Continuation Part 3 - Discussion of the Amanda Knox case

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Also from Vogt: 'Mignini made reference to a quip from philosopher Sir Francis Bacon: "Hurl your calumnies boldly, something is sure to stick. "'

Mignini was not talking about his prosecutorial strategy from the first trial, you understand, but the defense tactics in this trial ;)
 
bri1 said:
I have a line for Frank's latest post at Perugia Shock:
Why didn't Cheech kill Chong?
:p
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I thought the most interesting quote from Frank's article was this one:

I better stop here. Wake me up, I can’t believe the things I’ve been hearing.
It looks like the one who leaves the string of anti-Amanda arguments at the bottom of every article in the world…
The defense shouldn’t have problems with rebutting such arguments. Then it’s up to the judges. If they want to understand they will understand..
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LOL. He nailed it.
 
Magister said:
Have you read Frank's latest?
http://perugiashock.com/

It does not sound like Costagliola is distancing himself as far as possible from
the prosecution's argument.
Hardly an anodyne speech.
Why has he previously kept such a low profile?
If ,as was speculated here, he had become convinced during the appeal trial that there is reasonable doubt then he should have stepped down.....
with all the negative consequences that action would have entailed for the prosecution's case.
Someone remarked that he was in line for promotion to judge and did not want his career derailed.
The fact that he let Mignini hold the floor for 5 hours yesterday is indeed surprising.
Yet this trial has been highly unusual in other ways.
Why was Mignini,already under indictment,allowed to appear in the appeal trial and play such a prominent part?
Why was Biondi, Stefanoni's boss, sitting at the prosecutors table? A gross conflict of interest.
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I agree. And I didn't want to make it seem like I was trying to contradict or gainsay you before - the point I was trying to make was that Costagliola's actions yesterday can't be taken as any sort of indication that he is four-square behind Mignini's ridiculous theories and vendettas. In an adversarial environment (and contrary to many people's misunderstanding, Italian criminal justice is now essentially adversarial rather than inquisitorial in nature) it would be totally unthinkable for anyone in the Prosecutors' Office to criticise any part of a prosecution case or to criticise the words or actions of any prosecutor. It's pretty much the same reason that Biondi laughably pretended that he was an "independent evaluator" of Stefanoni's work, when of course any criticism by him of her work would be an implied criticism of him, his laboratory and his judgement in trusting those working under his command.

I get the feeling that Costagliola is rather keen to avoid having his name too closely associated with this case when the dust settles. He seems quite content for this to be remembered as "Mignini's case", and I suspect there's a good reason why he would want this to be so.
 
bri1 said:
BLNadeau Barbie Latza Nadeau
Comodi giving examples of italian cases when dna was not "all there is" to convict. #amandaknox

Yes, Comodi, but what about this case?
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Ahhh, this is one of "The Machine's" pet arguments as well. And it's as disingenuous as it is uninformed. Of course guilt has to be assessed on the entirety of the evidence, and of course people were convicted of murder long before DNA typing was invented. But in this particular case, once the DNA evidence is rightly removed from the arena, the remainder of the evidence is simply not sufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. And even though reasonable doubt is all that's needed for acquittal, in this case the entirely of the evidence doesn't even point towards Knox or Sollecito as likely killers - or even possible killers.

In fact, the entirely of the evidence clearly points towards one conclusion: that Guede alone attacked, assaulted and killed Meredith Kercher. There is zero reliable evidence that Knox or Sollecito were even anywhere near the cottage at the time of the murder, let alone that they participated in it in any manner. Conversely, all the available evidence tends to support Knox's/Sollecito's version of events: that they were at Sollecito's apartment at the time of the murder.
 
Twitter updates:

morsels morsels
Sounds like the OJ Siimpson trial bc gloves are the focus today...except the question is starch, not blood. #iftheglovedontfityoumustacquit
27 minutes ago
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morsels morsels
Prosecutor Comodi trying to discredit the court-appointed independent dna experts...saying #amandaknox cleaned knife w/ bleech
44 minutes ago
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morsels morsels
Prosecutor Comodi outlining her arguments. She's opening her computer to display something on a slide, but she can't find the right
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RoseMontague said:
Twitter updates:
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I have to admit that I'm somewhat surprised that Comodi's still appearing for the prosecution, if what she is reported as having said last week is accurate. Because if it is accurate, it's clear that Comodi was directly accusing Hellmann's court of bias and favouratism to the defence ("the judges are against us" etc). I feel very confident that had a prosecutor made such remarks out of court in the UK or US, there would have been immediate and serious repercussions.

I can only therefore suppose either that a) Comodi was misquoted (or mistranslated), or b) the Perugia Prosecutors's Office is unaware of the remarks, or c) Hellmann is unaware of the remarks, or d) the Prosecutors' Office is aware of the remarks but realises that it would be very damaging to pull Comodi from the trial at this point.
 
Nadeau latest tweets:

BLNadeau Barbie Latza Nadeau
Jury perked up when bra was pulled out of comodi's handbag. #amandaknox
27 minutes ago
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BLNadeau Barbie Latza Nadeau
Comodi holding white bra to show how she thinks it was cut from #meredithkercher body. #amandaknox
28 minutes ago
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BLNadeau Barbie Latza Nadeau
Jury looks a little distracted in #amandaknox hearing.
30 minutes ago
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BLNadeau Barbie Latza Nadeau
Comodi showing blood in bathroom and trying to show how contamination was not possible. #amandaknox
31 minutes ago
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LondonJohn said:
...

The moment that prosecutors or journalists start to propose a "whose suffering is worse" type of argument is the moment most rational people can start to clearly assess the motives and/or intelligence of those attempting to make such an argument.
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Of course (far from being a new feature), this has been a regular theme from the prosecution supporters at least going back to the Dec 2009 verdict. Almost the first article I read about this case was a Guardian CiF piece, entitled "Meredith, not Knox, deserves our thoughts".

You're correct, of course, that it's emotional BS. Nobody seems to be asking the question: why should we be talking about Meredith, or her family? She was simply a student, not a famous artist, musician or writer. There is absolutely no reason for people like you and me to say anything about her other than that she was the tragic victim of a horrible murder. Let her friends and family talk about her in private, not in the news media.
 
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Rose, where are your morsels from?

According to Barbie, Comodi demonstrated how the bra was cut off, which made the jury perk up.

I remember her doing the same demo last time. There's more than a little exhibitionism and enjoyment of the limelight behind the prosecutorial zeal IMO.
 
Vogt tweets

andreavogt Andrea Vogt
#amandaknox prosecutor manuela comodi whips out bra to defend dna on clasp. More show than substance.
32 minutes ago
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andreavogt Andrea Vogt
#amandaknox prosecutor defending forensics/police work. Several cops in civvies in court to listen. Showing crime scene photos.
39 minutes ago
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andreavogt Andrea Vogt
@KIRO7RickPrice @AboutCrime @mchancecnn @scarboroboy @PMFdotNet @BLNadeau. Thx for RTs of live courtroom dispatches from Perugia.
9 hours ago
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andreavogt Andrea Vogt
@LisaRiviera: Sfarzo says not assaulted, but escorted firmly by arm for notification of 400 Euro fine. Have asked him for updates.
9 hours ago
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I wonder what clarification it is the Judge is asking Comodi?

This is so different than the Massei trial.
 
BLN tweet update

BLNadeau Barbie Latza Nadeau
15 minute break in #amandaknox hearing
17 minutes ago
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BLNadeau Barbie Latza Nadeau
Momentary press chaos at #amandaknox appeal over news of shooting at papal mass in germany. Which story is more important?
20 minutes ago
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The IRNA is the only news source reporting this so far:

Berlin, Sept 24, IRNA - Shots were reportedly fired on Saturday morning at a security check for a Catholic Mass being held by Pope Benedict XVI in the eastern German city of Erfurt, according to German public broadcaster MDR.

A female security guard suffered reportedly gun shot wounds to her upper thigh.

A man has been arrested in the incident reported MDR, citing eyewitness
accounts.

Police confirmed the incident to the German Press Agency dpa, but
said details were still sketchy.
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Apparently a private security guard was shot with an airgun, more than an hour before the Pope's mass, on the outskirts of the 'security zone', and is now fine. No link to Pope visit.
 
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