Amanda Knox GUILTY in Italy 2009 - Appealed/OVERTURNED 2011

[MuffyBee]

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/15/amanda-knox-case-the-obsession-with-what-happened-that-night-in-italy/
Amanda Knox case: The obsession with what happened that night in Italy
August 15, 2011


American Amanda Knox is appealing her murder conviction in the 2007 death of her roommate Meredith Kercher in Italy.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/world/europe/01italy.html
Perugia Journal
Mother’s Long Vigil for Seattle Woman Jailed in Murder
August 31, 2011

Franco Origlia/Getty Images
Edda Mellas, standing at left, with her daughter Amanda Knox, seated, in July in Perugia, Italy, at an appeal hearing on Ms. Knox’s  conviction

[MuffyBee]

http://blog.seattlepi.com/dempsey/2011/08/20/amanda-knox-lawyer-assists-parents-in-kelly-denman-tragic-story/
Amanda Knox lawyer assists parents in Kelly Denman tragedy

 ::snipping2::
Meanwhile Amanda Knox’s appeal trial will resume on September 5 and continue daily until its end. She and co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito have been convicted of murdering Meredith Kercher, Amanda’s British roommate. Jailed since November 2007, the two college students have a good chance of going free, now that a chief witness has been shot down and independent experts found the DNA results “unreliable.” Stay tuned.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.westseattleherald.com/2011/09/03/news/amanda-knox-appeal-trial-continues-monday-sept-5-
Amanda Knox appeal trial continues Monday, Sept. 5. DNA experts to be challenged
Summer break ends in Perugia, Italy, and trial continues
Posted September 3, 2011, Updated September 4, 2011

The appeal trial of West Seattle-raised Amanda Knox continues Monday, Sept. 5, after summer recess in Perugia, Italy, where she has been in prison for nearly four years. She is serving a 26-year sentence for the murder of her college roommate, Meredith Kercher. Her then boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito is serving 25 years. Rudy Guede, the drifter originally from Ivory Coast, is serving 16 years because of a fast track trial.
 ::snipping2::
Legal experts point out that by attacking the forensics experts' reputations, the prosecutors and Maresca are also attacking the reputation of Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellmann who appointed the experts, putting them in a touchy situation. That, plus the fact that the star witness for the prosecution was dismissed as unreliable, has given Amanda's West Seattle family and supporters hope for acquittal. The verdict is expected be the end of September.
 ::snipping2::

(Interesting comments  for both opinions of guilty or not guilty)

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/09/05/italy.knox.appeal/
Prosecutors fight to keep Amanda Knox behind bars
By the CNN Wire Staff
September 5, 2011 5:49 a.m. EDT
Perugia, Italy (CNN) -- Prosecutors fighting to keep American student Amanda Knox behind bars for murder in Italy defended DNA tests that linked her to the killing of British student Meredith Kercher.

Knox is appealing against a 26-year sentence for the murder of her housemate in 2007, with her defense team arguing that DNA evidence used in her original trial is not conclusive.

As the appeal heads into what could be its final week, the victim's sister urged people not to get caught up in the details, but to "please remember our beautiful Meredith."

"Amongst the media frenzy that has developed throughout, Meredith has been forgotten because she is no longer with us, yet this should be about her and what really happened on that tragic evening," Stephanie Kercher said in a statement distributed Sunday by attorney Francesco Maresca.
 ::snipping2::

[Sister]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/09/05/italy.knox.appeal/
Prosecutors fight to keep Amanda Knox behind bars
By the CNN Wire Staff
September 5, 2011 5:49 a.m. EDT
Perugia, Italy (CNN) -- Prosecutors fighting to keep American student Amanda Knox behind bars for murder in Italy defended DNA tests that linked her to the killing of British student Meredith Kercher.

Knox is appealing against a 26-year sentence for the murder of her housemate in 2007, with her defense team arguing that DNA evidence used in her original trial is not conclusive.

As the appeal heads into what could be its final week, the victim's sister urged people not to get caught up in the details, but to "please remember our beautiful Meredith."

"Amongst the media frenzy that has developed throughout, Meredith has been forgotten because she is no longer with us, yet this should be about her and what really happened on that tragic evening," Stephanie Kercher said in a statement distributed Sunday by attorney Francesco Maresca.
 ::snipping2::

yes, remembering Meredith!

[MuffyBee]

http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Aki/English/CultureAndMedia/Italy-Judge-in-Knox-case-calls-prosecutor-request-for-new-DNA-review-superfluous_312426250106.html
Italy: Judge in Knox case calls prosecutor request for new DNA review 'superfluous'
September 7, 2011

Perugia, 7 Sept. (AKI) - Convicted killer American Amanda Knox was awarded a victory on Wednesday when an Italian court hearing her appeal denied the prosecution's request for new DNA review on a key piece of evidence used to convict her for the 2007 murder of her English roommate.
"A new review seems to be superfluous, regardless of the substance or lack of it," said judge Claudio Pratillo Hellmann, who is presiding over the appeal in the central Italian hilltown of Perugia.

"The work done by the experts and the evaluations carried out by consultants allow the court reach a reasonable conclusion," he said.

Forensic experts for the defence in July testified that the evidence collected at the crime scene was flawed. They claim no blood was on the knife identified as the murder weapon by the prosecution. The prosecution team says DNA belonging to 24-year-old Knox and her then-boyfriend Italian Raffaele Sollecito was present on the murder weapon and helped them win a conviction in December 2009.

The lawyers defending Knox and Sollecito have said that new genetic evidence submitted by the prosecution should be considered inadmissible.
 ::snipping2::
An appeals verdict is expected by the end of this month.

The court adjourned the case until 23 September when closing arguments are expected to begin.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/09/07/italy.knox.appeal/
Amanda Knox judge: No new DNA evidence
September 7, 2011

Perugia, Italy (CNN) -- The judge in the Amanda Knox trial Wednesday rejected a prosecution request for new DNA testing as the American fights her conviction for killing her British housemate, Meredith Kercher.

Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellman also rejected prosecution efforts to introduce newly found records about the original testing and to hear a new witness -- all victories for Knox's defense, which opposed the motions.
 ::snipping2::
But Francesco Maresca, a lawyer representing the Kercher family, said the rulings were not a defeat, and that he understood why the judge rejected the requests.
The judge adjourned the hearing until September 23, when final arguments are expected to begin. The earliest possible verdict date is September 29, under a timetable released by the judge Wednesday.
More...
Video at Link

[MuffyBee]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44422551/ns/world_news-europe/#.TmeFeGq8sng
Knox trial: Court rejects new DNA test request
September 7, 2011

PERUGIA, Italy — An Italian court rejected a prosecutor's request Wednesday for new testing of crucial DNA evidence in the appeals trial of Amanda Knox — a positive development for the American student who is seeking to overturn her murder conviction.
The decision to deny more DNA testing was a blow to the prosecution, which had sought to counter the results of a court-ordered independent review that harshly criticized how DNA evidence was used in the case.

Without a clear motive or convincing witnesses, the DNA evidence is crucial, and much of the appeals outcome hinges on it.

The court presided over by Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellmann said closing arguments to begin on Sept. 23, with the prosecution going first, followed by civil plaintiffs and the defense.
 ::snipping2::
In the first trial, prosecutors maintained 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 mixed trace that also included the victim's genetic profile.
Image: Amanda Knox, the U.S. student convicted of killing her British flatmate Meredith Kercher in Italy on November 2007, leaves the courtroom in Perugia

Unreliable
The appeals court ordered an independent review, which found that much of that evidence was unreliable and possibly contaminated.

The review was at the center of several fiercely debated hearings in the Perugia courtroom, with police defending their investigation.

The TODAY show reported Wednesday that the court was shown pictures of the refrigerator, filled with food, in the house where Kercher died, taken weeks after the murder.

The court was told that police stored biological evidence in the refrigerator and there was a question about whether the food — a possible source of DNA contamination — had been removed first.

"This is a strange way of [collecting] evidence," defense forensic expert Adriano Tagliabracci told TODAY.
Pratillo Hellmann said the discussion about the DNA evidence had been thorough enough for the court to form an opinion.

New testing would be "superfluous," he said, rejecting the request made earlier in the day by Prosecutor Manuela Comodi.

The court also rejected another prosecution request to put back on the stand a witness who had previously testified that his brother, a fugitive, had killed Kercher during a botched burglary.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44422551/ns/world_news-europe/#.TmeJgmq8sng
Knox trial: Court rejects new DNA test request
September 7, 2011

TRANSCRIPT

Closed captioning of: Police ‘short cuts’ and ‘sloppy work’ may free Knox



    hour with serious news. key ruling this morning tied to the appeal of amanda knox 's murder conviction in italy. lester holt is in perugia . lester, good morning.

    ann, good morning. a big day here in perugia . a late and bold attempt to bolster what many would see is a faltering case against knox and her ex-boyfriend just failed. prosecution came to court this morn and said, judge, can you appoint some more dna expert, independent experts to review the work already reviewed. the judge said no and added he already had enough information from expert witnesses to make a call in this case. all of this could spell very good news for amanda knox . perhaps thinking these could be among her last few court hearings in this appeal, amanda knox looked pencive as he entered the court this morning. on tuesday an expert hired by the defense offered compelling evidence of what the defense maintains a series of short cuts and sloppy work by police evidence technicians at the crime scene . the court was shown these photos of the rf from the home knox shared with her murdered roommate meredith kercher , stild packed with food several weeks after the crime. it's important because police now admit they actually stored biological evidence in the victim's refrigerator. the question, did they first remove this food, a source of potential cross contamination ? the defense expert told me it was an odd breach of protocol.

it is a strange way of storing evidence.

this week the prosecution has offered rebuttal witnesses to try to repair the damage to its case delivered by court appointed expertses who have testified that dna results used to help convict knox and her ex-boyfriend are of such a tiny amount they're useless. knox 's attorney who rarely speaks to reporters left court on tuesday clearly pleased. how do you feel about this session?

they will decide.

this morning yet another defense expert was on stand, this time talking about the knife, the alleged murder weapon, and food particles on it that should have absorbed any blood had it been used to kill kercher. these last ten months of appeals' testimony have been agonizing for amanda's father who believes by now his daughter's innocence should be abundantly clear to even the prosecution.

the job of the prosecution is to find the truth. why is the prosecution not willing to accept that the results are and challenge everything that they've said?

still, curt knox who has made the trip to perugia countless times these last four years is hoping this one will be
his last. she prevails in the appeal you fully expect she's on the next plane to seattle?

i'm hopeful that will happen, yes.

had the prosecution prevailed today in its request for more dna analysis and more independent experts, this case could have easily gone into the next year. as it stands right now, next in line, closing arguments will happen on the 23rd of august. when that ruling came down today i was looking at amanda fox, knox , no reaction.

Video at Link

[cookie]

how does everyone here view this case?  I have my doubts on guilt or innocence

[Blonde]

Amanda Knox May Be Freed in Italian Murder Case

By Mike Fleeman

Wednesday September 07, 2011 03:20 PM EDT
Amanda Knox May Be Freed in Italian Murder Case

Amanda Knox

Pietro Crocchioni/Landov


More than two years after Amanda Knox was convicted in the brutal murder of her roommate in Italy, a judge appears likely to free the American woman because of problems with the DNA evidence.

An independent report by forensic experts has questioned the validity of tests of blood samples on a 12-inch knife allegedly used to kill Meredith Kercher, 21, in what authorities called a sadistic sex game gone awry in 2007.  ::snipping2::

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20526358,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+people%2Fheadlines+%28PEOPLE.com%3A+Top+Headlines%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo

[trimmonthelake]

http://blog.seattlepi.com/dempsey/2011/09/08/amanda-knox-defense-wins-last-minute-dna-smackdown-2/
Amanda Knox defense wins last-minute DNA smackdown
Welcome to yet another dramatic development in the Amanda Knox case, also known as the West Memphis Three, Italian-style.

Yesterday an Italian reporter compared Knox, a U.S. college student convicted of murdering her British roommate, to a drowning sailor who suddenly spots land. That’s because Judge Pratillo Hellmann held off a last-minute coup, refusing a prosecution request to retest “unassailable” DNA evidence that his own hand-picked independent experts call “unreliable.”

The DNA, as the Italian press points out, is at the very center of the conviction. Moreover, Italian law requires the judge to acquit if there is insufficient evidence. Italians, I guess I need to point out, do believe in science–and education. It’s insulting to say otherwise. As I’ve said from the beginning, they will sort this debacle out in their own time and way. I am Italian-American. I do believe the Perugini will do the right thing.
 ::snipping2::

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.newser.com/story/127988/amanda-knox-edges-closer-to-freedom.html
Amanda Knox Edges Closer to Freedom
Even prosecutor now thinks she may be released
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 8, 2011 1:16 AM CDT
Newser) – Amanda Knox can almost see daylight. Court developments in her murder trial appeal are all falling her way, strongly indicating that she could soon be released. Even the once-confident prosecution is prepared for the case to go either way, reports ABC News. "The judge and his assistant are clearly against us," a lead prosecutor tells the Daily Mail. "I can see both Knox" and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito "being freed, which will be a shame as they are both involved." As for Amanda, she's "happy and hopeful," said dad Curt Knox, reports People.
 ::snipping2::

[Aurelia7]

how does everyone here view this case?  I have my doubts on guilt or innocence

I'm with you.  This is one of those cases where you don't know who to believe.  The things that concern me is the changing of the initial time of death, the reportedly bungled investigation, insufficient DNA evidence and the admission by Guede that he committed the murder alone.

On the other hand you have a family saying that Knox is not the murderous type, but then again you never know.  She was far from home and possibly influenced by her new friends.  The fact that she tried to call Kercher 3 times would indicate that she didn't know she was dead or it could indicate that she did know and she's crafty enough to do something like that to make herself appear innocent.  Then you have evidence that the crime scene was made to look like a break in.  And just because Knox looks sweet and innocent, it doesn't mean she is.

And then there's those cartwheels at the police station.  Such odd behavior.  I believe that Knox and Sollecito are guilty of something, but I can't figure out what.  They definitely know more than they've stated.

[cookie]

how does everyone here view this case?  I have my doubts on guilt or innocence

I'm with you.  This is one of those cases where you don't know who to believe.  The things that concern me is the changing of the initial time of death, the reportedly bungled investigation, insufficient DNA evidence and the admission by Guede that he committed the murder alone.

On the other hand you have a family saying that Knox is not the murderous type, but then again you never know.  She was far from home and possibly influenced by her new friends.  The fact that she tried to call Kercher 3 times would indicate that she didn't know she was dead or it could indicate that she did know and she's crafty enough to do something like that to make herself appear innocent.  Then you have evidence that the crime scene was made to look like a break in.  And just because Knox looks sweet and innocent, it doesn't mean she is.

And then there's those cartwheels at the police station.  Such odd behavior.  I believe that Knox and Sollecito are guilty of something, but I can't figure out what.  They definitely know more than they've stated.

yes..lots of questions in my mind about this case..

[KittyMom]

I think Amanda and KC have a lot in common.  Namely, parents that run to her rescue throughout life so that she feels entitled and doesn't accept responsibility for any of her actions.  Meredith is the victim here, but the Knox family isn't going to acknowledge that.

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.wibw.com/nationalnews/headlines/Knoxs_dad_optimistic_shell_go_free_129749863.html
Posted: 3:03 PM Sep 13, 2011
Knox's Dad Optimistic She'll Go Free
The father of American student Amanda Knox says prosecutors have "no case left," after an Italian judge rejected a request for new DNA testing of evidence.
Reporter: CNN
Perugia, Italy (CNN) -- The father of American student Amanda Knox says prosecutors have "no case left," after an Italian judge rejected a request for new DNA testing of evidence.

"It really appears to me that they want to find the truth," Curt Knox said of Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellman's decision Wednesday. "I'm very hopeful that by the end of the month, we'll be able to bring Amanda and Rafael home."

Amanda Knox is fighting her conviction for killing her British housemate, Meredith Kercher. Knox and her ex-boyfriend, Rafael Sollecito, were found guilty of the killing in 2009.

The judge also rejected prosecution efforts to introduce newly found records about the original testing and to hear a new witness -- all victories for Knox's defense, which opposed the motions.

Curt Knox said his daughter is "handling it a step at a time. She's not pessimistic by any means. But she's also not saying, you know, I'm coming home."

He told CNN that the family will be allowed to see Amanda on Friday and will have a better sense of her reaction to the court's decision then.

Still, he acknowledged that "it was very good news for Amanda."
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/24/amanda-knox-life-prosecutors?newsfeed=true
Amanda Knox should be sentenced to life, say prosecutors
September 24, 2011

Prosecutors seeking to uphold Amanda Knox's murder conviction have asked for her sentence to be increased to life – and for her to spend six months in daytime solitary confinement.

Giancarlo Costagliola said the court should also raise the sentence passed on her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, to life with two months in solitary. Exploiting what has always been regarded as a weakness of the case against them, he said the lack of a motive justified their being given the harshest sentence available under Italian law.

His colleague, Manuela Comodi, had earlier said that Knox, 24, and the 27-year-old Italian computer sciences student had "killed for nothing". They were given 26 and 25 years respectively at their trial but with good behaviour could have expected to get out of jail much sooner. Life imprisonment in Italy is intended to keep prisoners inside for at least 26 years, though some are released earlier. .

Knox sat motionless as the prosecution request was read out, pressing her lips against her hands. Her father, Curt Knox, said his daughter had been prepared for the development, which the prosecution had earlier signalled in a document submitted to the court.
 ::snipping2::
Prosecutors have spent the two-day summing up bristling with indignation over criticism of their evidence and alleged that it reflected a systematic plot to denigrate the Italian judicial system. In June, their case was severely dented when two independent, court-appointed experts found that the key forensic evidence used to convict Knox and Sollecito was unreliable.

On Saturday, Comodi attacked the independent experts, noting they were both professors of forensic science, rather than practising investigators. She asked the jury of five women and one man: "Would you entrust the wedding reception of your only daughter to someone who knew all the recipes by heart but had never actually cooked?"
 ::snipping2::
mportant evidence at the trial of Knox and Sollecito included a trace of his DNA on Kercher's bra clip and a knife, which the prosecution claimed was the murder weapon, bearing the DNA of both defendants and their alleged victim. The experts found that Sollecito's DNA could have reached the bra clip, which was only identified and bagged 46 days after the discovery of the body, by a process of contamination. They said the third trace of DNA on the knife, which was in Sollecito's kitchen, was too faint to be ascribed confidently to Kercher.

According to Comodi the original analysis had been carried out by police forensic experts whose competence was internationally recognised and the defence had failed to show how the contamination of the bra clip might have occurred.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/24/earlyshow/saturday/main20111132.shtml?tag=pop;stories
Prosecutors compare Amanda Knox to Nazis
September 24, 2011

(CBS News)

Prosecutors in Italy have delivered closing arguments in the appeals trial of American student Amanda Knox. She is fighting to get her murder conviction overturned because of faulty DNA evidence.

Knox could learn October 3rd whether she goes free or spends life in prison for the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher, CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata reports.

Knox returned to court looking far more confident than in previous appearances. Her lawyers say a new report casting doubt on DNA evidence would clear her and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito of the murder of Kercher in Italy.

But in the final round of closing arguments, prosecutors turned up the heat with hardball tactics, at one point portraying Knox as part of a media campaign worthy of Nazi propaganda.

Lawyers showed jurors graphic pictures of Kercher's body, and say people have forgotten about the girl who was brutally murdered.

Kercher's sister said she and her family felt the same. "In these four years, Meredith has been forgotten. We need to find justice for her."

Knox's parents, who have been attending the closing arguments in Perugia, told CBS' "The Early Show on Saturday Morning" that showing the graphic photos of Kercher was "gratuitous."

"I left at that moment," said Knox's mother, Edda Mellas. "I think, because there is no evidence, I think they are just trying to play an emotional card because they really have no case. I chose not to sit and watch that."

When asked how it felt to hear his daughter likened to Nazis, Curt Knox said, "Well, you know, she's been experiencing a negative character assassination for more than two years, especially at the very beginning of this whole case. It's very interesting to have the prosecution now consider the media and this whole situation turn on them, and all of the sudden it's a Nazi situation. "
 ::snipping2::
Curt Knox said he expects Amanda to address the court before it goes to the jury. "She has been thinking about that for probably upwards of three months now and going over different things," Curt said. "It's something that is going to be very personal to her because she's literally on trial for her life as well. So, I mean, it's going to be very heartfelt and it's probably going to be very tough as parents to listen to as well."

A lot of this new hearing hangs on DNA evidence. In the initial trial prosecutors said Knox's DNA was found on the handle of a knife believed to be the murder weapon, and Kercher's DNA was found on the blade.

Independent experts have since declared that evidence unreliable.

If acquitted, Amanda Knox could be freed immediately. If not, she could have her sentence confirmed, shortened, or lengthened.