The sad case of Meredith Kercher

[FreeGeorgeJackson]

I feel for her parents. The trial seems to have gone on for ages doenst it?
I cant see ( form what i read) how kNox will get off.

bloody hell, expat. You scare me

Seriously, do you think this was a fair trial? If she is guilty she deserves etc etc but there is something here that doesn't gel.

I should add that in the past, in Colorado, the sentence was decided by a panel of three judges rather than the jury.

I'm not sure, but I believe this may have been ruled unconstitutional.

In Texas, when the death penalty was ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court, several convicted capital murderers had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

At least two of these inmates were eventually released.

One, Kenneth Allan McDuff, went on to rape and murder at least 7 more women before he was eventually sent back to death row for the rape-murder of 23-year-old Melissa Ann Northrup, then 3 months pregnant with her 3rd child.

Another went on to rape at gunpoint a good friend of mine, a once promising journalist Elizabeth King, whose life has never been the same.

So no, I don't have much sympathy with convicted murderers, pretty or not.

'Seriously, do you think this was a fair trial? '

Why wouldn't it be? Because it was in Italy?

Are people there all stupid?

They're people just like anywhere else, why would it be any less fair there than here.

It was a jury.

so, expat

lots of killers weren't caught.

therefore this one was a killer.

Dittany, where did that come from, was it in the trial?

Have to admit I haven't followed the trial but I am amazed at the speed of the verdict.

this is someone convicted by a jury of murdering Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy by an Italian court and jury, as should be since that is where the murder occurred.

the murderers happened to be one Italian, one American and one African.

those are the verdicts.

god help the family of Meredith Kercher, because those convicted of murdering her have never expressed an iota of remorse, much less let her poor family know what happened to their daughter and sister, who, for all her killers are in prison for 30, 26 and 25 years, will still be dead when they get out.

speed of the verdict, what bearing has this?

none.

a verdict is a verdict.

that verdict is guilty.

until that verdict is overturned on appeal, if it is, they are all three convicted murderers who belong in the prisons where they are now.

Speedy and not-so-speedy verdicts happen everywhere.

There was a trial by jury.

The jury found the three guilty.

So they are.

I know tonight Meredith's family are up, maybe some are even here now.

I hope for them there is some sense of justice.

She didn't deserve to die like that.

I hope the MNer related to her passed on the website I linked and Mr Walsh's personal website and address to get some support from those who understand what they are going through, as he is always willing to do what he can personally to others who've also been affected by the murder of their children.

I can't imagine, really I can't.

My heart breaks for the family of Meredith Kercher.

I'm not qualified to comment on anything, Dittany, but I note that the jury in a long trial went out this evening and came back v quickly. That did surprise me as I thought there was normally quite a lot of deliberation and esp after the closing speeches.

Ex pat, I am not going to answer your post. Of course I dont think italian people are stupid .

I think there has been a huge trial by media.

This is completely a differnt thing from empathy with the family of Meredith, who would want to denigrate that?

Italians on here have stated how the media coverage has been in the country itself.

I still don't see what speed of verdict has to do with the verdict itself.

The trial has been a lengthy one.

Meredith was murdered two years ago.

I don't see why a speedy verdict is automatically an incorrect one.

But again, there is an appeals process which I'm sure both Sollecito and Knox will use.

expat - How can you say 'the jury found them guilty so they are'? Are you seriously saying that juries never reach decisions that are later found to be wrong? Because that just isn't true. They are human and humans are fallible.

One reason for saying a judgement in Italy is less sound than one in e.g. Britain is the massive amount of influence the media are allowed to have, and which the jury are exposed to, which may influence their judgement. Would not happen here.

Am gobsmacked by the 'one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen' comment. That's even odder than Knox's behaviour to date.

Tiger if the jury was clear in their minds about the verdict at the end of the trial they wouldn't have needed much time to reach their decision.

'expat - How can you say 'the jury found them guilty so they are'? Are you seriously saying that juries never reach decisions that are later found to be wrong? Because that just isn't true. They are human and humans are fallible.'

because, util overturned on appeal, they are.

the jury heard evidence the media and none of us did.

the jury sat in the court, day in and day out.

the media did not.

ian huntly, fred west, peter tobin, found guilty of murder by jury trial.

how are they any less guilty because the jury was British? well, why not? the murders were committed in Britain.

meredith was murdered in italy, therefore the trial for her murder was in italy.

italian juries found three people guilty based on evidence with which they were presented.

therefore, um, well, as i stated, unless overturned on appeal, they are guilty.

nothingofthesort

Please let me distance myself from the first comment, that wasn't mine, I dont care what Knox looks like.

Time: well, yes I am surprised. I've never sat on a jury but my husband did last year and the amount of time it seemed to take to convict, or not convict, pretty minor offendors is notable with the speed of this verdict. I am interested in inmylittlehead's views about trial by media.

It's quite possible that amanda knox is guilty, it's just that the trial and verdict doesn't somehow ring true whatever the "guilty is guilty" brigade, aka expat want to say.

i can't understand why people are questioning the verdict except to presume it is because the trial was in italy.

how are italians less capable of assessing a murder than brits? or americans?

using your logic then, tiger, no one who is found guilty is truly guilty unless the jury has deliberated a set length of time.

because one jury in britain took a long time to reach its verdict, then every other jury who takes less time is somehow incorrect in its judgement.

it didn't take ian huntley's jury much time to find him guilty, because of that, he is not?

'Forruners dont know nuffing about justice' comes up every time an English-speaking person is convicted abroad. It really pisses me off. Every time somebody's convicted of drug smuggling in Asia, we're expected to feel sorry for them, that the legal system was bent, and that the Queen should petition for their release.

not at all. I just think that an hour or so, in a case like this, is surprisingly short. Of course I don't think there is a set time for deliberation. I just think there has been a trial by meeja here. Knox isn't by any means a sympathetic character. but that doesn't make her guilty. Nor does any of the other stuff (cartwheels, vibrators etc). If it was open and shut, then why such a long trial. If not, why such a quick decision - the jury was out for, what, an hour or so? I don't know anything about Ian Huntley's trial and the speed of verdict. What is the parallel?

I think they have a long trial because they need to ensure all the evidence is presented and that she had a fair hearing. The evidence could have been overwhelming a long time ago, but they still have to listen till the end.

expat, the reality and the judgement are different things. If I was found guilty of something I didn't do, that wouldn't automatically make me guilty of it, it wouldn't change what happened.

The media always have an angle, and they are allowed to say things in Italy they wouldn't be able to say in the UK, thus running the risk of prejudicing the jury.

I am probably completely wrong dittany but I thought they went out late this afternoon and came back ard 8 or so GMT. When I saw on the news that the jury had retired I assumed it would be at least a day or two before there was a verdict. I stand to be corrected and am happy to be so (if the corrector is correct) but as I read it on the news this pm there wasn't much more than an hour or so in deliberation. You have clearly followed the trial in a lot of detail. Was there really more than circumstantial and "flavour" (cartwheels etc) evidence?

Evidence:

news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Amanda-Knox-Raffaele-Sollecito-Guilty-Of-Meredith-Kercher-Death-Key-Eviden ce-Convicted-US-Pair/Article/200912115491764?lpos=HomeArticleRelatedContentRegion1&lid=ARTICLE 15491764AmandaKnoxRaffaeleSollecitoGuiltyOfMeredithKercherDeath%3AKeyEvidenceConvictedU SPair

I am really very shocked by this verdict and thinkit is no justice for the Kerchers to have 2 innocent people in jail. I hope they manage to prove their innocence at the appeal. Very sad for all concerned.