Cont: The Trials of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito: Part 32

[Numbers]

I doubt Lumumba can collect.

Lumumba could not collect the Italian court's award of civil compensation from Knox, since she is resident in the US, without a US state court civil trial judgment allowing it. Know could use the ECHR judgment Knox v. Italy that she had received an unfair trial and the MR of the final re-conviction for calunnia as evidence that the re-conviction was the wrongful result of an unfair trial.

I suspect that the amount of the Italian civil compensation claim charged against Knox is so small that most US lawyers would not advise Lumumba to pursue the case in the US, considering the risk of the evidence that Knox could present would convince a jury that Lumumba did not have a valid case and the small monetary return for professional services a US lawyer could expect even if Lumumba were to win.

Enforcement of judgments issued by foreign courts in the United States is governed by the laws of the states. Enforcement cannot be accomplished by means of letters rogatory in the United States. Under U.S. law, an individual seeking to enforce a foreign judgment, decree or order in this country must file suit before a competent court. The court will determine whether to recognize and enforce the foreign judgment.

Source:

Enforcement of Judgments

In many foreign countries, as in most jurisdictions in the United States, the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments is governed by local domestic law and the principles of comity, reciprocity and res judicata (that is, that the issues in question have been decided already).

travel.state.gov

 

[Numbers]

You have to wonder if it is worth it to fight it. For principle, it definitely is. But lawyers cost money and this isn't going to change Amanda's life.

The Just Satisfaction award from a second Knox case against Italy before the ECHR would provide some compensation for the legal fees in applying to the ECHR. The ECHR may also reward Just Satisfaction for the legal fees incurred during the Italian domestic legal proceedings prior to the second ECHR application.

Considering ECHR case law, I am confident that the ECHR would find that Italy had violated Knox's Convention rights under Article 6.1 in re-convicting her of calunnia based on Memoriale 1 as evidence.

 

[Stacyhs]

Question: Being a criminal case award in Italy, could she be arrested for non-payment if she were to go to Italy? AIUI, she is planning to go there for the production of her movie.

 

[Numbers]

Question: Being a criminal case award in Italy, could she be arrested for non-payment if she were to go to Italy? AIUI, she is planning to go there for the production of her movie.

There were two cases: a criminal case for calunnia, and a civil case for calunnia brought by Lumumba tried in parallel with the criminal case - a standard procedure in Italy. IIUC, the money penalty against Knox is only for the civil case against Lumumba. I would need to research whether someone can be arrested under Italian law for non-payment in a civil case, especially if it was in parallel with a criminal case. (I doubt that they could be arrested, but I am not sure.)

 

[Stacyhs]

I suspect she could not be arrested, but who knows. I believe she has been or will be in Italy for the making of her new movie.

I saw today that her book Free coming out next month will cover her relationship post 2015 with Mignini. Should be interesting reading.

 

[Numbers]

I suspect she could not be arrested, but who knows. I believe she has been or will be in Italy for the making of her new movie.

I saw today that her book Free coming out next month will cover her relationship post 2015 with Mignini. Should be interesting reading.

I've done a brief survey through what I believe are the relevant sections of the Codice Penale (CP), and there are a few articles that may (or may not) apply, such as CP Article 388, Intentional Failure to Execute a Court Order and CP Article 190, Guarantee on the Assets of the Civilly Liable Person.

It may be that CP Article 190 allows for the seizure of assets from a civilly liable person in compensation for an unpaid civil judgment.

I'm not sure whether CP Article 388 applies to a person who has an unpaid civil judgment.

I am confident that Knox's Italian lawyers would know much more about this topic than I could learn in a reasonable time.

Source (Altalex, Codice Penale):

Page Expired

 

[Welshman]

When it comes to the interrogation, I feel the following errors were made by the defence and Amanda's supporters by not raising the following issues :-

* Amanda being convicted of Calunnia for supposedly falsely accusing Lumumba of killing Meredith but as I pointed out in a previous post, there were several instances when false accusations were made that Amanda killed Meredith but they were never charged. Amanda was convicted on the basis of false testimony by Quintavelle and Curalto.

* The allegations made against Amanda and Raffaele in the interrogations were completely different from later allegations. Amanda was not accused in the the interrogation of directly taking part in Meredith's murder but was later accused of doing so. Amanda was not accused of stabbing Meredith in the interrogation but later Amanda was accused of stabbing Meredith and a knife was taken from Raffaele's apartment. The police accused Amanda of killing Meredith with Lumumba but changed this to Guede. In the interrogation Amanda was not accused of stepping in Meredith's blood but later luminol prints were taken and claimed to be Amanda's bloody footprints. The prosecution should have been pressed on this.

 

[acbytesla]

I suspect she could not be arrested, but who knows. I believe she has been or will be in Italy for the making of her new movie.

I saw today that her book Free coming out next month will cover her relationship post 2015 with Mignini. Should be interesting reading.

Interesting. I hadn't heard she had written a new book.

 

[TruthCalls]

I've done a brief survey through what I believe are the relevant sections of the Codice Penale (CP), and there are a few articles that may (or may not) apply, such as CP Article 388, Intentional Failure to Execute a Court Order and CP Article 190, Guarantee on the Assets of the Civilly Liable Person.

It may be that CP Article 190 allows for the seizure of assets from a civilly liable person in compensation for an unpaid civil judgment.

I'm not sure whether CP Article 388 applies to a person who has an unpaid civil judgment.

I am confident that Knox's Italian lawyers would know much more about this topic than I could learn in a reasonable time.

Source (Altalex, Codice Penale):

Page Expired

I don't know this for sure, but I would imagine that as long as Amanda still has a legal avenue to challenge the verdict, she could not be compelled to pay.

 

[acbytesla]

I don't know this for sure, but I would imagine that as long as Amanda still has a legal avenue to challenge the verdict, she could not be compelled to pay.

In the US, you can avoid paying a civil judgment when it's on appeal. However, you also usually must agree to post an appeal bond should you lose the appeal. Or you can pay the judgment and the plaintiff would be responsible for returning it if you win. But I don't have a clue how that works in Italy.

 

[Numbers]

In the US, you can avoid paying a civil judgment when it's on appeal. However, you also usually must agree to post an appeal bond should you lose the appeal. Or you can pay the judgment and the plaintiff would be responsible for returning it if you win. But I don't have a clue how that works in Italy.

I'm not sure how the award of pecuniary damages by Knox to Lumumba, if she paid them would be addressed by the Italian courts if there were a second ECHR judgment finding that the re-trial and re-conviction were unfair (a violation by Italy of Convention Article 6.1 - unfair trial, with or without any of the other clauses of that article). However, the ECHR may award compensation for pecuniary damages paid by a victim in the course of a violation of a Convention right as part of its Just Satisfaction. Thus, there would be the possibility of recovery of Knox recovering pecuniary damages from the Italian government as part of the potential Just Satisfaction but only after the potentially long wait for a new ECHR judgment. I believe that the facts of the case morally justify her not paying the damages to Lumumba. Any damages still morally owed to Lumumba are the moral responsibility of the Italian state.

 

[acbytesla]

I wouldn't pay it if I was her. Lumumba has an almost zero chance of collecting the award in the US.

What's this about a book and a movie? I Googled her name and didn't find a reference to either.

 

[Numbers]

I wouldn't pay it if I was her. Lumumba has an almost zero chance of collecting the award in the US.

What's this about a book and a movie? I Googled her name and didn't find a reference to either.

Amanda Knox's new book is titled Free: My Search for Meaning and will be available 25 March 2025. It's shown on Amazon's website. It will most likely be available in the US at larger public libraries (it's on order at one that I checked).

The movie is, according to web sources, a streaming series that will be available on Hulu; it's not clear from the sources when but possibly in 2025. See:

Amanda Knox Hulu Series Prompts Uproar While Filming in Perugia, the Italian City Where Meredith Kercher Was Murdered

Hulu's Amanda Knox series is prompting an uproar in the Italian city of Perugia, where the murder of Meredith Kercher took place 17 years ago.

variety.com

New Amanda Knox Streaming Series Is Filming In The Town Where The Murder Happened, And Locals Are Not Happy About It

The murder occurred in the city in 2007.

www.cinemablend.com

 

[Stacyhs]

I'm surprised she didn't release the book on March 27 rather than the 25th. March 27 is the 10th anniversary of the Marasca annulment.

 

[Numbers]

I'm surprised she didn't release the book on March 27 rather than the 25th. March 27 is the 10th anniversary of the Marasca annulment.

But this way dedicated readers may have enough time to have completed reading the book, or a significant portion of it, by the 10th anniversary.

 

[Stacyhs]

But this way dedicated readers may have enough time to have completed reading the book, or a significant portion of it, by the 10th anniversary.

I see nothing significant about that. Things are usually released/recognized etc. on the anniversary of something.

 

[Numbers]

I see nothing significant about that. Things are usually released/recognized etc. on the anniversary of something.

I believe you're making an assumption or two here. We don't know the reasons for a book to be released on a particular date, which may be influenced by technical publication, transportation, or warehousing issues. For example, if one wanted a book to be ready for a holiday, say Christmas, one would likely want to have it available to the public some days or even weeks before Christmas day.

If one does venture to the Amazon website for Knox's new book and reads the Prologue in the sample text available there, one can see that on page xiv Knox acknowledges that she was definitively acquitted by the CSC of the murder/rape case on 27 March 2015. There doesn't seem to be a statement that the book is being released in March as a specific recognition of that date, however.

In the Prologue, Knox states that she has realized that "freedom is not a state of being. It's a practice." Knox presents an interesting thought at the end of the Prologue, linking freedom, power, and kindness as a source of power, concluding that "no one can stop you from being kind" (page xviii).

I don't see why one wouldn't consider that the book's release date was tied to the 10th anniversary of the definitive acquittal. But if that wasn't the reason for the specific release date, why would that matter?
.

 

[Stacyhs]

This really isn't worth such an in-depth discussion. I made a simple observation and that's all.

 

[Stacyhs]

Raffaele gave a short interview on Amanda's reconviction for slander. He said, "I don't understand this conviction. I think it's more political than anything." He also messaged her and told her he thinks she should take it to the ECHR. I agree.

 

[Numbers]

This really isn't worth such an in-depth discussion. I made a simple observation and that's all.

I found your simple observation reminding me and others that the Marasca acquittal anniversary was 27 March and your other comments useful. They lead me to read parts of the sample text of Amanda Knox's new book. Otherwise, I would have waited until the book itself was released.