Amanda Knox

[Blade96]

i read about her in 'marie claire' magazine. Idk if she is guilty or not. If she's not, I hope they find the real killer. I felt sorry for the victim and her family.

 

[Tez3]

She's a druggie from a rich family who could afford to mount a PR campaign the victims family couldn't. She will now become even richer as she now becomes a professional martyr.
I wouldn't say the Italian people have spoken in favour of her, she was booed, jeered and called a murderer by the ordinary Italians waiting outside the court house.
The real killers? they walked out of the court house.

Knox is no little Miss Innocent. She admitted to taking drugs and was so high she didn't remember much about anything.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-498853/The-wild-raunchy-past-Foxy-Knoxy.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11823193

 

[Tez3]

Reasons Knox got off according to investigative journalist and co-author of 'Darkness Descending: The murder of Meredith Kercher'


PR campaign
Knox's family hired a Seattle public relations specialist, David Marriot, who for months repeatedly plugged the line: "Amanda will get out, it's a done deal." This created a self-propagating media frenzy, which - in the end - helped convince a largely sceptical Italian media.

Supporters' presence
The massive presence of friends and family in Perugia in support fuelled the "Amanda is innocent" campaign. Italians have claimed that because Knox is American, the case has been handled differently, so as not to offend the US.

Appeals process
The Italian appeals process offers more guarantees to defendants than any other legal system in the world, whereby only the weakest evidence is treated, not the whole case. Knox's team only had to attack the DNA evidence against her to undermine the whole edifice of the original trial. Italy has one of lowest prison populations in the world because of its lenient appeals process.

Favourable political climate
Silvio Berlusconi's government vowed to tame his country's fiercely independent system of magistrates - one that had been bolstered to fight the mafia. The more the government shows the magistracy to be incompetent the better for Mr Berlusconi. The ministry of justice is poised to investigate what went wrong.

 

[Sukerkin]

I was interested to see the different ways in which the media of Britain and America reported this. Reading the American papers you would almopst be forgiven for thinking that this woman was a poor, weak-willed innocent who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I find that sort of fatuous presentation hard to swallow, perhaps even harder than a 'witch hunt' would be.

 

[Sukerkin]

This selection is worth a read just to see how a 'news' item can read in some very different ways depending on the perspective of both the writer and the reader:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15159828

 

[Jenna]

Whichever side one chooses to believe, the Italian justice system will be accused of corruption, not just in individual cases, and but on a systemic scale. I would not argue with that accusation.

 

[Sukerkin]

Mentally ill? I'm not sure you can say such a thing based on what we know.

Aye, agreed. We can only use our own life experiences to judge as no formal evidence has been presented in a public forum - nontheless, one of the prosecutors did make the point that her behviour exhibited signs of 'split personality'. Reading her actions and seeing her demeanour on the TV at different times certainly gelled with me, having dealt with a family member who is manic depressice paranoid schitzophrenic for thirty five years or so. Sometimes when it looks like a different person is looking out through a pair of eyes it really is.

Mind you, isn't it your goodself who has worked in the mental health field, or am I getting confused .

 

[Tez3]

She was acquitted because the DNA evidence was deemed to be flawed, she wasn't acquitted because they think she didn't do it.

It seems it will be going to the Italian Supreme court for appeal though it's doubted that America will allow her to be extradited, it could be too that the Kercher family may take it to a civil court and sue Knox.

 

[punisher73]

It is all on how the media of both countries have portrayed it (England and US).

In the US, before I knew anything about the case, I saw a news piece/investigative report on the case and the way it was layed out seemed to be to show her as a rich young girl trying to live it up and being taken advantage of and alot of holes in the prosecution's side and police mishandling of the case. There was a lot of time spent on the rough treatment by the police and telling her that she couldn't talk to anyone else (her parents) unless she confessed.

It looks like it was reported the exact opposite way in England and the stuff shown was to paint her as guilty.

The only real loser in all of this is the victim's family, no matter who you think did it.

 

[crushing]

Reading various comments left by people on news sites, the general feeling here is that she got off with it because her family is rich and American.

My general feeling is this is the reason some people want her to be found guilty.

There seems to be more and more of this. There was a car accident in a city near me recently. A man was apparently speeding, lost control and took out a utility pole. Usually when this happens, you may hear someone comment on it and call the driver and idiot, but usually there isn't much discussion. This time was different. This time the car was a Ford GT40 and the driver was a president of a corporation. Comments initially had the driver going 80 mph in a 35 mph zone, then it went up to 100, then 120 mph. People that have nothing to do with the accident are demanding toxicology reports be released ASAP and that the driver should sent to prison for his recklessness.

 

[Tez3]

My general feeling is this is the reason some people want her to be found guilty.

There seems to be more and more of this. There was a car accident in a city near me recently. A man was apparently speeding, lost control and took out a utility pole. Usually when this happens, you may hear someone comment on it and call the driver and idiot, but usually there isn't much discussion. This time was different. This time the car was a Ford GT40 and the driver was a president of a corporation. Comments initially had the driver going 80 mph in a 35 mph zone, then it went up to 100, then 120 mph. People that have nothing to do with the accident are demanding toxicology reports be released ASAP and that the driver should sent to prison for his recklessness.

The fact that her family is rich has a bearing on the case as they organised things such as the PR company who ran the media campaign that they knew would work heavily in her favour due to the way the Italian appeal court was ran.
The perception in Italy and in the UK is that the American media are saying she was innocent because she is an American in Italy and she was framed because of this.

 

[Steve]

The guy who is in jail is the killer. His DNA was all over the victim's room. The question isn't whether they found her killer. It's whether Knox and her boyfriend were involved. All of the evidence suggests that she is not.

As for her being a druggie from a rich family, I don't believe that's the impression we have over here. The impression is that she was young, was naive, was definitely experimenting with alcohol and drugs, and was probably pretty wasted the night of the murder. Her family, including her parents, grandparents and other extended relatives, mortgaged their homes and took out loans to help pay for her defense. Her father lost his job. They aren't rich, and based on what I've read recently, they're far from it.

Once again, I don't know any more than you guys do about what ACTUALLY happened. What I think is really interesting is the chasm between what you guys have been led to believe through your media, and what we've seen here. All of the factual information is pretty much the same, but there's so much room for sway.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Yet again the Italian people have spoken. They meaning the people in the court room were more than likely in a better position to make a determination one way or the other on here innocent or guilt.

It is interesting to see how it was portrayed by UK media and American media. Definitely, anyone trying to get to the bottom of the incident needs to look hard at all media involved but even more so at the information presented in the Italian court.

 

[Steve]

Aye, agreed. We can only use our own life experiences to judge as no formal evidence has been presented in a public forum - nontheless, one of the prosecutors did make the point that her behviour exhibited signs of 'split personality'. Reading her actions and seeing her demeanour on the TV at different times certainly gelled with me, having dealt with a family member who is manic depressice paranoid schitzophrenic for thirty five years or so. Sometimes when it looks like a different person is looking out through a pair of eyes it really is.

Mind you, isn't it your goodself who has worked in the mental health field, or am I getting confused .

Don't get me wrong. I don't know whether she is ill or not. But it's reasonable that she left home for the first time, got caught up in a foreign country, was inclined to experiment and experience lots of new things, among those being booze and drugs, along with Italian culture, and etc, and ended up where she is. You don't need to be mentally ill to have what happened to her happen. It's a cautionary tale for every young lady who goes to Padre Island or the Florida Keys on Spring Break and "Goes Wild."

[edit]I'll just add that I went to Germany for 2 years as a young man. I was 18 when I got there, and 20 when I left. In the first 6 months or so I was there, I got into a lot of trouble. While I calmed down and did a lot of travelling throughout Germany and Holland with a good friend, I also went in with two of my friends, bought a 1969 Mercedes fire truck (everything original except we were required to remove the siren), filled it one evening with about 20 drunk ammo troops and went to the red light district in Frankfurt. We could all have ended up in jail. But we didn't. Most of us, I believe, have similar stories. So, when I see a story like this, I'm a little sympathetic. While I don't condone the behavior, I at least can understand that good kids can get into situations that they're not mature enough to handle. [/edit]

Tez, the DNA evidence was marginal at best. Her DNA was not found anywhere in the room where the murder took place. She lived in the apartment, and her DNA was found in the common areas of the apartment, as a reasonable person would expect.

There are two things I have come to believe. Granted, both are based on incomplete knowledge of the events. One is that the cops didn't do their jobs correctly. I'm pretty well convinced that they rail-roaded the investigation, finding evidence that supported their suppositions, rather than objectively examining all of the evidence. The police decided that the three were involved and set about finding or twisting the evidence that suited their story.

Second, is that I have a new appreciate for being "tried in the media." It's truly amazing to me that you guys have such a profoundly different impression of this young lady than is common here in America... or at least in the Seattle area. Not wrong or right. That I don't know, but definitely different.

 

[Tez3]

It's interesting that it's 'what the British have been led to believe' and 'what we've seen here', it sounds as if the British are wrong to draw conclusions while the Americans have it correctly!

Perhaps we've actually had more in depth neutral coverage of the trial and appeal hearing that American media have given Americans. Certainly the media here has tried to be fair in it's coverage, it has to be by law in trials here.

http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php..._now_pushing_amanda_knox_very_very_close_to_/

Look at the articles on the sidebar, I think you will find them enlightening. Yes it is a site in memory of the victim but it carries a lot of information missed by the media and others. it carries the defence case too btw.

 

[crushing]

It's interesting that it's 'what the British have been led to believe' and 'what we've seen here', it sounds as if the British are wrong to draw conclusions while the Americans have it correctly!

When just the opposite is true! Right?

 

[Tez3]

When just the opposite is true! Right?

Knox's family spent a million dollars on a PR company, so who do you thinks story is going to get the most coverage in America?

 

[Steve]

It's interesting that it's 'what the British have been led to believe' and 'what we've seen here', it sounds as if the British are wrong to draw conclusions while the Americans have it correctly!

Perhaps we've actually had more in depth neutral coverage of the trial and appeal hearing that American media have given Americans. Certainly the media here has tried to be fair in it's coverage, it has to be by law in trials here.

http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php..._now_pushing_amanda_knox_very_very_close_to_/

Look at the articles on the sidebar, I think you will find them enlightening. Yes it is a site in memory of the victim but it carries a lot of information missed by the media and others. it carries the defence case too btw.

Don't get defensive, Tez. I didn't mean anything by that. I believe we've both been influenced by the media. That's what I'm talking about.

 

[Empty Hands]

Perhaps we've actually had more in depth neutral coverage of the trial and appeal hearing that American media have given Americans. Certainly the media here has tried to be fair in it's coverage, it has to be by law in trials here.

"Foxy Knoxy"? Whatever the sins of the Italian or American press, it's pretty clear the UK press has their own axe to grind.

The Italian court system really screwed up though and showed their biases. Introducing into evidence that Knox masturbated or sometimes wore sexy panties? That she had sex with her boyfriend? How does that bear on the question of murder? No one knows exactly what happened other than the few people involved, but plenty are happy to line up on either side and act as if they did.

 

[Steve]

Regarding the PR firm hired to keep her story in the news, I don't know that I'd do anything different. Without the news coverage and the international visibility, she would very likely still be languishing in an Italian prison.

I don't have a million bucks, but you can bet your *** I'd find it if my son or daughter was in a foreign prison. Just saying.