Amanda Knox Verdict!!!

[asta]

Hey, I'm delighted the scruffy looking 58 year old man in Texas just got out after 25 years because of DNA. I never even heard of him before today, and I'm still happy. I'm also really happy he wasn't "put down" for the crime 25 years ago.

 

Now then, she'll make millions off of this, and it will remain to be seen where her life will go ... I'm thinking of my .sig. I really like the adage that money doesn't change a man, it makes him more like himself.

 

I'm curious how much her parents had to spend, borrow or mortgage to get her representation for the past four years. I doubt it was a trifling amount. Also, anything above bare sustenance in European jails is normally the responsibility of the families (unless that has changed in the last 10 years - that was the last time I discussed it with an Embassy official).

 

Finally, as to the whole "I don't wear the mask of an assassin" (or whatever) thing - I'm betting her Italian is much better now than it was 4 years ago, and that now that she has (or did for yesterday anyway) have a different lawyer, it was suggested she use unambiguous words. She's also older, seeing the world through different eyes.

 

That is my take anyway. Take it for what it is worth.

 

As a counterpoint: people around here aren't for the death penalty and can't wrap their brains around it when they read or see a news story regarding a person in the US killing a US police officer and living to tell about it. They don't see something like that as ever making it to the court system. Different political systems, different... approaches.

 

 

a

[EmilyK]

I know the Kerchers (and I understand many others in the UK especially) still believe the prosecution's theory. Are there any relatively unbiased sources that lay out why someone would think that? My understanding of the case is so filtered through the US media that the prosecution theory seems preposterous and not supported by the evidence, but clearly reasonable minds (not including the chief prosecutor, who seems like a wingnut) are differing here.

 

Jeff Toobin and Marcia Clark were on CNN last night and said there was little evidence against them, but didn't really go into details.

[Cassy]

I guess the media really does have enormous influence. Not that I've followed the case very closely, but I'd never heard any criticism of the chief prosecuter in the British press. I do remember reading a long article in the Sunday Times Magazine a year or so ago that portrayed Amanda Knox as very disturbed, almost psychopathic. Only she and her ex-boyfriend can know the real truth. If she really is innocent, then I'm very happy she has her freedom, and very sorry for the three years of her life that have been wasted.

 

Cassy

[Lady Florida.]

I guess the media really does have enormous influence. Not that I've followed the case very closely, but I'd never heard any criticism of the chief prosecuter in the British press.

 

Cassy

 

They didn't report anything about the prosecutor and The Monster of Florence? If you google Amanda Knox Monster of Florence, you'll find much more than the article below. Mignini had some bizarre theories in both cases.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20003238-504083.html

[Mom in High Heels]

I'm curious how much her parents had to spend, borrow or mortgage to get her representation for the past four years. I doubt it was a trifling amount. Also, anything above bare sustenance in European jails is normally the responsibility of the families (unless that has changed in the last 10 years - that was the last time I discussed it with an Embassy official).

 

Finally, as to the whole "I don't wear the mask of an assassin" (or whatever) thing - I'm betting her Italian is much better now than it was 4 years ago, and that now that she has (or did for yesterday anyway) have a different lawyer, it was suggested she use unambiguous words. She's also older, seeing the world through different eyes.

 

 

 

 

a

 

On the news today they said her parents were deeply in debt (they drained their savings, and other investments and had mortgaged their house) and that her grandmother had spent $250,000 (her life savings) to help with lawyer and travel bills.

 

I agree about her Italian being bad in the beginning. I've followed this trial since the day it was first reported and they stated that her Italian wasn't that great and she had trouble expressing herself in court. Of course after spending 4 years in prison, I'd be surprised if her Italian wasn't better.

 

I've never believed she was guilty. They had nothing to tie her to the crime other than her DNA being on the handle of the knife. She lived there. I'll bet my DNA is on the handle of every knife we own because I use them and I have cut myself several times (I'm actually a good cook, just sometimes clumsy).

 

I think it got so much press because she's an American and on trial in a foreign country. The hikers got loads of press after being held in an Iranian prison. They didn't get as much because their trial wasn't accessible to the media for the most part. This case also got huge coverage in Italy and all over Europe (it's made the German news for a very long time). I would be surprised if it didn't get much press in the US. Look how much press Casey Anthony's trial got and it was only a few months. This one went on for years. And don't forget that Knox's family was constantly on the news making sure she wasn't forgotten.

 

I'm happy she's been freed. If I were her I would never, ever, ever leave the US again. I also hope she writes a book or publishes the diaries she kept while in prison and makes a lot of money off of them. I'm betting she'll use part of the money to help her parents and grandmother out after all the money they spent to help her.

[Cassy]

They didn't report anything about the prosecutor and The Monster of Florence? If you google Amanda Knox Monster of Florence, you'll find much more than the article below. Mignini had some bizarre theories in both cases.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20003238-504083.html

 

Thanks Kathy, that's very interesting. Here's the BBC's verdict on what helped her case, no mention of the Monster of Florence:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15157384

 

I never realised before coming to the WTM boards how very different the UK and US are - it sounds rather silly and naive, but I used to think that Americans were just the same as us, just living a long way away. I never cease to be amazed at what very different views we have on so many things, and how very, very different are two cultures are.

 

Cassy

[Lady Florida.]

Thanks Kathy, that's very interesting. Here's the BBC's verdict on what helped her case, no mention of the Monster of Florence:

 

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15157384

 

And those are all true. When you add in the Monster of Florence it sheds doubt on the prosecutor's competence.

 

I never realised before coming to the WTM boards how very different the UK and US are - it sounds rather silly and naive, but I used to think that Americans were just the same as us, just living a long way away. I never cease to be amazed at what very different views we have on so many things, and how very, very different are two cultures are.

 

Cassy

 

I thought the same thing until I visited England many years ago.

[angela in ohio]

I never realised before coming to the WTM boards how very different the UK and US are - it sounds rather silly and naive, but I used to think that Americans were just the same as us, just living a long way away. I never cease to be amazed at what very different views we have on so many things, and how very, very different are two cultures are.

 

Not all Americans believe the same things as the U.S. Media. Please don't judge us all by that. ;)