News: Appeals for Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito

RatedG²

So to take a break from music threads...a real news story is developing...

The Case of Meredith Kercher and the appeals for Knox and boyfriend

Quote:

PERUGIA, Italy — Italian prosecutors asked an appeals court on Saturday to uphold the conviction of Amanda Knox for the murder of her British roommate and increase her sentence to life in prison.

The 24-year-old American sat motionless as Prosecutor Giancarlo Costagliola made his request. The prosecutor sought the same sentence for Knox's co-defendant, former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, capping two days of closing arguments by the prosecutors.

Costagliola also requested six months of daytime solitary confinement for Knox and two months for Sollecito.

A verdict is expected in early October.

Knox, of Seattle, Washington, and Sollecito, an Italian, were convicted by a lower court of sexually assaulting and murdering Meredith Kercher while they were all studying in Perugia in 2007. Knox was sentenced to 26 years, her co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito to 25 years.

They both deny wrongdoing and have appealed the 2009 verdict.

But in Italy prosecutors also can appeal, and they did so in this case. The prosecutors had sought life imprisonment, Italy's harshest punishment, in the original trial, too.

For two days, prosecutors sought to persuade the appeals court that there is sound evidence incriminating the defendants: witness testimony, genetic material, cell phone activity.

Manuela Comodi, summing up the case Saturday, said there is "gigantic, rock-solid circumstantial evidence." The prosecutors believe the defendants deserve the harshest possible punishment because of the brutal nature of the murder, the sexual assault, and the lack of a motive.

"They have killed for nothing," she said.

Kercher was stabbed to death in the apartment she shared with Knox, in what prosecutor said was a drug-fueled sexual aggression.

Curt Knox, the defendant's father, said her daughter had reacted well to the prosecutors' request, which had been expected.

"She was actually fine. She said today was easier than yesterday, mainly because today was technical," he said. "Yesterday it was kind of character assassination that they tried."

Earlier Saturday, Comodi defended the forensic evidence that had been used to convict Knox, firing back at an independent review that criticized the investigation and the work of police in the case.

The DNA is crucial in the case, where no clear motive for the brutal killing has emerged.

Prosecutors maintain that Knox's DNA was found on the handle of a kitchen knife believed to be the murder weapon, and that Kercher's DNA was found on the blade. They said Sollecito's DNA was on the clasp of Kercher's bra as part of a mix of evidence that also included the victim's genetic profile.

But those findings were always disputed by the defense, and during the appeals trial the court decided to appoint two independent experts to review the evidence.

The independent experts challenged the prosecution's findings. They said police had made glaring errors in evidence-collecting and that below-standard testing and possible contamination raised doubts over the attribution of DNA traces, both on the blade and on the bra clasp, which was collected from the crime scene several weeks after the murder.

The review significantly weakened the prosecution case, giving Knox and her supporters hope that she might be freed after four years behind bars.

Sensing dangers, prosecutors have fought hard to try to undermine the review's results. They described it as superficial and sketchy. In several hearings in past weeks, and then again during summations Friday and Saturday, the prosecutors challenged the review point by point.

Comodi used down-to-earth expressions, simple language and even food analogies to keep the jurors engaged during the highly technical discussion about DNA testing and forensic science, which took about five hours. At one point, she pulled out a bra from her bag, seeking to illustrate how she thought the garment had been cut from the victim's body. She showed photos of bloody footprints found in the apartment, which she claims are compatible with the defendants.

Francesco Maresca, a lawyer for the Kercher family, supported the prosecution's stance on the review. Speaking after the court proceedings, he said: "They deserve the just penalty. Killing a girl – or anybody else – is punished by Italian law with life in prison, so they deserve life in prison, if they are found guilty."

Next week a lawyer for the victim's family and the defense teams will deliver their closing arguments.

"I think we'll have a little bit of a different story than what was portrayed in the last two days," said Knox's father.

Knox herself is expected to address the court before deliberations. The appeals trial, which opened in November, included several witnesses and a fierce debate over the DNA review, which was completed in June.

A third person, Rudy Hermann Guede of the Ivory Coast, also has been convicted of Kercher's murder in a separate proceeding. Italy's highest criminal court has upheld Guede's conviction and his 16-year prison sentence. Guede denies wrongdoing, but he admits he was in the house.

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Some important things to note

While DNA was found on the kitchen knife belonging to Knox, the evidence was recovered 47 days later, increasing chances of contamination.
Other forensic investigators say that the knife recovered and thought to be the murder weapon doesn't fit the characteristics of the knife wounds in Kercher's neck, so even if Knox's DNA is on the knife, that isn't the murder weapon, which is believed to be a quarter of the size of the knife recovered.
Sollecito's DNA was found on a bra clasp of Kercher's, but the tests did not go under internationally accepted rules for investigation, leading the evidence to be hotly contested.
Apart from the knife, there is no direct evidence linking Knox to the crime scene. So without any DNA at the crime scene, can she really be a suspect?

Thoughts?

RatedG²

I see ATRL isn't here for real world news

Errrlend

How is Knox attatched at all, apart form the knife?

The first quote is tew much 4 reading for my attention span.

edit: while they were all studying in Perugia in 2007
oh.

I call innocent. the stab wounds didn't fit the knife, the DNA was old, and there were no legit motive proven. ALSO, she could've just cut herself while making dinner or something, LMAO.

IWasHere

I actually thought she was gulity.... Her family hired a hell of a defensive team...

RatedG²

Quote:

Originally posted by IWasHere

I actually thought she was gulity.... Her family hired a hell of a defensive team...

This. I'm so unsure now

IWasHere

Amanda's behaviour was totally suspect days/weeks after the crime. I followed the story and even watched the movie and I was convinced Amanda was gulity. Well now the prosecutors case is flawed and her gulity convinction probably will get over turned.

Navin

I watched a documentary on this awhile back. I don't think shes guilty though.
Theres a lot of questionable **** that went down behind the scenes of the case.

Neptune

Quote:

Originally posted by IWasHere

I actually thought she was gulity.... Her family hired a hell of a defensive team...

I think any parent would get the best they can for their kid if they were in a murder trial, doesn't make her guilty.

RatedG²

Quote:

Originally posted by Navin

I watched a documentary on this awhile back. I don't think shes guilty though.
Theres a lot of questionable **** that went down behind the scenes of the case.

They have a documentary for this?

Exactly. At first, I was sure she was guilty. But besides the knife, no real evidence points her to the murder scene. So if she did do it, how?

IWasHere

Quote:

Originally posted by RatedG²

They have a documentary for this?

Exactly. At first, I was sure she was guilty. But besides the knife, no real evidence points her to the murder scene. So if she did do it, how?

There's also a movie. Amanda lied to the cops alot- she said she was at her boyfriend house during the time of the murder but cell phone evidence proved otherwise, her and her roommate were not getting along but she told the cops they did. Also there's a third man that was convicted and he said that Amanda was invovled, he said it was a sex game that went wrong.... Idk if she was really gulity or innocence but Im quite curious on how this case will play out.

IWasHere

Quote:

Originally posted by UK.

I think any parent would get the best they can for their kid if they were in a murder trial, doesn't make her guilty.

Can U calm down?? Geez, my comment was to be takin lightly.

Errrlend

Quote:

Originally posted by RatedG²

They have a documentary for this?

Exactly. At first, I was sure she was guilty. But besides the knife, no real evidence points her to the murder scene. So if she did do it, how?

Yes, and the DNA on the knife was old and... 47 days old.. right? it could've happened at any time.

Quote:

Originally posted by IWasHere

There's also a movie. Amanda lied to the cops alot- she said she was at her boyfriend house during the time of the murder but cell phone evidence proved otherwise, her and her roommate were not getting along but she told the cops they did. Also there's a third man that was convicted and he said that Amanda was invovled, he said it was a sex game that went wrong.... Idk if she was really gulity or innocence but Im quite curious on how this case will play out.

So she'll be convicted for lying either way.
You know Casey Anthony got over 200,000$ in payments to the police etc not for the search of the baby, which was all a lie or something like that. sick. lol. (She won't pay if she's innocent on that .. verdict[?] though, I pretty sure she'll have to pay alot either way)

IWasHere

Quote:

Originally posted by Errrlend

Yes, and the DNA on the knife was old and... 47 days old.. right? it could've happened at any time.

So she'll be convicted for lying either way.
You know Casey Anthony got over 200,000$ in payments to the police etc not for the search of the baby, which was all a lie or something like that. sick. lol. (She won't pay if she's innocent on that .. verdict[?] though, I pretty sure she'll have to pay alot either way)

But why would one lie??? If they are innocent they would tell da truth and their story would never change.... One would think if someone's lying they are hiding something, and most likely they are.