Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito guilty verdict annulled by Italian court

[DuelingFanjo]

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Always thought they were completely innocent and often argued their case on here.

Feel very sorry for the Kercher family who have been dragged through years of shit.

Shame that Guede will be out soon.

Then report it and see what happens.

Really? It should be reported!
The reason i startedit, in this topic, was because it is a recent and important news story. These people have been acquitted based upon evidence presented to court. That people continue to repeat sensational untruths or unscientific information doesn't make it worthy of deletion IMO.

I also don't think anyone has been disrespectful towards the other victim in this, nor her family.

My view of the Kercher family is that they are people of great dignity who trusted their lawyers/the prosecution and chose to believe the facts that they presented. Obviously this ruling will be a shock to them when they were told there was more than one murderer, particularly as if they believe it's true then they will want to know who that other person was. It just happens that there was no evidence to prove it was the two that have been set free.

So tragic. Such an incredibly short sentence for such a crime. It is awful.

What DrankSangriaSaid. I read the other thread and the turnaround is astonishing

Something about Amanda Knox makes people obsessive. The Italian police and media couldn't get enough of her. A pretty, sexually open, pot smoking American - a fantasist's dream. Who cares that the vast majority (more than 95%) of murders are committed by men? She did cartwheels, she must be guilty! When I see people swearing AK is guilty, they never talk about Raffaele. Because he was at the time a quiet nerdy looking boy, didn't get the attention AK did.

This entire investigation was a farce stirred up by anti-American sentiment and sexism in Italy.

The guilty person is in prison and if he had any conscience at all, he'd speak and tell the full truth of what he did to give the Kerchers peace.

If RG added anything to his story at this point, I assume he would be subject to a perjury charge.

princessnikky - Death in Perugia was written several years ago and is not up to date with later developments. In particular the forensic evidence you quote is now known to be wrong.

The DNA evidence has been thoroughly discredited by independent, court appointed experts. The scientist who carried out the testing did not take proper precautions to prevent and detect contamination. Her laboratory was not certified to carry out low copy number DNA testing (the technique used). She did not carry out the tests correctly and hence the results are unreliable. Much of the evidence she gave in court wasn't even supported by the results of the faulty tests she conducted.

Regarding the alleged bloody footprints, these were detected with luminol which also reacts with many other substances - household cleaners, rust in tap water, etc. When luminol glows investigators must conduct further tests to see if there is blood present. The prosecution's forensic scientist claimed that no such tests were carried out and that she was able to state definitively that the detection was blood due to her experience - a claim other forensic scientists will tell you is laughable. The scientist refused to disclose her notes to the defence and resisted showing them to the independent experts appointed by the court until she was forced to do so. Her notes showed that, despite her denials, she had carried out further testing on the alleged footprints using a substance that reacts specifically to blood and is very sensitive. The stains tested negative for blood. Therefore there were no bloody footprints.

In the UK the prosecution's forensic scientist would not have been allowed to get away with her refusal to let the defence see her notes. If the defence experts had seen her notes she would have been ripped to shreds in the original trial. It is clear that she suppressed and distorted evidence to support the prosecution case instead of acting as an independent expert reporting what she found regardless of whether or not it damaged the prosecution.

Regarding the bloody footprints, I should also add that the prosecution allege they were made with Meredith Kercher's blood. The footprints were tested for DNA. None of them tested positive for Meredith Kercher's DNA. So we have alleged bloody footprints made with Meredith Kercher's blood that actually contained no blood and none of Meredith Kercher's DNA.

princessnikky - The court disagree and I am sure the report, when it is published, will explain why all the DNA 'evidence' was unreliable or false.

It occurs to me that if that rapist/murderer who did commit that unspeakable crime received a reduction in tariff through implicating these two it should be revised so that he serves a full term. Although given what he actually did surely he is never getting out. I do feel for the family of that innocent young woman, the confusion throughout this trial has been horrifying.

prh47bridge were you a part of the trial knowing as much detail as you do?

Ali, that's not why he got a reduction. The Italian system allows for fast track trials, where no appeal is allowed, which is what RG opted for. He still pleaded not guilty.

AK and RS opted for the full trial, hence the three rulings (actually 4)

Blowin, all that info us available on the 3-4 websites and books that I've read - I don't think PRH practices law in Italy.

And RG is serving a 16 year sentence IIRC; no reason to think he's never getting out.

Were MNHQ ok with the thread when you reported it, blowin?

Yonic have reported thread as inappropriate. Will see what happens.

Guede will be out fairly soon, in a few hear I think.

Still unsure why the thread is inappropriate.

I agree, DF, but let's see what MNHQ say

blowinahoolie - No, not involved in the case. As YonicScrewdriver says, all the information is available publicly. It is just a case of knowing where to look and what reports can be relied upon. I've gone as close to source as I can in order to make sure I'm getting reliable information. So, for example, I've read the report by the independent experts who examined the forensic evidence rather than relying on the (somewhat variable) press reports about it.

prh47 's explanations are just logical. There's no inside info, just intelligent interpretation of the facts.

Sashh here's two ways DNA from MK can get onto a knife at RS's house:

• AK hugs her flatmate goodbye, touching her hair or skin as she does so. DNA transferred to AK's hand. She goes to RS's who is cooking, and hands him a knife to chop with. The MK DNA transfers to the knife. It's that easy.

Or, more likely, police are handling MK evidence. DNA from MK transfers to policeman's hand. Next he picks up RS's knife. Contamination.

AK and RS so clearly killed no one, I'm glad they are finally free. The Kerchers wouldn't have got a better resolution on the case if two innocent people had been locked up even longer than they already have been.

"AK and RS so clearly killed no one".

What do you base that on? The conviction was annulled. It will be interesting to see why it was annulled. Lots of people seem to be saying there was bad handling of the evidence/dna. Maybe if it was handled correctly there wouldn't be an annulment. Out of interest, going on the transcripts (not the PR websites), was Guede's dna handling so different from the others.

Also people are referring to Guede's burglary past. That is separate from his evidence in this poor Meredith's murder. I don't believe he has a record for anything. Much like AK doesn't have a record for her involvement in the setting up of a hoax attack on a girl back in the US. What's good for the gander is good for the goose really. He was involved with drugs, sure. Same as Amanda Knox. If it is about character, well, I don't know who is the winner there. We know AK tried to get an innocent man done for murder and has never paid him compensation. His life was ruined. He lost his business. She wasn't responsible for his release either. Please don't try to pass off any BS of her note as an admission of her false accusation. It wasn't. I hope me or mine don't have involvement with people like this who have no conscience. We don't really know if she was involved in the murder or not. Just that the case was annulled.

Even RS admits he doesn't know if she was with him. Don't know about his involvement either. Evidence suggests more than one person involved as no defensive wounds. A person only has two hands.

If she was innocent of the murder (in reality, not just supposedly 'cos the the evidence was mishandled), ruling is fortuitous. If not, well they wouldn't have been the first in the world to have gotten away with murder.

It is a great pity the evidence was not handled more carefully as that is was all the dispute seems to be about.

I hope there was no political pressure.

Guede's DNA was in many places, in great quantity. Very different to the trace DNA enhanced by a lab not suitable for those techniques.

My heart goes out to Meredith Kercher's family.
I have no idea whether Amanda Knox is innocent or guilty but she really annoys me.
I felt her behaviour after her housemate's murder was inappropriate and strange.

What was the 'hoax attack'?

"was Guede's dna handling so different from the others" it was because the DNA collection was different and at completely different times.

When they first took the DNA I believe they knew they were dealing with a black/African Assailant. Guede had already fled the country.

The other DNA Evidence was collected and tested after Knox had been pressured into a false confession and Guede had had time to make up a story after seeing and reading newspaper/tv reports.