Yes

by Sandro Oriani

Created on: September 27, 2011

During closing arguments in Amanda Knox's appeal, the prosecutor attempted to paint Knox as a drug-addled, sex-pot, who killed her roommate as a result of a sex game gone bad. The prosecutor went so far as to call Knox a "she devil", a rather prejudicial and unprofessional term. The prosecution has all of Perugia singing along "American woman, stay away from me...".  Knox's conviction, clearly a miscarriage of justice, will be corrected by the more measured, analytical minds of the appellate judges.

First point, the real killer has already been convicted. Rudy Guede, a small-time drug dealer with a criminal record, a native of the Ivory Coast is serving a 16 year sentence. The evidence shows he had sex with Kerchner the murder victim. He fled Italy after the murder and was arrested in Germany. His bloody hand print was found on the victim's pillow. His agreement to fast track his own trial and to testify against Knox and Sollecito bought him a shorter sentence than the sentences imposed on them. Compare Mr. Guede's history and actions to those of Knox and Sollecito. They had no criminal records, were good students and did not flee Italy after the murder. Instead they called the police.  

Second point: The DNA evidence was corrupt and flawed. The investigators failed to follow proper procedure in gathering the evidence and opened the possiblity of cross-contamination. Some of Knox's DNA on Kerchner's bra? So what? Maybe they washed their clothes in the same machine or maybe Knox borrowed Kerchner's bra at some point in time. Knox's DNA was on Sollecito'sknife? So what? Maybe she made  dinner for him at his flat. The defense expert testified that Kerchner's knife wounds were made by a smaller blade than Sollecito's kitchen knife in any case.

Finally, the piece de resistance: The prosecutor's first theory for Knox's motive was that she was involved in a Satanic ritual orgy with Kerchner. Strangely, the same prosecutor had used this theory before in the "monster of Florence" case. Although convictions were obtained against the monsters of Florence,  this theory did not fly against Knox, who had no history of Satan worship, thus the prosecutor changed the theory slightly to allege "a sex game gone bad".  However, there is no evidence that Knox was bisexual or had any penchant for group sex. The fact that she smoked marijuana occasionally and had sex with her boyfriend makes her a typical college student, not a murderess.

Amanda Knox's conviction will be overturned and she will soon be reunited with her family. In the unlikely event this doesn't happen, all travellers should think twice before visiting Italy, for they might end up staying longer (perhaps 26 years to life) than they had planned.  No justice, no tourism.

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