Watch CBS News Videos Online
I like this comment at the CBS link:
by 66witches December 6, 2009 7:30 PM EST
I think that the persons writing above who point out problems in Knox's and Sollecito's testimony are relying on a lot of unproven facts. The police record of timings of things are flawed and disputed, and the police are also in on it with that evil deranged slob Mignini. By the way, it was the police who first implicated Lumumba, not Amanda, and she was basically bullied into what is called an "interrogator's trap" in which a suspect is basically asked to imagine a possible scenario. It's very easy to imagine that you would be the perfect picture of stoic nobility under aggressive interrogation, but different people buckle under different levels of pressure, which is why in the US and UK and some other countries, there are stringent rules around how interrogations are conducted. Coercion, leading questions, bullying, aggression, - it doesn't have to take electric shock torture to get a compromised confession. For some people an hour of extreme, threatening and accusatory interrogation is enough to create a confusion. That entire interview in any case, was ruled inadmissible as it was under duress, without an interpreter and no lawyer present. If you have ever had to make a police statement you know that they put things into their own words, supposedly based on what you've said and they write it down and then you sign it. The only reason that interrogation was heard in court is because in the FLAWED and CORRUPT Italian judicial system, the civil case is heard simultaneously with the criminal case. Civil cases have a lower burden of what is admissable and so this loophole allowed that illegal and flawed entrapment of an interrogation to be heard by the same jury that was hearing the criminal case, simultaneously. We may never know why it sometimes appears that Amanda and Raffaele appear to have something to hide about their activities that evening, or at least are rather vague and insubstantial. Maybe they were smoking Salvia and went on an astral journey that lasted til 5 a.m. and can't exactly discuss the fact that they were at an alien rave on Venus all night, or maybe don't even remember what happened. It doesn't matter, because the fact they don't have a verifiable alibi other than that they weren't there should NOT be enough to convict. And even looking or acting a bit suspicious or in ways that don't conform to expectations is hardly proof of a hideous crime. To me, Amanda is not faking it one bit when she speaks about Meredith being her friend. Mignini on the other hand comes off as a loathsome toad with bizarre fixations. Catholic-Mafia run Italy also has very convoluted and hypocritical morals surrounding alternative lifestyles, sex and getting high. The agenda to enforce a traditional code of so-called morality is also a big factor in this case. I personally don't find the footage of the pair embracing after the murder was discovered as so weird as everyone is making out. If you are with your lover when you suddenly find yourself in an extreme and scary situation, involving death and tragedy, wouldn't the natural thing to do be to seek solace in their arms? I didn't find their embrace to be particularly racy, it seemed comforting. Anyway, thanks for showing this program CBS. I hope you continue to follow up the story.
But what I really want to know is why no-one is talking about the ditched cell phones? This seems really significant to me. If Meredith and Raffaele had taken them as part of the staged break in, well, first of all what a dumb choice as they're so identifiable! Secondly, why not dispose of them a bit better! It makes a lot more sense that Guede, the interrupted burglar and opportunistic sex attacker, would have taken them at some point - perhaps when it was still a burglary - and then panicked and ditched them when he ran off. I also find it significant that Guede never implicated Amanda or Raffaele in the crime until it was clear that there was a huge media interest in her and that he could manipulate things to shift the blame. I think all Americans should judge the merits of this case based on how the outcome would have been in a US court. By those standards, properly upheld, there is no way there would have been a conviction and so for that reason alone, all US citizens should support Amanda's right to a fair interrogation, arrest, and trial. Sending letters demanding Mignini's resignation would be a good start. Thanks for reading.
This Larry King Live interview with Knox's parents was from a couple of months ago:
L-king/Knox from Ray Turner on Vimeo.
No comments:
Post a Comment