Amanda Knox Indicted For Slander- Trial In May

Amanda Knox attended the slander hearing on Monday morning and was indicted to stand trial on May 17, 2011. Judge Claudia Matteini found that there was enough evidence to try Amanda on the slander charge- The evidence she was referring to is simply the fact that Amanda had said the police treated her badly with a cuff on the back of the head during her questioning by police in November 2007. Amanda had said this in her own defense at her trial for murder last year- and that's all the evidence there is. In Italy, that's all it takes. It is against the law to speak against the police in Italy- so it's another trial for Amanda in May

 The photo above was taken Monday morning  before the hearing. She wore a green sweater with her short cropped hair combed behind her ears. As can be seen from the photo she looked tired and depressed. After the hearing  her lawyer said she was "very sad" It was reported that at one point during the hearing Amanda broke down in tears. At the hearing Amanda said to the court "If they would have taped (the questioning) like they were suppose to, I wouldn't be in this mess".

The indictment came as no surprise to Amanda's family. Amanda's stepfather, Chris Mellas said to reporters "...we didn't expect much different from this lineup..." and stated that they would try and have the trial moved to Florence. Amanda's mother Edda was saddened by the indictment but not surprised. The entire family is looking forward to Amanda's appeal beginning November 24th, and indeed there does appear to be some hope there as a new judge has been appointed to hear the case, and is said to be a fair man.

As to the coming slander trial- I don't have a good feeling about it- almost like the deck is stacked. Amanda is put in the position to 'prove' she was treated badly by the police. Now how does one do that? One should not have to- This is the flip-side to American justice, where a charge like this does not even exist. It is simply a matter of a dozen Italian cops on one side and Amanda on the other. Can they prove they didn't treat her badly? They do not have to- not in Italy. Can Amanda prove they did get rough with her? How can she do that? She was alone in that room with all those police. It simply comes down to Amanda's word against the police. And how do you think that is going to come out?

Still, there is one excellent reason why this slander case should be thrown out of court, and the point was made by Amanda herself when she said "If they would have taped like they were suppose to, I wouldn't be in this mess". And that was probably the most profound and meaningful thing said in that courtroom Monday morning. The police did not tape the questioning of a murder suspect and she was a murder suspect at some point during that night, and yet the police did not tape it in breech of Italian law. And if they did tape it- they erased it. On those grounds alone this case should never see the inside of a courtroom. No one should have to guess what happened in that room- it should have been taped- it is mandatory to do so under Italian law. This is not a matter of opinion- that is the only fact that stands out in this slander case. Hopefully, come May 17th, the case will be thrown out of court, and hopefully her murder conviction already overturned on appeal coming in a few weeks. No one likes the smell of this slander charge which has prosecutor Mignini written all over it. Hopefully justice will come around and throw Amanda a bone- but I wouldn't take that to the bank- not in Perugia.