So the verdict is apparently due in the Meredith Kercher murder trial today

[PortofinoRevisited]

BBC Link

The appeal after the overturned convictions. I hope this can all be brought to a close now.

[PortofinoRevisited]

Howrude, because he left his dna all over the crime scene and then fled the country. They definitely have the right guy in jail.

[DrankSangriaInThePark]

I think RG has admitted it hasn't he Porto?

I thought when they insisted on this retrial (the judiciary) it was because mainly his conviction was thought to be unsafe, given that he was convicted of murder-along-with-person-or-persons-unknown, so if they didn't retry the only other suspects, then RG could walk.

[LovelyMarchHare]

America won't agree to her extradition. However, there will be an outstanding warrant which could be executedby any other country she travels to in the future. Not all countries would agree but I think she'd struggle if she travelled to a European state.

[Bananagio]

what's the opinion down there Sangria on Raffaele and his family? I thought Bongiorno looked blindsided on the news last night.
How rude - sorry for not being clear, I knew you were quoting someone else.

[DrankSangriaInThePark]

Hi Gio!

Well, of course, he's a local lad. (Dp was in the same bar as him only the other week) From the little that people say, it tends to veer towards not thinking they were materially involved but that both know something they are not saying.

Dp (conspiracy theorist regarding the judiciary extraordinaire) thinks that possibly RS/AK are paying the price for having Berlusconi's lawyer on their side. Judiciary hate Berlusca, hence tainted by connection, hence RS/AK go down (or not) as a clear message to Berlusconi and the Italians in general that it's no longer the govt who run the country but the judiciary.

But he's bonkers. I would say. And, to my everlasting shame, is a Berlusca fan.

[Bananagio]

Hi Sangria! Lol at Dp's Berlusca conspiracy theory. Having said that we are talking about "the most persecuted man since Christ" so boh How did R's family manage to get Bongiorno?? Are they that well connected / rich? (Gio expects Sangria to know everything down to geography of where she lives...)

[MarvellousMechanicalMouseOrgan]

I read (on the CNN site I think) that the US won't agree to her extradition on the double jeopardy grounds.

[DrankSangriaInThePark]

Apparently so.

And rumour has it they are not only fairly well off themselves, but are being bankrolled by a mysterious benefactor. Hmmm.

[DrankSangriaInThePark]

Avvocato Taormina. That's him. Used to do all the biggies.

[Bananagio]

Share your cynicism re Bongiorno Sangria. Hadn't heard re benefactor. Surely your Milan-wards look isn't insinuating anything re our orange ex-leader ??
I don't see how the double jeopardy claim can stand as this isn't a brand new trial from the start but part of the appeals process.

[TheNightIsDark]

Rafaelle has apparently been stopped by police at border to Slovenia.

[FreddieStarrAteMyHamster]

BBC news this morning said the US does extradite in the vast majority of cases. Exceptions being their own agents, for example. Amanda Knox is an ordinary citizen so I'm not sure why they would make an exception for her. Although the news also mentioned the big PR campaign her family have run and whether that will exert influence.

[MajesticWhine]

US requests a lot of extradition from other countries. So, perhaps they have to play ball. This has a long way to run though.

[MarvellousMechanicalMouseOrgan]

Good point Bananagio, regarding the appeals process. I suppose in the US and in the UK where we are used to a trial then an appeal, it feels like the case is over and they are being retried with no fresh evidence.

How many more rounds of appeals are there usually?

[Nancy66]

I think the Americans will have to hand over eventually - they have an extradition treaty with Italy.

[Flibbertyjibbet]

I might have forgotten a few things since I studied extradition.

But, for a country to agree to extradite someone there are certain conditions. One is that whatever they are accused/found guilty of has to be a crime in both countries. Another is something to do with not extraditing someone to a country where they could have the death penalty when the country they are in does not have that.

According to the news last night the grounds for the US not sending AK back to go to an Italian Jail is that under the US legal system, if you are found guilty, then an appeal finds you not guilty, you can't be tried again. (not sure if you CAN if new evidence turns up, like I say its been a few years since my studies and we didn't do minute detail of every country). That is the double jeopardy rule in the US and that is what the US, or the family's lawyers, will use to keep AK in the US and free.

Hopefully someone might come along with more up to date and detailed knowledge of this.

[KateAdiesEarrings]

The BBC has a short article from an US academic saying that the extradition wouldn't be challenged under double jeopardy because AK hasn't been tried twice for the same crime. It's simply been a long appeal process of an original conviction.

[Nancy66]

From what I can gather the DJ rule is a grey area.

It protects American citizens from being tried again for a crime already dealt with by the US legal system - which is not the case here.

[clarabellabunting]

It's a long time since I read all of the evidence about this case but isn't there some evidence for RG not having acted alone and there being a staged break in set up after the murder took place?

Something to do with the glass from the broken window and some shutters?

[KateAdiesEarrings]

clarabella that's what I remember too. The prosecution said that the injuries implied there was more than one attacker. Plus the shutters and the position of the glass led them to believe the window was broken from inside rather than outside.

[noddyholder]

Sollecito has been caught at the Austrian border so will he be detained now for the full sentence and AK not?

[Nancy66]

It sounds incredibly complicated. if he was found guilty and sentenced then why wasn't he taken away there and then?

he had to surrender his passport, which he did, but then he was released and appears to have tried to escape the country.

[HettiePetal]

Yes - there was the whole who-ha about Guede not being able to climb through the window without help & the glass from the broken window being in the wrong place if it was broken from the outside.

Both demonstrated to be completely false.

His DNA was all over both Meredith and her room. No DNA from anyone was found anywhere else at the scene. So anyone "helping" him must have managed to do the impossible and leave no trace of themselves, or have managed to clean up their own DNA while meticulously leaving both Meredith's and Guede's behind.

This stretches credibiity a bit too far.

[MajesticWhine]

RS left the court before the verdict was announced and before he surrendered his passport. I understand from the news though, that once he has given up the passport he is free to go. He will not be imprisoned until the verdict is confirmed by the next court of appeal.

[KateAdiesEarrings]

HettiePetal do you have a link that proves those theories were demonstrated to be false? Thanks.