June 27, 2011- It was a strange day in the Perugia court this morning- tense, emotional, but ultimately disappointing. For those who thought Rudy Guede would come clean about the murder...well....he didn't. For those who thought that Amanda's and Raffaele's defense teams would give Guede the business...well... they didn't. For those who thought Guede would be compelled one way or another to tell the truth... he wasn't.
Guede said he would not answer questions related to the murder and would only make a statement and read a letter regarding Mario Alessi's claim that he told him Amanda and Raffaele were innocent. He was not compelled to answer questions from the defense. While this may have been legally correct, it was also morally reprehensible. Particularly since he (actually prosecutor Mignini) slipped in that Amanda and Raffaele were responsible for the murder (without using those exact words). What did appear like a legal ploy was that Guede said he had trouble reading his own handwriting and Mignini read the letter for him. The letter basically stated that he (Guede) had never told Alessi anything about the murder and that in his opinion it was Amanda and Raffaele who were the murderers. Although Guede has changed his story several times about who was involved in the murder, he seems quite comfortable lately about Amanda and Raffaele getting the rap for it.
Perhaps the strangest and most surprising event of the day was that witnesses were called saying that Raffaele's lawyer Bongiomo offered a witness a large sum of money to cook up a story of someone else commiting the murder. While I am sure no one including the prosecution believes this foolishness, it certainly did get Bongiomo's blood up, and who could blame her. It seems that the prosecution is ready to play dirty now that they no longer have a case against Amanda and Raffaele. The witnesses saying this against Bongiomo were of course inmates who said they heard this from the 'witness' himself. Was this some kind of message from the prosecution saying "See we can get inmates to say things too". Well this is really just too stupid to believe- Bongiomo is a highly respected lawyer and is a member of the Italian PM.
As far as Guede's comments and letter- well, what do you expect from a thief and murderer. He doesn't have a moral bone in his body. However Amanda and Raffaele were more than a little upset with his getting away with it. Amanda was on her feet to defend herself, but the judge told her she had to wait until Guede was finished. She did get to make a statement after Guede had left the courtroom and was just about shaking with emotion. Amanda told the court that Guede knew the truth and was lying, and that the only time Guede, Raffaele and herself had been together was in the courtroom. Apparently she had thought that Guede might come clean and tell the truth. Unfortunately, he didn't.
So after today- what has changed? Nothing. Amanda's innocence does not hinge on anything Guede says. It still comes down to evidence, and there isn't any. There is no evidence against Amanda or Raffaele. There is no motive. No witnesses. No prior violent histories. No trace of Amanda in the murder room. And the DNA put forth by the prosecution is a joke- and we'll see this on the 30th as the DNA experts turn in their reports. So now we look forward to the DNA experts and what they have to say on the 30th but some claim there will be leaks on the 29th. In any case this will be a major factor in this appeal- the DNA or lack of it. Today was just a lot of drama.
1 comment:
This just further confirms that the Italian legal system is a joke. Nothing more, nothing less. What kind of joke is it that allows this guy to be a "witness" for the purpose of refuting Alessi but a "defendant" allowed silence when it comes to his own accusations? Is he a witness or a defendant, which is it? What kind of sleazebag technicality is it for Mignini to read the statement -- how is this felonious Mignini even still there?
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