Continuation Part Eight: Discussion of the Amanda Knox/Raffaele Sollecito case

[RandyN]

Considering these events in isolation, I can see your position.

But what about Milan?Why was Rudy released by the Milan police? (after a call with the Perugians). Steve Moore says its an obvious sign that Rudy was an informer for the Perugians. Mignini as much admits it in his interview with Graham (which not everyone accepts as a source here).

If your answer, 'we don't know', 'it's not important, who cares?', it wasn't an important case, why not release him?', and so on. None of these really are answers.

Why was there a phone call from Milan to Perugia? From the accounts I've read on this (possibly none of which are acceptable sources to all), the Perugians went to bat for Rudy. Why?

If you don't have an answer for that, then I think you have a problem. I can understand stand saying 'no, not an informer', but then what? What explains that call? And if the answer is the 'Corporalli family, (his adopted family)', then based on what - just throwing out unsupported conjecture?

At least Steve Moore has 25 years field experience. I'm not suggesting blind trust, but that's not nothing. It's a lot more than nothing.

If I'm wrong, I'd like to know.

Well we don't know much about Milan actually. We certainly don't know if there was ever a call to Perugia.

I think Anglo mentions the greatest clue to the Milan affair. The fact that only now a hidden case is revealed almost...about some vague charges against RG for this Milan affair.

This is so suspicious that it reeks of corruption and the most vile of whatever can be speculated. As I say repeatedly...these Italians are shameless liars. And this is just one small example of an attempt to band-aide a hole in their corruption.

Why is no one questioning officials about the Milan affair? Are we here at JREF the only ones who know about Guedes "arrest" there? No. But why does a convicted murderer get this unquestioning free ride of sorts in Italy? Because someone is suppressing the story certainly!

There is nothing else logical to explain it. And the proof is this fake semi-case recently discovered in its second phase already. Where are the reports? Where were the reporters? Where was Frank for cHris sake? This was a huge piece of a puzzle and Italy has done everything in its power to keep it hidden.

Forget if the guy was fence...that is simply mental masturbation. Who even cares? It is meaningless! Certainly Guede had or has friends who know his other side...or all his sides.

The rich family tossed him out! Why would they or Perugia police even know what RG was up to in Milan? What story did he tell Milan police is a better question. Where are the police reports? Do they write police reports in Italy? Or do they write 100 versions of the same crime report?

This is a corrupt country that is on the verge of being discovered as a place that has a police and judicial system as criminal acting as the mafia itself.

Don't agree? I challenge you to explain the judicial decisions in this case...starting with Claudia and ending with Nencini....and I include Hellmann since an honest judge could never have found guilt for Calunnia....that was simply his concession to the prosecution and the courts to save Italian face plus incredible amounts of Italian money avoided in wrongful detention cases....at least in Knoxs matter.

 

[acbytesla]

I doubt it actually. I think Ron Hendry had the opinion that the police could have solved the case on day 1... I disagree. Unless there is something we don't know...Perugia is small but it is not that small. 100 thousand is large enough so that a small or even medium sized active crook or drug dealer would or could easily remain under the radar.

I personally believe that if not for Guedes pal Giacomo that Guede would have never been caught. The police only used the story of detecting Guedes prints etc to make themselves look less incompetent. Once Giacomo came forward and said..."hey I think my pal Rudy is involved somehow in this death" then the police had to think fast. Unfortunately, they didn't think the whole thing through.

I have not considered if the police tried to set Knox up early on. They did open the cottage knife drawer. Did they do that for every other resident? Probably not...but these guys and girls were pretty stupid...most likely related to Mignini being in charge of the whole affair.

Mignini had a year to make up his case. He is not good at making up cases actually. Well maybe in Italy he is good enough but not in the rest of the world...and it is this puzzle that the rest of the world has not figured out yet...How can the courts do so much covering?

The DNA is defective. The computers are burned up. The interrogation is not taped but worse the defendant is denied the right to an attorney. That is never optional and yet in Italy and in this case 3 people were denied that legally required provision...AK, RS and PL. And yet little to no consequences have befallen those who knowingly ignored the law...Mignini, Napolini, that idiot from Rome...???

I think in Italy they play loose with the law and evidence and even science. No one seems to care and no one cares how foolish they look pretending to be honest.

A fairly corrupt cesspool IMHO. At least from what I have seen in the last 6 years.

I have to wonder where we would be if Rudy hadn't left Perugia? Would his friend Giacomo have guessed the Rudy was the killer? Would the police still have felt that Amanda and Raffaele were involved? Surely they would have had to give up on Patrick but without someone to take his place would they just said that Amanda and Raffaele and some unknown killer were involved? Or would they have just gone with the unknown killer?

Rudy running pinpointed him as responsible. I'm not religious, but one cannot ignore many of the lessons from the Bible. Proverbs says "the wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion"

Note: Rudy bugged out of town and no one thought he had anything to do with Meredith's murder until then. And Amanda and Raffaele thought nothing of talking to the police day after day after day after day.

My overall question still nags me. Where would we be? Would it be Amanda and Raffaele and some unknown person? Would they still be after Patrick? I can't imagine that but maybe. What would they do when the DNA swab from Meredith's vagina shows some unknown male not Raffaele, not Patrick. What would they do then?

 

[Bill Williams]

I have to wonder where we would be if Rudy hadn't left Perugia? Would his friend Giacomo have guessed the Rudy was the killer? Would the police still have felt that Amanda and Raffaele were involved? Surely they would have had to give up on Patrick but without someone to take his place would they just said that Amanda and Raffaele and some unknown killer were involved? Or would they have just gone with the unknown killer?

Rudy running pinpointed him as responsible. I'm not religious, but one cannot ignore many of the lessons from the Bible. Proverbs says "the wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion"

Note: Rudy bugged out of town and no one thought he had anything to do with Meredith's murder until then. And Amanda and Raffaele thought nothing of talking to the police day after day after day after day.

My overall question still nags me. Where would we be? Would it be Amanda and Raffaele and some unknown person? Would they still be after Patrick? I can't imagine that but maybe. What would they do when the DNA swab from Meredith's vagina shows some unknown male not Raffaele, not Patrick. What would they do then?

What if by chance it had been Filomena returning to the cottage just before 1 pm to, say, fetch her laptop and she discovered the scene. Add to this that Knox and Sollecito had gone on their weekend.

The scene would not have spelled "murder" to anyone, even as the postal police arrived. And it was Filomena, alone out of everyone, who put two plus two together about Meredith being without her phones.... however, would detectives have taken her insistence that the door be broken down as, "trying to direct the investigation"?

 

[acbytesla]

What if by chance it had been Filomena returning to the cottage just before 1 pm to, say, fetch her laptop and she discovered the scene. Add to this that Knox and Sollecito had gone on their weekend.

The scene would not have spelled "murder" to anyone, even as the postal police arrived. And it was Filomena, alone out of everyone, who put two plus two together about Meredith being without her phones.... however, would detectives have taken her insistence that the door be broken down as, "trying to direct the investigation"?

Take it even further and what if Amanda seeing what the other roommates did contacted the US Consulate and had an attorney with her for questioning. Would this be going on? I don't think so.

But I want to know seriously what would have happened had everything happened up to the discovery of Rudy? Would it have always been Amanda, Raffaele and the un-indicted co-conspirator?

Rudy in a way is very good for the PIP. For just about everyone...Grinder not withstanding, sees Rudy as being a burglar and he legitimizes the burglary theme as opposed to the "staged burglary idea". The absence of emails, text and calls is quite significant when you compare it to the "See you later" text to Patrick. and then there is the dozen shoe prints that match Rudy's not Raffaele's shoes. The mountain of evidence pointing to Rudy compared with the absence of evidence leading to K and S.

Without Rudy, the PGP would probably says that the shoe prints belong to Raffaele, he just disposed of the shoes. Still the DNA of this other person would cause a problem for the prosecution.

 

[Anode]

What if by chance it had been Filomena returning to the cottage just before 1 pm to, say, fetch her laptop and she discovered the scene. Add to this that Knox and Sollecito had gone on their weekend.

The scene would not have spelled "murder" to anyone, even as the postal police arrived. And it was Filomena, alone out of everyone, who put two plus two together about Meredith being without her phones.... however, would detectives have taken her insistence that the door be broken down as, "trying to direct the investigation"?

Yes, but i suspect Filomena would have lawyered up immediately and may have fared better. Don't get me wrong, it may have been a rough few days for her but I think she would have ultimately been cleared fairly soon. i.e. no false accusations of others and no coerced confessions/statements.

That whole no-lawyer thing really screwed AK and RS.

 

[Planigale]

Greetings Strozzi,
The police and medical emergency personal in Perugia were dealing with a few bloody things that day, the 1st, as far as I know, was a local blonde haired drug addict, who was apparently bloodied and screaming out loud at the quiet hour of 7:00 in the morning at the fountain. I'd luv to read the police reports and the follow up investigation of this incident, wouldn't you?

Read this story from back in 2008:
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/19361399.html

A few hours later,
they were then dealing with the horrible rape and murder of a foreign college student who was knifed to death overnight.

A horrible crime that would surely tarnish the good image of Perugia, Italy
as a safe, pleasant destination for foreign tourists and students to come visit and/or study.
Gosh, the local police must have been under much pressure to solve this horrible rape and murder quickly, right?

I find it strange that there were 2 blonde hair strands found on the woman who was raped and murdered.

1 blonde hair was found near her vagina,
another blonde hair strand found, photographed and seen here:
[qimg]http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/443/07yz.jpg[/qimg]
is in her dying hands grasp.

They were both then apparently lost.

I do not believe that the wavy blonde strand found
in Miss Kercher's upraised dying hand is from the duvet laid over her.
[qimg]http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/560/qdl5.jpg[/qimg]
Why?
Was the duvet just shedding grey fibers onto her genitalia or wavy fibers into her dying hand?
My opinion? That ain't a wavy fiber!

I believe it is from 1 of her killers,
whom Meredith's was trying to point to 1 who helped murder her + end her life.
Where are the results of whatever DNA that was found underneath Miss Kercher's fingernails
that you collected, Dr. Patricia Stefanoni? Surely you tested them after driving for a few hours down from Rome to collect them, right?

I guess many here do not kind this strange,
even though the Italian Courts have stated that Meredith Kercher's bloody murder had multiple assailants.

Nor do they find it strange that a bro of Rudy Guede's, in his early 20's, who testified in court while wearin' a hoodied sweatshirt, a baseball cap, and dark sunglasses, told the Court that Rudy wanted to rent his car for $250 Euro that same evening. Weird how this same guys cell phone pinged in the same area that evening Miss Kercher was raped and murdered back on the 1st of Nov. of 2007. A day that the rent was due.

Rudy Guede , what was he doin' in Miss Kercher's flat?
On a "date"? Or did he ask her to use her housemates bathroom facilities because a kabob caused him to have a personal emergency when he found out the guyz below weren't home and he couldn't use their toilet? Might he have been looking to sell Meredith some computer equipment? Or was he tryin' to steal some gear, rent $$$ +/or drug stashes?

Look,
I've been to court a few different times, to support a friend or deal personally with The Judge.
You too might have done so before, right?

Have you evere seen anyone show up to testify in front of The Judge dressed like this:
http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php...peculiar_witness_gets_even_more_intreresting/
No one, not cops, witnesses nor suspects shows up to court dressed like this link shows.

What's this witness hiding from?
His identity? His blonde hair?
There's something fishy about this case we discuss.
RW

Getting standard STR typing from hair is difficult, as we discussed here previously, mitochondrial typing would be far more successful. This was raised with Stefanoni during testimony if memory serves, and the reason for not carrying out mitochondrial DNA typing was budgetary. Hairs were also found associated with the broken window and their mitochondrial DNA was not tested. In this particular instance since the main suspects were likely to have different maternal lines this would have been informative.

Some say why did not the defence do it. The first, the defence do not have a right to test evidence, second, it costs money. I think they focussed on evidence used against their clients, and reasonably not on evidence of uncertain utility.

 

[anglolawyer]

Grinder has always misunderstood me about the sell-ability of the computers. I think they were probably sell-able but probably not for enough money that would make it worth a fence and a thief's worthwhile together. Walk into any pawn shop with a brand new computer without the a receipt and see how much they are willing to give you for it. I'd bet they'd buy it but you wouldn't be happy with their offer. I think you'd be lucky to get half what it costs new. To get anything even close to a top end offer, they would spend time on the phone trying to figure out the value of it.

Now try a two year old computer. Maybe twenty percent tops. But I'd bet Rudy could sell the laptop at the college for a better price although not a lot better..but better.

I wonder whether he had a ready market in Perugia, what with it being a student town. Doubtless that was one of the things that made it some kind of drug capital.

I increasingly think he was not intending to sell the laptop or the phone or the watch but that he just liked them and meant to keep them, at least until the exigencies of his situation forced him to part with them. That explains why he still had them when caught. It is true that personalising the desktop picture would be a good ruse to bypass a cursory police check but it's also something you might do to something you wished to consider your own. He put his SIM card in the phone too (did I read that right) and, as Grinder incessantly points out, he still had the watch. Maybe he liked trinkets and shiny things.

Does anything turn on it? Not much. The question is: did he burgle the lawyers via an upper storey using a rock to break a window? That is relevant. What he meant to do with the stolen items not so much. There is a good inferential case that he was the burglar even if it isn't one that can be proved (now) beyond reasonable doubt. That doesn't make it any different from a lot of things in this case.

 

[acbytesla]

I wonder whether he had a ready market in Perugia, what with it being a student town. Doubtless that was one of the things that made it some kind of drug capital.

I would think a college town would provide a good market to sell most consumer electronics. I can't imagine needing a fence where you are living among 35 thousand college students A perfect place to sell drugs, phones and laptops. Probably not the best place to buy and sell jewelry though.

I increasingly think he was not intending to sell the laptop or the phone or the watch but that he just liked them and meant to keep them, at least until the exigencies of his situation forced him to part with them.

That explains why he still had them when caught. It is true that personalising the desktop picture would be a good ruse to bypass a cursory police check but it's also something you might do to something you wished to consider your own. He put his SIM card in the phone too (did I read that right) and, as Grinder incessantly points out, he still had the watch. Maybe he liked trinkets and shiny things.

I agree about the laptop and the phone. But I can't really imagine him looking to keep the the watch. It was a woman's gold watch. Why would he want it? Should be able to move that to a jewelry store or pawn shop pretty easy. It is just the kind of thing he could take from store to store trying to get the best return he could.

 

[anglolawyer]

Well we don't know much about Milan actually. We certainly don't know if there was ever a call to Perugia.

I think Anglo mentions the greatest clue to the Milan affair. The fact that only now a hidden case is revealed almost...about some vague charges against RG for this Milan affair.

This is so suspicious that it reeks of corruption and the most vile of whatever can be speculated. As I say repeatedly...these Italians are shameless liars. And this is just one small example of an attempt to band-aide a hole in their corruption.

Why is no one questioning officials about the Milan affair? Are we here at JREF the only ones who know about Guedes "arrest" there? No. But why does a convicted murderer get this unquestioning free ride of sorts in Italy? Because someone is suppressing the story certainly!

There is nothing else logical to explain it. And the proof is this fake semi-case recently discovered in its second phase already. Where are the reports? Where were the reporters? Where was Frank for cHris sake? This was a huge piece of a puzzle and Italy has done everything in its power to keep it hidden.

Forget if the guy was fence...that is simply mental masturbation. Who even cares? It is meaningless! Certainly Guede had or has friends who know his other side...or all his sides.

The rich family tossed him out! Why would they or Perugia police even know what RG was up to in Milan? What story did he tell Milan police is a better question. Where are the police reports? Do they write police reports in Italy? Or do they write 100 versions of the same crime report?

This is a corrupt country that is on the verge of being discovered as a place that has a police and judicial system as criminal acting as the mafia itself.

Don't agree? I challenge you to explain the judicial decisions in this case...starting with Claudia and ending with Nencini....and I include Hellmann since an honest judge could never have found guilt for Calunnia....that was simply his concession to the prosecution and the courts to save Italian face plus incredible amounts of Italian money avoided in wrongful detention cases....at least in Knoxs matter.

Not 'vague charges' Randy. He was convicted of possessing stolen goods, he has unsuccessfully appealed and is now on his way to Cassazione for round 3. That nobody on either side knew anything about this is quite a story. Now, I wonder who might have had an interest in keeping this from the eyes of Massei's court (while flooding the press with sexual innuendo about Knox, pink bathroom photos, lies about bleach receipts, stories about out of hand parties in Seattle etc)? Hmmm.

 

[anglolawyer]

I would think a college town would provide a good market to sell most consumer electronics. I can't imagine needing a fence where you are living among 35 thousand college students A perfect place to sell drugs, phones and laptops. Probably not the best place to buy and sell jewelry though.



I agree about the laptop and the phone. But I can't really imagine him looking to keep the the watch. It was a woman's gold watch. Why would he want it? Should be able to move that to a jewelry store or pawn shop pretty easy. It is just the kind of thing he could take from store to store trying to get the best return he could.

Like I said, we are talking about a nut who boils pasta for the kids, howls at the moon, goes into fugue states, rearranges broken glass into little piles. This guy was seriously screwed up when young. Read Nina. The watch could have meant anything to him. The fact is, he still had it quite some time after the old lady burglary (if that's where it came from). If he were selling stuff then he would be selling it quick. You want the cash and you don't want to be found with hot stuff on you - so you sell. If I may contribute my own limited knowledge of the underworld, burglars here are mostly teens who knock off folks' houses in the afternoon and sell the swag in the pub not long after for a few tens of pounds, depending on what it is. They are rarely caught with the stuff itself unless a cop happens to be assign as they leave the scene. I am sure there are some who hoard the stuff (there are always stories about wacko shoplifters whose homes are piled to the ceiling with microwaves and such) but they aren't the norm. If you nick a watch you are going to be unloading it that evening to get the cash fast.

 

[acbytesla]

Like I said, we are talking about a nut who boils pasta for the kids, howls at the moon, goes into fugue states, rearranges broken glass into little piles. This guy was seriously screwed up when young. Read Nina. The watch could have meant anything to him. The fact is, he still had it quite some time after the old lady burglary (if that's where it came from). If he were selling stuff then he would be selling it quick. You want the cash and you don't want to be found with hot stuff on you - so you sell. If I may contribute my own limited knowledge of the underworld, burglars here are mostly teens who knock off folks' houses in the afternoon and sell the swag in the pub not long after for a few tens of pounds, depending on what it is. They are rarely caught with the stuff itself unless a cop happens to be assign as they leave the scene. I am sure there are some who hoard the stuff (there are always stories about wacko shoplifters whose homes are piled to the ceiling with microwaves and such) but they aren't the norm. If you nick a watch you are going to be unloading it that evening to get the cash fast.

I think you nailed it Anglo. Looking for a logical ration explanation of RG's behavior is dangerous. I also think his actions in his victims homes and residences points to him being a sexual burglar. That he does it as much for the excitement involved as the profit.

Here is a brief description of sexual burglary.
The motivation for burglary may be conceived of as falling on a hypothetical
spectrum. At one end of the spectrum is the professional or semiprofessional burglar with logical and obvious gain-oriented motives, and at the other end of the spectrum are the symbolic, maladaptive crimes that are ego-dystonic or outright bizarre. The more the offenses are compelling and without logic, the more likely they are sexually motivated. Banay believes that many crimes that are seemingly nonsexual. such as burglary, actually have hidden sexual forces lying at their root: "[some] burglars. . . tell of achieving orgasm at the moment of entering a window or breaking a locked door" Guttmacher' also recognizes that many offenses legally viewed as nonsexual are actually sexual, the sexual basis remaining less obvious: "Burglary, assault. and
cutting cases often have a sexual origin"

Check out Anglo the entire link. http://www.jaapl.org/content/27/2/227.full.pdf

Our of curiousity, What's going to happen in the UK if the England loses the next game at the World Cup and is eliminated?

 

[anglolawyer]

I think you nailed it Anglo. Looking for a logical ration explanation of RG's behavior is dangerous. I also think his actions in his victims homes and residences points to him being a sexual burglar. That he does it as much for the excitement involved as the profit.

Here is a brief description of sexual burglary.
The motivation for burglary may be conceived of as falling on a hypothetical
spectrum. At one end of the spectrum is the professional or semiprofessional burglar with logical and obvious gain-oriented motives, and at the other end of the spectrum are the symbolic, maladaptive crimes that are ego-dystonic or outright bizarre. The more the offenses are compelling and without logic, the more likely they are sexually motivated. Banay believes that many crimes that are seemingly nonsexual. such as burglary, actually have hidden sexual forces lying at their root: "[some] burglars. . . tell of achieving orgasm at the moment of entering a window or breaking a locked door" Guttmacher' also recognizes that many offenses legally viewed as nonsexual are actually sexual, the sexual basis remaining less obvious: "Burglary, assault. and
cutting cases often have a sexual origin"

Check out Anglo the entire link. http://www.jaapl.org/content/27/2/227.full.pdf

Our of curiousity, What's going to happen in the UK if the England loses the next game at the World Cup and is eliminated?

Something like this

 

[xinonix]

"Forget if the guy was fence...that is simply mental masturbation"
This is uncalled for.
What we have here is a rivalry between the single attacker theory and the multiple attacker theory.
The problem with the single attacker theory is the motive,or lack thereof. Rudy kills Meridith because she comes home while he is on the toilet does not make sense. We need to know who wanted Meredith assasinated.

The multiple attacker theory is about a sex game gone wrong.
Rudy and Meridith were on a sort of double date with Raffael and Amanda. We have to assume this involves erotic asphyxiation.
Apparently Amanda had a fabulous orgasm when she had a plastic bag over her head, seeing this, Rudy and Meridith wanted to try it. They did and Meredith suffocated. The risk is what makes this game so exciting.
Rudy assumed that the white folks would not believe this was an accident and he would go to jail for murder.
So the problem fix was Amanda + Raffi would stage the break in while Rudy took Meridith's body in to her room and staged a rape and murder by *********** her* and making some knife wounds.
If you have a motive like that, a jury will vote guilty even if your proof is weak.
That jury must have had similar experiances, and they understood the predicament that Rudy was in.
While this theory is pretty far out there, at least it has a motive.
While you or I would think this would not happen IRL, it seems the Italians believe.

* this would happen before all the blood was released,and she was still warm, so I guess Rudy thought "hey why not?"

 

[xinonix]

So,
You say the single attacker theory is what happened, the multiple attacker theory is ***** de toro.
We have to come up with a good motive, if we want them to let Raffael go.
The autopsy suggets that Meredith was killed by an assasin who wanted her death to be quick and quiet, so who hired him?

 

[Bill Williams]

Dribs and drabs of the appeals documents are being released....

Andrea Vogt is in there like a dirty shirt, but with a difference from previous times. She's no longer getting hot off the press leaks from you-know-who. Apparently, this time she had to go to the court clerk! Oh, how the mighty have fallen.....

The one think of note that is even remotely interesting is the comment, so Vogt reports, that Raffaele's lawyers make that Amanda's early written material always refer to "the singular" when she addresses any accusations her way. She never says, "me and Raffaele."

If there is a separation between the two, it is simply a repeat of what Raffaele has always said - "What's this got to do with me?"

More later. I am loathe to give Andrea Vogt any clicks.... maybe Machiavelli will help out.

 

[Diocletus]

Dribs and drabs of the appeals documents are being released....

Andrea Vogt is in there like a dirty shirt, but with a difference from previous times. She's no longer getting hot off the press leaks from you-know-who. Apparently, this time she had to go to the court clerk! Oh, how the mighty have fallen.....

The one think of note that is even remotely interesting is the comment, so Vogt reports, that Raffaele's lawyers make that Amanda's early written material always refer to "the singular" when she addresses any accusations her way. She never says, "me and Raffaele."

If there is a separation between the two, it is simply a repeat of what Raffaele has always said - "What's this got to do with me?"

More later. I am loathe to give Andrea Vogt any clicks.... maybe Machiavelli will help out.

LOL. What does Vogt think they're going to do? Reverse the verdict as to Sollecito and affirm it as to the American girl? Yeah, right. In fact, the defendants are well-aware that they both get the same result, and it seems to me that it's an excellent strategy for each individually to play to his/her strong points.

BTW, do you think that Vogt will give us copies if we send her a Freedom of Information Act request?

Why do the defendants get less time to file their appeals than the police got to collect the bra clasp?

 

[anglolawyer]

Dribs and drabs of the appeals documents are being released....

Andrea Vogt is in there like a dirty shirt, but with a difference from previous times. She's no longer getting hot off the press leaks from you-know-who. Apparently, this time she had to go to the court clerk! Oh, how the mighty have fallen.....

The one think of note that is even remotely interesting is the comment, so Vogt reports, that Raffaele's lawyers make that Amanda's early written material always refer to "the singular" when she addresses any accusations her way. She never says, "me and Raffaele."

If there is a separation between the two, it is simply a repeat of what Raffaele has always said - "What's this got to do with me?"

More later. I am loathe to give Andrea Vogt any clicks.... maybe Machiavelli will help out.

Ask her to go to the court clerk and get us a copy of the negative controls filed in October '08.

Did I read somewhere that the appeals together run to 445 pages? That is one heck of a lot of drafting in 45 days if so.

 

[xinonix]

Why can't Amanda say that Raphael borrowed her key and went to the cottage to get her vibrator. He came back at a time that seemed to be later than she expected he would be back.
Mignini could then think up a new story about Raffael met Rudy on the way there. Rafael let Rudy in. Rudy talked Raffael into doing something unmentionable to Meredith when she got home.
This way the Italians could at least convict Raffaele. They can't get Amanda back so they gave up on trying to convict her.

 

[Skind]

Our of curiousity, What's going to happen in the UK if the England loses the next game at the World Cup and is eliminated?

Massive amounts of localised gloating, many around Scottish and Welsh people, as well as the occasional bit of ultra-violence towards any person that looks vaguely like the're from the country that knocks England out, as well as a few small riots here and there, and a spike in drunken violence on the night and that weekend.

 

[Samson]

I wonder whether he had a ready market in Perugia, what with it being a student town. Doubtless that was one of the things that made it some kind of drug capital.

I increasingly think he was not intending to sell the laptop or the phone or the watch but that he just liked them and meant to keep them, at least until the exigencies of his situation forced him to part with them. That explains why he still had them when caught. It is true that personalising the desktop picture would be a good ruse to bypass a cursory police check but it's also something you might do to something you wished to consider your own. He put his SIM card in the phone too (did I read that right) and, as Grinder incessantly points out, he still had the watch. Maybe he liked trinkets and shiny things.

Does anything turn on it? Not much. The question is: did he burgle the lawyers via an upper storey using a rock to break a window? That is relevant. What he meant to do with the stolen items not so much. There is a good inferential case that he was the burglar even if it isn't one that can be proved (now) beyond reasonable doubt. That doesn't make it any different from a lot of things in this case.

And thus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxN2Mewamj0