previously driven American journalist, Douglas Preston out of Italy[...]"
Judge Heavey, Dr. Waterbury, and FOA representative Thomas Wright conclude point five with:
"Consular officials knew Mr. Mignini was prosecuting Amanda Knox. They knew he had been charged with abusing his office. They knew of the bizarre theory that he pursued, from which the charges arose. They also knew he was under tremendous pressure to achieve some vindication to save face. Why did consular officials do nothing?"
The trumped-up charges against Prosecutor Mignini pursued by a rogue prosecutor ad rogue judge in Florence were overturned by the Florence appeal court and sacthingly roasted by the Supreme Court. Dr Mignini (now Deputy Attorney General for Umbria) was under no pressure at all. See this post here.
False satanic myth claim
Heavey and others raise the satanic ritual myth quoting Prosecutor Mignini as stating at the October preliminary hearing, "the crime was a sexual and sacrificial ritual in accordance with the rites of Halloween."
The ONLY source for this quote is a defense lawyer for Sollecito who made it up. Judge Heavey then turns around and uses this metaphor himself:
"these and other statements should have shouted to consular officials that Amanda was a defendant in what had become a witch trial, being prosecuted by a delusional prosecutor. Why did consular officials do nothing?"
False US Embassy claim
Despite Heavey's claims, US consular officials WERE monitoring the case, as revealed in FOI-released documents requested by journalist Andrea Vogt. She released these documents in a May 2013 post on her website.
This is clear: consular officials regularly visited Knox and tracked case developments. The following diplomats' names appear on the cables: Ambassador Ronald Spogli, Deputy Chief Elizabeth Dibble and Ambassador David Thorne, U.S. Embassy Rome.
The US Embassy cables that were released were dated: Nov, 07; Dec 08; Feb 09; May 09; Aug 09; Nov 09; Dec 09. No other documents were released.
Consular staff visited Amanda Knox on November 12 2007, and noted her lawyers had already visited with Knox. The charges against Amanda Knox as stated by the US Embassy were:
* Participation in Voluntary Manslaughter with aggravating circumstances of cruelty
* Participation in sexual assault
* Simulated robbery
* Slander
* Possession of weapons
* Aggravated theft.
Archived in Italian justice v others, Public evidence, Knox's alibis, Diversion efforts by, Michael Heavey, More sockpuppets, The many hoaxes, The Dr Mignini hoax, Knox interrog. hoax, The Guede hoax, The wider contexts, American context
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Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Differences Between Micheli, Massei, Hellmann and Nencini Courts Pointing To Almost Certain Outcome
Posted by Peter Quennell
What are the biggest differences? In fact the Supreme Court already pointed them out: science, scope, and balance.
Judge Micheli, Judge Massei and Judge Nencini all have a very extensive criminal-case background. All three have handled many cases of murder, many cases against the mafia, and many cases involving criminal science. All three have remarkable success records and have hardly ever been overturned on appeal.
Judge Hellmann and his court are the extreme outliers. Until forced into early retirement by the Council of Magistrates, he had been a (quite good) business judge. His one major criminal case, years ago, had led to a farcical outcome, and he was ridiculed for this at the time.
Cassation made it very clear that he simply did not reflect a knowledge of the precise Italian law on scope and balance at the appeal level, and that he mishandled the science. In fact, as he actually said, the reason he appointed two independent DNA consultants was that he was at sea on the science.
That left Judge Hellmann's panel of judges like a rudderless ship, bereft of the kind of good guidance from the lead judge on science, scope, and balance that comes only from many years of experience.
Which, given a level playing field, the pathbreaking Italian system enforces competently like almost no other.
Above all as the Hellmann Report makes extraordinarily plain, his court came to be swayed by the CSI Effect, with the help of two tainted consultants and probably the irresponsible Greg Hampikian in Idaho.
The CSI Effect is a phenomenon very, very unlikely to happen in Judge Nencini's court. First, take a look at this good explanation of what the CSI Effect is in the Fox Kansas City video.
Many crime shows such as the BBC mysteries and the Law & Order series and spinoffs show investigators solving their crimes in the old-fashioned way. Lots of witness interviews and alibi and database checking, and walking around and loose ends and lying awake at night puzzling. And often there's a big stroke of luck.
But if you watch the very popular CSI Las Vegas series and its spinoffs in Miami and New York, and the various clones on other networks, you will see something very different indeed.
When those shows first began airing worldwide in the late nineties, the producers explained that audiences increasingly appreciate learning something new when watching a show, and it is true, one sure can load up on the trivia.
But you will also see the US equivalent of Dr Stefanoni and her forensic team in those shows, roaming far beyond the narrow crime scene, interrogating witnesses and checking alibis and finding a lot of non-forensic evidence, and even at times drawing guns.
Most unreal is that, time and again, the forensic evidence testing is clearcut and takes just a few minutes and instantly clinches the case.
- There are several articles like this one and this one on whether the Casey Anthony jury was affected by a shortfall in the starkness of the forensics when the behavioral evidence seemed so strong.
- There are several articles like this one and this one on whether the appeal verdict outcome in Perugia might be affected in the same way.
- There are many articles like this one and this one and this one and especially this one saying there is a tough added burden on investigators and juries without a commensurate improved outcome.
With conviction rates declining in the US and Europe, professionals are taking a scientific look at whether the CSI Effect is one big cause of that decline.
At the macro level in the US this writer doubted that the CSI Effect is fatally unbalancing takes on the wider evidence. The same conclusion was reached in this first major study at the micro level.
But the belief in the CSI Effect continues. Articles like this one on an Australian site talk of a backlash against too many acquittals. Some articles like this one argue that maybe lay juries are out of their depths.
And judges and prosecutions are taking countermeasures.
In Ohio and many other states prosecutors and judges are acting against a possible CSI Effect in their selection and briefing of juries. And an NPR report came up with these findings.
Some states now allow lawyers to strike potential jurors based on their TV habits. Judges are issuing instructions that warn juries about expecting too much scientific evidence based on what they see on TV.
In the field, Shelton says death investigators sometimes run useless tests, just to show they went the extra CSI mile.
"They will perform scientific tests and present evidence of that to the jury. Even if the results don't show guilt or innocence either way, just to show the jury that they did it."
This is coming at a time when death investigators in America have no resources to spare. An investigation by NPR, PBS Frontline and ProPublica shows some states have already opted not to do autopsies on suicides, others don't autopsy people who die in traffic accidents, and many don't autopsy people who die over the age of 60.
But Murphy, the Clark County coroner, expects things to get worse.
"You know, we're in budget cuts right now. Everybody's in budget cuts. Las Vegas is no different than anybody else. We're hurting. We're going to feel that same crunch as everybody else," he says.
One of Zuiker's great disappointments is that, for all its popularity, his fictional Las Vegas crime lab didn't generate more political support to fund death investigation.
"I've done my job. You know, we've launched three shows that cater to 73.8 million people a week and is a global phenomenon and the largest television franchise in history. We hoped that the show would raise awareness and get more funding into crime labs so people felt safe in their communities. And we're still hoping that the government will catch up."
None of the science in Meredith's case has ever been discredited in court. Even in Judge Hellmann's court the agenda-driven independent consultants Conti and Vecchiotti failed - and under cross-examination admitted it.
Also remember that the Hellmann court did not get to see two very key closed-court scientific presentations (the stark recreation of the attack on Meredith, in a day of testimony, and later in a 15 minute video) which had a very big balancing effect on the Massei court.
Right now the reputation of not one defense-campaign stooge who has attacked the science remains intact.
Greg Hampikian has headed for cover. He had widely proclaimed that he clinched the Hellmann court's outcome, in an act which may well have been illegal. Unsurprisingly, he is now trying very hard to hide his own claimed "proof " of shortfalls in the science, as Andrea Vogt has been showing in her Boise State University investigation, and as we will soon post more on.
Saul Kassin is another defense-campaign stooge who falsely claimed that he clinched the Hellmann court outcome by "proving" a false confession by Knox - in an interrogation that never even took place.
Despite all of this, maybe as straw-snatching, we can again see an organized attempt to confuse American opinion on the science of the case.
Whether she did this intentionally or not, that is what the PR tool Colleen Barry of the Associated Press was doing when she omitted that the trace of Meredith on the knife is undisputed hard evidence.
Judge Micheli and Judge Massei handled the science, scope, and balance with some brilliance. In all three dimensions Judge Hellmann fell short abysmally.
What is your own bet on the outcome under the exceptionally experienced Judge Nencini?
Parts of this post were first posted in 2011 after the disputed and much examined outcome of the Casey Anthony murder trial..
Archived in Italian justice v others, Officially involved, Rudy Guede, The judiciary, Public evidence, DNA and luminol, Trials 2008 & 2009, Appeals 2009-2014, Hellmann appeal, Florence appeal, Diversion efforts by, The Knox-Mellases, DNA contam hoax
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Sunday, November 10, 2013
The Crime-Scene Clean-Up: How Rudy Guede's Diary Provides Even More Proof That It Happened
Posted by pat az
This post is crossposted from my own place. Here is one of my previous crime scene analyses on TJMK.
Rudy Guede was ultimately declared convicted by the Supreme Court in 2010 of participating in the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher.
The prosecution claims the two other participants are Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito. Knox and Sollecito are currently appealing their conviction of the same crime.
The case against the three of them involves a suspected clean up of the hallway in the apartment after the crime. Meredith's blood was found in the bathroom, and half a footprint in her blood was found on the bathroom mat. However, there was no visible blood between Meredith's bedroom and the bathroom.
The only visible blood in the hallway were faint partial shoe prints that led directly out the front door of the apartment.
After the murder was discovered, the media reported almost daily on developments in the case. The day of the murder, the press reported on the blood found in the bathroom and the bedroom.
But until police used luminol at the apartment on December 18th, the media didn't report on any significant blood found in the hallway. Between November 2nd and December 18th, only one person stated that significant amounts of blood had been in the hallway.
Rudy Guede.
Rudy Guede actually wrote about it in his diary between Nov 20th and Dec 6th, after being captured in Germany.
The police arrived at the apartment on November 2nd. According to media reports, the blood they spotted immediately was only in the bathroom and Meredith's bedroom. When the scene was more closely examined, after the discovery of the body, police found visible blood patterns on the floor left by Guede's left shoe as he left the apartment.
None of the people who arrived in the apartment on the afternoon of November 2nd reported seeing them; these footprints are not in any of the stories of the events of Nov 2nd told by Amanda Knox nor Raffaele Sollecito. So, while these prints were visible, they were not substantially obvious.
On December 18th 2007 investigators applied Luminol in the hallway and other bedrooms. This forensic chemical is used to detect blood which has been cleaned away. The Luminol revealed several footprints in the hallway between the bedrooms of Knox and Meredith. Example below. Some of these footprints were leading towards Meredith's door.
They also discovered prints in Filomena's room which contained Meredith's DNA and Amanda Knox's DNA. They also revealed a footprint in Amanda Knox's bedroom. (The defense unsuccessfully contested the investigator's conclusions that these prints were made with blood).
On November 19 2007, an international arrest warrant was issued for Rudy Guede. He was arrested in Germany on November 20th. Guede remained in Germany until his extradition on December 3rd.
During his stay in jail in Germany, Guede wrote a long statement that was published and translated. Guede's writings are similar to to Knox's jail writings in many ways - they both try to write out their own detailed version of events, while pointing blame elsewhere.
But Guede's comments may in fact be confirmation of a clean-up after the murder of Meredith Kercher (emphasis added):
I am asking myself how is it possible that Amanda could have slept in all that mess, and took a shower with all that blood in the bathroom and corridor? (Guede, Germany Diary, P21)
The police did not find evidence of any other blood until December 18th, AFTER Guede returned from Germany. As indicated above, the luminol revealed multiple footprints in the hallway, in Knox's bedroom, and in Filomena's bedroom. The image below shows these results in blue. Guede's partial footprints are shown in red.
The conclusion is inescapable: Guede knew there would be significant evidence of blood in the hallway, before the police themselves found that evidence.
How did Guede know there would be more blood found in the hallway, before the police found that evidence on December 18th? And why wasn't that blood there on the morning of November 2nd?
The courts believe the blood in the hallway was cleaned after the murder of Meredith Kercher. And the Micheli and Massei courts believed only one person had the motivation to hide this evidence: Amanda Knox.
Here is a summary of Judge Micheli's October 2008 indictment finding.
In Judge Massei's December 2009 trial finding for the original conviction of Knox and Sollecito, he also writes about the clean-up that the judges believed to have happened:
Further confirmation is constituted by the fact that, after Meredith's murder, it is clear that some traces were definitely eliminated, a cleaning activity was certainly carried out. In fact, the bare foot which, stained with blood, left its footprint on the sky-blue mat in the bathroom, could only have reached that mat by taking steps which should have left other footprints on the floor, also marked out in blood just like (in fact, most likely, with even more [blood], since they were created before the footprint printed on the mat) the one found on the mat itself. Of such other very visible footprints of a bloody bare foot, on the contrary, there is no trace. (Massei, Dec 09; PMF translation)
In defense of Guede, Knox, and Sollecito, some might try to claim that Guede heard about blood in the hallway in the news. Rudy Guede was arrested 18 days following the murder of Meredith Kercher. During that time he had access to read the news and watch reports.
I have searched for articles in the period between November 2nd and December 18 which mention blood. All of the articles I have found so far discuss blood in the bedroom or the bathroom. One or two discuss footprints leading to the front door.
None of them discuss blood in the hallway that would justify a statement from Guede of "tutto quel sangue nel bagno e sul corridoghe" (all that blood in the bathroom and in the corridor)
Guede himself said he went between the bedroom and the bathroom, so may have tracked blood into the bathroom and therefore known blood would be found in the hallway.
Even that knowledge however confirms a clean-up, as there was not a trail of blood between the bathroom and Meredith's room that justifies the footprint on the bathmat and blood found in the bathroom.
I have my own questions as a result of Guede's knowledge of blood in the hallway:
Could the attack have started in the hallway? Could the first blood shed have been on the hallway tiles?
The prosecution and courts argue that Amanda Knox had a role in the attack and murder. Knox and her supporters are very adamant that there is no trace of Knox in Meredith's bedroom. While the courts argue otherwise, could Knox's role have been limited to the hallway?
Sadly, we may never know the full truth of what happened on the evening of November 1st, 2007.
My timeline of media reports on blood
- Nov 2nd: Meredith Kercher found. Blood found in bathroom.
- Nov 5th: Police analyzing traces of blood from apartment below.
- Nov 5th: A "trail of blood" is on the inside handle of the door to the apartment.
- Nov 7th: reports of Amanda Knox's statements, includes finding blood in the bathroom.
- Nov 14th: Police use of Luminol at Sollectio's house. First reports on the knife seized by police from Sollecito's house.
- Nov 19th: Analysis of blood in bedroom (pillow, bra, etc).
- Nov 22nd: Guede's prints in blood.
- Nov 27th: Amanda Knox's blood on bathroom tap.
- Nov 28th: Blood in bathroom.
- Dec 5th: Reports of Guede's letter to father: "there was so much blood".
My timeline of main events involving Guede
- Nov 2nd, 2am – 4:30 am: Guede seen by witnesses at Domus nightclub.
- Nov 3: Guede leaves Perugia for Germany
- Nov 11: Guede's cell phone tracked in Milan (Corriere)
- Nov 12: Newspaper reports a 4th suspect.
- Nov 19: Guede identified as suspect in newspapers
- Nov 19: Guede skype conversation with friend.
- Nov 20: Patrick released from prison.
- Nov 20: Guede arrested while trying to return to italy on train in Germany.
- Nov 21: Guede interrogated by German police; Guede admits to being at apartment, blames an italian man for murder.
- Nov 20-Dec 5: Guede writes diary in German prison.
- Dec 3: Germany grants Guede's extradition back to Italy.
- Dec 6: Guede returns to Perugia.
- Dec 7: Guede interrogated by Magistrate.
- Dec 14: Guede ordered to remain in prison.
- Dec 17: Knox is questioned by Mignini.
- Dec 18: Police use luminol in apartment and find footprints in hallway and in Filomena's bedroom.
Archived in Public evidence, The timelines, DNA and luminol, Trials 2008 & 2009, Appeals 2009-2014, Guede appeals, Crime hypotheses, Rudy Guede, Amanda Knox, Raff Sollecito, The Guede hoax
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Thursday, November 07, 2013
Another Highly Misleading Associated Press Report Already Appears on 700 Media Websites
Posted by Peter Quennell
{Above: the AP headline. At bottom: the AP reporter, Colleen Barry; will she correct the report]
Read here what Colleen Barry of the Associated Press (image below) falsely claims.
How exactly does a second proven DNA trace of Amanda Knox on the knife prove that Meredith's proven DNA on the knife wasn't there? The correct facts on the three DNA samples were posted here.
Nothing - nothing - that was said yesterday in court affected that. Two samples of Knox and one sample of Meredith on the knife are confirmed. All three are there.
In fact, Judge Nencini leaned hard on the bumbling Amanda Knox lawyer Dalla Vedova to make him stop. Dalla Vedova was repeatedly trying to trap the Carabinieri experts Dr Barni and Dr Berti into saying that Dr Stefanoni did something wrong in her test of Meredith's DNA. Judge Nencini had not even instructed the Carabinieri labs to look into that.
Dalla Vedova and Colleen Barry of the AP have apparently forgotten that defense observers were there at the Scientific Police labs test and testified that they saw Dr Stefanoni do nothing wrong. Dr. Renato Biondo, Professor Giuesppe Novelli, Professor Francesca Torricelli, Luciano Garofano, Elizabeth Johnson and Greg Hampikian all confirmed that Meredith's DNA was indeed found on the blade of the knife..
Judge Nencini clearly believes that firm evidence of Meredith's DNA is there in front of his court, and that Dr Stefanoni and Judge Massei got it right. Meredith's DNA really was proven to be on the knife. He would not allow a clumsy red-herring argument from Dalla Vedova which lacked the slightest bit of proof.
Unlike Reuters, the Associated Press is not a public company. It issues no stock.
It is instead a co-operative jointly owned by about 1000 media groups, and its reports are carried on up to 1000 sites. It is financially not very well off, and many of its media owners are in the same boat. The AP and many of its owners are increasingly cutting corners to save a buck. Increasingly they are under-researching, failing to check, and so their viewers and their readers are ending up misled.
Does financial strain excuse the AP for hyperbole and seriously wrong claims, for reprinting of false public relations handouts and false lawyer claims as hard fact? As it has too often done before?
Would it not be better when facts are in doubt and justice on the line to not report at all?
{Below: Colleen Barry of AP Germany was the writer of the misleading piece]
Archived in Public evidence, DNA and luminol, Appeals 2009-2014, Florence appeal, Reporting on the case, Dishonest reporting
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Wednesday, November 06, 2013
Appeal Session #3: Sollecito In Court With Family Lawyer For Carabinieri Report On DNA On The Knife
Posted by Peter Quennell
[Compare Sollecito's praying hands here with Amanda Knox's in the bottom shot at the end of the post]
Final Update
So the court session does not even extend beyond the lunch hour. Good morning Seattle! At this moment it is still only 3:30 in the morning there. Only night owls will know what happened.
Yummi and Mason2 may have more for us, which will appear either here below this final update on in Comments. Also Andrea Vogt and hopefully Barbie Nadeau will be filing longer reports in English. We will also check out all the Italian reporting.
Hard to see any game changers in today's strong but undramatic testimony. The Carabinieri RIS DNA experts could not be shaken. All momentum remains with the prosecution and with the Supreme Court's "givens" on the evidence, such as the presence of three attackers in Meredith's room.
The defenses seem to be giving up. They could have phoned it in. Sollecito lawyer Bongiorno didnt make any new fuss. And Amanda Knox lawyer Dalla Vedova was cut off by the lead judge several times, for trickily going off the point. He really is out of his depth in a criminal trial; at the same time often condescending.
And a seeming big slap in the face for the American defense stooge Greg Hampikian who seems to have illegally colluded with the disgraced Hellmann consultants Conti and Vecchiotti (who were not even mentioned today) when Judge Nencini asked Dr Barni "Would you be able to provide reliable standards without using suggestions from Americans?" Dr Barni responded "Of course".
And Sollecito "wasted" his statement by whining about his life, showing no compassion for Meredith (despite his claimed visit to her grave), and not answering any of the dozens of open questions. Sollecito really needed to show he is both strong and compassionate and NOT a weakling under the thumb of Amanda - but he seems to have done quite the opposite. The family lawyer must not be too pleased.
Fifth Update
The opening of Frank Sforza's trial in the same courthouse is postponed, apparently because new information on his campaign to poison opinion against the judiciary and his unsavory connections has been coming in.
Information will be exchanged that is gathered at this trial on mafiosos Luciano Aviello and at Aviello's own trial for obstruction of justice which is now proceeding in the same Florence courthouse in parallel.
The findings and possible charges on the defamatory and dishonest books by Knox and Sollecito are due about now from the Florence and Bergamo prosecutors. Information gathered in those investigations could also be fed in to this process, or put aside for separate trials.
As both the AK and RS books are bulging with the standard PR talking points (some of which flowed from Frank Sforza and Doug Preston) in a sense it will be Curt Knox, the Mellases, Marriott, Sforza, Fischer and Moore who will be put under the microscope.
Fourth Update
A more detailed report on the DNA phase today from the Andrea Vogt website.
The RIS Wednesday deposited their forensic report on trace 36i, a spot of DNA identified (but not earlier tested) on the kitchen knife alleged to be the murder weapon. "Cento Percento" (100 percent) said Major Berti, discussing compatibility. The RIS found that the DNA was compatible with Amanda Knox, and excluded that it was that of Sollecito, Guede or Kercher.
The RIS expert was asked only a few questions from attorneys and the judge. The judge asked why the RIS had done two amplications of the DNA and not 3 or 4. Major Berti described that two is considered the minimum number of amplifications necessary, according to today's forensic standards, doing less (or more) might have diminished the reliability of the results. The judge also asked about the age of the equipment used. Berti responded that the forensic kit used this time has been commercialized since 2010 and available for use since 2011.
At one point the judge stopped a line of questioning by Knox's Rome attorney Carlo Dalla Vedova, who was asking why the RIS described Knox's DNA as "fluids" when a prior expert had said the trace did not come from blood. Nencini said: That question was not put to the RIS by this court, it was not their job to determine that. The other experts' reports are in the case files for everyone to read, he noted, adding: "We cannot put words in the mouth of this expert that were said by another expert."
Third Update
Tweets from our main poster Yummi (Machiavelli)
32. Judge Nencini's comments were always addressed at Dalla Vedova's arguments, who was in fact a bit silly
31. The Judge declared the evidence phase closed. Next court dates are 25 November for prosecution argument and 26 for the defences with 16 and 17 December.
30. Judge Nencini asked Dr Barni "would you be able to provide reliable standards without using suggestions from Americans?" Dr Barni: "of course"
29. Dalla Vedova said Tagliabracci was the only Italian source in the RIS report, all others are foreigners, emphasized the American labs…
28. Sollecito said his family absolutely never had issues with justice. And he is a proud 'member' of that family
27. He also played the 'national' card, as he remphasized 'I am Italian' twice and then addressed the court 'I am an Italian, as you are'
26. Sollecito mentioned the defens's arguments (he has an orthopedical issue with his foot etc.).
25. The questions of all parties to the experts were intended to elicit information to be used in arguing the unrelated previous finding
24. He mentioned Meredith's name only once, to say he barely knew her.
23. Sollecito talked with a faint voice, a long speech in which he described himself as a victim.
22. The Carabinieri say that there are only a few governmental laboratories which have the 17025 certificate (the Carabinieri and the Police)
21. Nencini stops Dalla Vedova, points out that scientific community is international
20. Dalla Vedova tries to elicit that the good standards are not the Italian ones.
19. The RIS obtained the ISO9001 certificate in 2008, and a more specific certificate in 2012.
18. Bongiorno asks RIS to explain why two amplifications are recommended.
17. Prosecutor Crini asks if there are criteria to distinguish which labs or which experts are more competent.
16. Speaking about their software which allows to weight probabilities of attribution.
15. They note that three alleles which are 'alien' were drop off in one duplicate.
14. The biologic method has a 'consensus' interpretation and a 'composite' interpretation, two ways to interpret the double result.
13. They describe the methods employed, the 'biologic' method and the 'statistic' method.
12. Absence of any male trace stands out as a feature of the sample (all contributors are females)
11. They extracted two profiles in a duplicate in agreement with experts of all parties
10. Dr Berti says the sample was a low template. They have a strategy to obtain reliable results.
9. Points out that documentation says sample 36i comes from insertion of blade in the handle.
8. Dr. Berti summarizes the recovery of sample in Vecchiotti's lab.
7. Bongiorno says Sollecito intends to release a spontaneous declaration. He will do that after the experts testimony.
6. Berti and Barni enter the court.
5. Many law students from the Florence school for Magistrates are in court to follow the hearing.
4. Sollecito had managed to enter the courtroom from side entrance eluding photographers. Carlo Torre arrives in court.
3. Giulia Bongiorno & Raff kiss each other. Giulia, Raff & Father have a worried discussion
2. I wonder… will the court withdraw his passport?
1. Raffaele Sollecito is in courtroom. Walking in empty room, few people waiting. Hearing will start 1/2h probably
Second Update
Tweets from Patricia Thomas (AP) and Sabina Castelfranco (AP)
Patricia Thomas @MozzarellaMamma: RaffaeleSollecito - Amanda Knox and I were very carefree and isolated in our love nest.
Sabina Castelfranco @SCastelfranco: Sollecito says he is not the assassin he has been described as. Says Amanda was his first love
Patricia Thomas @MozzarellaMamma: RaffaeleSollecito - I have been described as an assassin. Amanda Knox was my first real love in life
Patricia Thomas @MozzarellaMamma: RaffaeleSollecito takes stand to make statement, starts complaining about media descriptions of himself
First Update
Tweets from Barbie Nadeau
35. Nov 25 - prosecution; 26 - civil; Dec 16 - Sollectio; 17 - Knox; Jan 9 - rebuttals, 10 deliberation and verdict
34. Dec. 16, 17 closing arguments for Knox and Sollecito
33. Judge closes hearing for day, says closing arguments begin Nov 25, 26, must find December dates to conclude
32. Sollecito finishes by thanking judges for their time, judge tells him he can intervene any time during rest of appeal until they deliberate
31. Sollecito says he hates the fame, how it has hurt him, how it isn't fair
20. Sollecito says he has a difficult time looking for work, people associate him with the murder of meredith kercher
29. Sollecito says that even on his vacation in Dominican Republic, he had to defend himself like a public figure, his life is judged by all
28. Sollecito repeats twice that he never met Rudy Guede, how nothing in original trial was based on reality.
27. Sollecito takes trip down memory lane, highlights worst parts of trial and incarceration for him, has not mentioned meredith kercher yet
26. RaffaeleSollecito - I feel a persecution. It is a nightmare, beyond all imagination.
25. RaffaeleSollecito—close to tears as he testifies to court "I am fighting every day to bring out the truth"
24. Jury totally transfixed by sollecito declaration, can't take their eyes off him
23. Sollecito thanks and defends his family, calls amand knox his first love
22. Judge asks for Sollecito declaration now
21. Judge asks about relevance of kit they used, how old technology was, etc.
20. Judge asks what minimum testing is for validation of DNA, RIS says "at least two"
19. Judge tells Dallavedova he cannot put words in mouth of new expert that were said by previous experts, this is fresh analysis
18. Judge clarifies that RIS was not asked to reanalyze work that has been done, but to test a sample that has not been tested.
17. Dallavedova essentially kicks goal into own net, not doing amanda knox any favors by making RIS defend methods used in original conviction
16. Dallavedova manages to get RIS expert to defend Italian methods, says they are in line with global standards, this was crux of 1st appeal
15. DallaVedova asks about international protocol, backfires slightly b/c RIS expert says he doesn't want to dis italian methods, are valid too
14. Bongiorno hammers point that international standards in DNA must be followed ([claims]they were not for meredithkercher sample on tip of knife)
13. Jury in new appeal trial for amanda knox; sollecito look totally lost, lots of daydreaming during DNA testimony, nail biting, looking around
12. Bongiorno asks RIS expert specifics of amplification of sample with an eye to trace with meredith kercher DNA that was amplified many times
11. Prosecutor asking for clarification on how samples are tested, how RIS experts are qualified, etc.
10. RIS: DNA testing as important to exclude suspects as to confirm them, in this case no question that amandaknox DNA is on knife, others' not
9. RIS: testifying about international standards necessary to validate DNA, how they used in their examination of this particular spot on knife
8. Sollecito listening attentively and jotting notes as RIS expert testifies about the knife
7. RIS: the spot they tested on the knife (near handle) matched definitively the DNA of amandaknox in double tests
6. RIS: the spot they tested on the knife did not match meredith kercher or rudy guede or sollecito after double testing
5. RIS: Experts tested spot "H" [?] on the knife (the spot near the handle) for both the victim meredith kercher and suspect
4. RIS: DNA analysis showed no x chromosome, i.e.: no male chromosome in sample they tested on knife
3. RIS: essential in DNA testing to double test samples to validate results
2. RIS expert: explains technical details of testing DNA, how much is needed, how it is tested
1. Judge says he wants to hear from RIS experts first and then sollecito can give his declaration
Initial Post
Well, that first shot from the court at the top sure is a surprise, and maybe bad news for Amanda Knox. Where are Sollecito's other lawyers, Bongiorno and Maori? Presumably they are off to the side talking. .
Iin tweets Andrea Vogt has mentioned that she is reporting for the BBC and the Associated Press TV; reporters cannot have bigger clients or more global reach than with those two. This is from Andrea Vogt's website.
Court is now in session. Day will begin with RIS forensic debates. Raffaele Sollecito will make a statement later in the day.
Sollecito arrived in the Florence court of appeals looking relaxed and ready to make his case before the court later in the day. His father, Francesco Sollecito, also appeared visibly happy to have his son back in arms reach, after an extended stay in the Caribbean. A large number of his friends were in the audience.
Forensic experts for the defense Walter Patumi, Carlo Torre and Sarah Gino were also in attendance in preparation for debate on the new DNA evidence tested by the RIS in Rome, specifically, trace 36i on the kitchen knife alleged to be the murder weapon. RIS say the DNA profile is that of Amanda Knox. Arguments today will mostly about how it might have gotten there, with prosecutors attempting to place it in the context of the murder and defense attorneys arguing it could have been transferred during normal domestic use of the utensil.
Next hearings are Nov. 25-26, with a verdict expected in mid-December.
[Compare Knox's praying hands here with Soellecito's in the top shot]
Archived in Public evidence, DNA and luminol, The two knives, Appeals 2009-2014, Florence appeal, Diversion efforts by, Francesco Sforza, Raff Sollecito, DNA contam hoax, The Aviello hoax
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Tuesday, November 05, 2013
RS And AK Seemingly Competing To "Appropriate" Meredith: Ghoulish, Sadistic And Very Cruel? Or…?
Posted by The TJMK Main Posters
Amanda Knox has stated several times on national TV that she would like to visit Meredith's grave.
Meredith's father responded very firmly that this was quite out of the question. The family will never approve. Perhaps predictably, Raffaele Sollecito then announced triumphally that he had already been.
We can be sure that this exchange will do them no good at all in the Florence court, where the prospects of Judge Massei's special considerations (which lopped five years off their sentences) being re-allowed by the Nencini court now seem pretty dim.
Other than as a ghoulish competition, can this be seen any other way? Last Saturday, Skeptical Bystander, no great lover of the perps, aired the suggestion that we might be seeing a new psychological phase coming into play
Skeptical Bystander
My thinking has evolved somewhat about the report that RS visited Meredith's grave, as well as about AK's non-stop chatter about doing so with the Kerchers and her grotesque appropriation of Meredith.
I just caught part of a documentary treatment of the Menendez case, wherein two brothers, Lyle and Eric, killed their parents. Both were sentenced to life in prison. In a probation report, Lyle is quoted as saying he has found peace by visiting his parents' grave, asking for forgiveness, and understanding that they have forgiven him.
It is entirely possible that both AK and RS want forgiveness from Meredith and from her family. What they don't seem to realize is that they can't take shortcuts or be given a free pass. Lyle Menendez got sentenced for his crime and began the process of self-examination that leads to accountability.
We asked two of our posting psychologists if we could indeed be seeing something like this. With their agreement, this is their email exchange, in which they both concede that Skeptical Bystander may have had a point:
Psychologist A:
It is entirely probable they want, indeed crave, 'forgiveness'. The problem is that dysfunctional or disturbed personalities may be able to be aware of their guilt, but not of their shame.
The guilt would want the forgiveness, but the process that leads to the resolution that is forgiveness will not occur - indeed I believe cannot occur- until the shame is 'owned'.
Just judging from Raffaele's and Amanda's faces alone, I would estimate that Raff is slightly nearer than Amanda in approaching his own shame. Unfortunately I see zero in Amanda, and therein lies the huge problem.
If someone lacks sincerity, someone else or circumstances cannot make them more sincere - what I call authentic. It has to come from self-realization.
That's my 'take'!
Psychotherapist B:
At a certain point, this is all just speculation about someone I've never met, so it's hard to say one way or another.
My best guess would be that in this case neither Knox nor Sollecito has shown any public signs of really being able to admit to themselves that they've done anything to be sorry for.
For what it's worth, my overall impression, based on what's been made public, is that Knox would likely not ever have killed anyone if she hadn't been high and in an especially reckless period of her life and influenced by meeting Sollecito.
She might have gone on being somewhat impulsive and aggressive without ever actually harming anyone, and with luck she might have outgrown it in a few years. I think the kind of cruelty we've seen in this case is driven by unconscious feelings and motives.
Clearly it pains her to be seen as guilty; the idea that anyone can think that about her bothers her a lot. It's easier for me to picture her wanting a visit to Meredith Kercher's grave to somehow clear her of all of this upsetting suspicion, than truly wanting Meredith's forgiveness - more wanting to get rid of shame than to atone for guilt or repair harm, if that makes sense.
When I think of forgiveness, I think of a more mature kind of experience. It takes maturity and integrity to own that you've done something harmful, to withstand whatever feelings of shame and guilt the realization brings, and to seek to make actual reparation.
But anyone can feel haunted by having done a bad thing, and want someone to take the haunting away. I'm reminded of Bill in Oliver Twist - after he kills Nancy he feels sorry for himself and overwhelmed by the fear of retribution, but you couldn't say he's exactly seeking forgiveness - well, maybe a two-dimensional version of it.
Psychologist A:
Yes, quite right. It is all dreadfully disheartening, and still shockingly cruel.
I agree deeply about the unconsciousness of what is going on. One would expect immature adolescents to be acting a lot from their unconscious, and one of the troubles with the joint denial of events is that they are preventing themselves (and others) from growing or becoming more conscious, but instead 'freezing' themselves at that awful time 6 years ago.
You: "He feels sorry for himself and overwhelmed with the fear of retribution, but you couldn't say he's exactly seeking forgiveness—well, maybe a two-dimensional version of it. "
I see true forgiveness as a powerful phenomenon which occurs at a crucial stage of a healing process. I think it is something that occurs, that happens to one, is experienced, and is far greater than anyone's ego.
I would think that someone who had hardly begun, or who had not at all commenced, upon this process would actually have no idea about what forgiveness might actually look or feel like, or be, in fact - let alone how to arrive at it.
Their consequent confusion might then manifest in ,as you say, wanting a two-dimensional version of it, that could be summed up as merely 'not wanting to be seen as bad'. So perpetuating the 'good image(s)' of themselves, which is a gross evasion.
They certainly want not to be hated, as probably anyone does. But it is a huge chasm to actually doing something about that, and learning to behave in a way that people with conscience find acceptable.
Psychotherapist B:
I think you're absolutely right about forgiveness - thank you for saying it so well.
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