Retrial For Knox And Solecito

[ladybirder]

Appeal overturned. Retrial in Florence. What do we think?

[society]

I was listening to an interview with her lawyer and he said that he'd never ever let her leave the US.

[emmie]

it's what we have been saying, won't happen. they could try her in absentia, makes no odds...

[ladybirder]

Well we're all agreed then.

[DTCwordfan]

for once, ladybird?

a rare event in AB thread News history.

[NoMercy]

I hope the Kercher family finally get justice. To suggest that Guede was the only person involved in the crime was implausible. Knox and Sollecito have never given cast iron alibis for the night of the murder and her behaviour in the wake of the killing was indicative of someone with a serious, if not narcisstic, personality disorder.

The fact remains that a break-in was staged with the bedroom window being broken from the inside. Why would Guede have done that if he worked alone?

[ladybirder]

Didn't Guede admit others were involved, I can't remember NoM?

[NoMercy]

Yes, he implicated Knox and Sollecito. Furthermore, a neighbour saw 3 people fleeing the property that night.

[joggerjayne]

I will just make one post, and only to explain why I very much doubt that Amanda will go back to Italy.

I won't go on until we see the reasons for today's ruling, and find out which parts of the case will be relevant to the next hearing. And I won't even think about repeating anything I've said before.

All I'm going to say is this.

The Prosecutor, Giuliano Mignini, if he lived in the UK, would be viewed as mentally disturbed. He genuinely believes that Amanda Knox is a witch. Not in the sense of bad, wicked person. He is a firm believer in Satanism, and witchcraft, and he believes that Amanda is a witch. A genuine, carrot on the nose, witch.

His early Press statements were full of references to "Satanism" "witchcraft" "Satanic rituals" and "sacrifice". He believes in witchcraft to the point of being obsessed with it. He believes that Amanda is a witch (no, seriously) and he wants to burn her (not literally, of course).

Some weeks into the investigation, Manuela Comodi (who is quite level headed by the standards of Italian prosecutors) persuaded Mignini to drop the references to witchcraft, because it made Mignini, and his case, look ludicrous. Surprisingly, Mignini took Manuela Comodi's advice. He is not known for being receptive to advice.

But ... Mignini sometimes couldn't contain his obsession, most famously when he blurted out his reference to Amanda as being a "she devil". Everyone who knew Mignini knew that he meant "she devil" in a very literal sense. Mignini was still shouting "she's a witch" and he has managed to persuade half the world to join in the cries of "she's a witch". The last time that happened was in Monty Python And The Holy Grail. Se does cartwheels ... she's a witch. She buys underwear ... she's a witch. She smiles too much ... she's a witch.

So, how far was (and is) Mignini prepared to sell everyone (including the Kerchers) down the river in the obsessive pursuit of his "witch"?

Rudy Guede had confessed to involvement in the murder. He admitted to sexually assaulting Meredith. He admitted to being involved in stabbing her to death. He should have gone to jail for ever. But no. Witch hunter Mignini was happy to offer the rapist and murderer Guede a nice deal. Change your story to say that Amanda was there, and you can get away with 16 years. Needless to say, Guede suddenly "remembered" that Amanda had been there (even though he was secretly taped telling his prison cell mate that he had made it up, and his accomplice was not Amanda, and not Rafaelle).

But Mignini was prepared to betray Meredith, and the truth, even further. In his book (the thirteenth book about the case that I have read) Rafaelle explains how Mignini tried to persuade Rafaelle to incriminate Amanda alone. If Rafaelle would help Mignini burn the American witch then, as a fellow Italian, Mignini would let Rafaelle off the hook. In other words, even if you are guilty, even if you put a knife into Meredith, I will let you go free if are willing to lie, to help me prove my Satanism fantasy.

Rafaelle refused to fabricate a story to help Mignini. He said that he felt bound to stand by the truth, rather than getting himself off the hook at Amanda's expense. He felt, as a matter of honour, that he could not be complicit in a deliberate fabrication by a prosecutor. He felt bound, as a matter of honour, to stand by the truth. Mignini, of course, was furious that a fellow Italian would not help him burn the American girl, even if it would have involved fabricating a false statement on behalf of Rafaelle. (Mignini has past convictions for fabricating false evidence). Anyway, the title of Rafaelle's book is ... Honour Bound.

Most Italians know the name of Mignini. Most of them know him as an insane Satanic fantasist. They would not speak out against him, simply out of fear. If you speak out against Giuliano Mignini, you tend to be arrested in the middle of the night. You tend to be beaten. Or members of your family are arrested. Nobody ...

[joggerjayne]

(cont.)

Nobody ... and I mean nobody ... stands against Mignini. Not even the legal authorities. Despite his criminal record, nobody would ask him to leave his job. Standing up to Mignini would, in a very literal way, be like standing up to the Witch Finder General.

Amanda is not a witch. Nor is she a satanist. Giuliano Mignini genuinely believes that she is both. Despite Comodi's best efforts, he keeps blurting out his references to witchcraft, and devils. Luckily, from his point of view. Most people think that he is just speaking figuratively.

So Mignini will never, ever, let the case drop. Not because he is interested in justice. He was happy to do a deal with the killer, Guede. He tried to do a deal with Rafaelle to concoct fake evidence against Amanda. Both of those were appalling betrayals of the Kercher family, who deserve the truth ... not fake statements from a twisted prosecutor.

Mignini has been given the tape of Guede admitting to his cell mate that Amanda was not there, and neither was Rafaelle. But Mignini is not interested in that. He has no interest in the truth, or justice. He just wants his witch.

So, why am I saying all this? I am saying this to explain why Amanda's legal team must never let her go back to Italy. If she does, Mignini will see that she comes to harm. If he has to bribe people, if he has to offer deals to criminals to give false evidence, if he has to produce fake evidence himself, if he has to coerce innocent people ... he has done it all before. Mignini has no interest in the truth. Mignini wants his witch, and he has shown that he is willing to cheat, lie, bully, fabricate, and physically coerce, in order to get her.

The best advice anyone could give to Amanda is ... never, ever go near anyone Italian. You can't trust them further than you could throw ... well, Italy! Unless the BF's mum reads this, in which case Hi, sig.ra, big hug, you know I love Italians really. Except Giuliano Mignini, of course.

[society]

JJ, do you think the prosecutor, Giuliano Mignini practices witchcraft and Voodoo?