January 30, 2014
The Amanda Knox trial, number 3, has ended today with a shocking verdict of guilty. She has been sentenced by the Florence court to 28 years, with Raffaele Sollecito receiving a 25 year sentence.
Amanda Knox is safe in Seattle, WA. and did not go to Italy for the trial, however, Raffaele Sollecito was at the court today- and he, at the moment, is in harm's way. While the Italian court can not simply pluck Amanda out of the U.S., Sollecito will have his passport taken away at the very least, as ordered by the court. His arrest is also possible, although the court did not officially order it.
Last year the Italian supreme court overturned the innocent verdict which freed the two, and round 3 of this never ending nightmare was kicked up in Florence and ended with a ridiculous verdict of guilty today. Knox's lawyer delivered the news to her via telephone and stated that she was "petrified" by the verdict. How Sollecito took the news is not as important as what he plans to do about it (I know what I'd do if I were in his shoes). He showed great faith in getting justice from the court, and it blew-up in his face. Did he have a plan B? Amanda on the other hand, had the good sense to stay the hell home, but as she well knows- her safety is not guaranteed. There is still the possibility of extradition to Italy to serve her sentence. And, at the moment, she stands a convicted murderer. With that said, one must keep in mind that conviction does not automatically correlate with justice- and justice in Italy seems to be in the eye of the beholder- or which judge and jury is pulling duty- or maybe even which way the wind is blowing. However, one thing seems certain, justice in this case seems to have nothing to do with proving guilt or innocence. How two judges and six members of the jury can find Knox and Sollecito guilty with no evidence or convincing proof is completely surreal. It's damn scary.
5 comments:
This is simply disgusting. Beyond PTSD which is dug up again and again, and the even more shocking potential for more harm, the best years of these people's lives are being ruined right as we speak, not being allowed to move on.
I totally agree with you- it's a continuing nightmare. Hopefully the American people are not going to lay down for this injustice.
Speaking generally, as an Italian I see three main flaws in Italian judical system: the first is that prosecutors and judges are both magistrate of the same tribunal, so usually judges tend to side prosecution and there is not a real parity between accuse and defence. The second is the absence of double jepoardy: prosecution can appeal a not guilty verdict, so a person may be first absolved and then sentenced.
The thirth is the lenght: there are not time limits for the loop appelal, supreme court overrturn, new appeal, new supreme court overturn, that can last until defendant will die.
Doesn't quite seem fair does it? Particularly if a person is innocent.
It seems to me barbaric, but many people are very narrow minded and want a scape goat for all the crimes that happened. So they fill comfortable with such a judical system (unless their sons and daughters are under trial).
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