Basic Rights: Free Amanda!
"The case against Knox has so many holes in it, and is so tied to the career of a powerful Italian prosecutor who is under indictment for professional misconduct, that any fair-minded jury would have thrown it out months ago" 
— Pulitzer-Prize-winning New York Times columnist Timothy Egan
— Pulitzer-Prize-winning New York Times columnist Timothy EganI just finished reading Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi's the Monster of Florence. The Monster is a person or group that terrorized the Florentine countryside, murdering young lovers from at least 1974 to the mid-1980s. However, the same gun and ammunition used in the Monster killings was also used in a multiple homicide in 1968, as well. Throughout the book on this Florentine serial killer is an underlying indictment of the Italian justice system. Not only does this book criticize the investigative techniques of the multi-armed Italian police system, but also the ways in which the judiciary branch of the government can fail to provide citizens (and visitors) basic civil rights.
The final few chapters bring the focus away from the Monster case, but on a more modern one. The case involves the 2007 murder of an English student, Meredith Kercher. Both Preston and Spezi were falsely accused by the current chief investigator of the Monster case, Giuliano Mignini. For his false accusations, his belief in conspiracy theories, and the false imprisonment of Mario Spezi, Mignini is under investigation for abuse of power. However, such an investigation does not disallow Mignini from heading the investigation and prosecution in the Kercher case. Within this case, one of the accused is an American student from Seattle, Amanda Knox. Amanda Knox was bullied in her interrogation by Mignini, who took advantage of a girl with limited Italian.
Furthermore, the investigation of the Kercher murder was a blunder of crime scene investigation. It is believed that Mignini leaked inflammatory and false information to the press, to shed poor light on this girl, Amanda Knox. Thus, in the court of public opinion in Italy, Amanda Knox was guilty.
To make matters worse, to begin with, her hometown newspapers merely retreaded the Italian press, rather than sending reporters to cover the case themselves. Unfortunately, even in her home, Amanda was viewed as guilty even before her trial. It took months, but eventually, the mainstream American press has caught on to such a high-profile case. From December 2007 to April of this year, CBS did some investigation of their own into the case. Here is what they uncovered.
Giuliano Mignini is a pompous individual, the likes of which should have no business working on such a high profile case. Especially since this fool has falsely imprisoned and tried members of the press, and has personally bullied and harassed another American through interrogations in that case. His biggest liability is his firm belief in a quack conspiracy theorist named Gabriella Carlizzi, who is obsessed with the occult. So, too, is Mignini. He NEEDS to find the murderer to save face after his previous (and very public) blunders.
In conclusion, while Meredith Kercher and her family deserve true justice, at the same time Amanda Knox deserves basic civil liberties that are clearly being denied her by the Perugian judiciary body. Mignini's conspiracy theories are nothing but bunk, but once he's on one track, the man refuses to take another course. Instead, the man calls evidence contrary to his own assertions to be part of a vast conspiracy to undermine the investigation. It is a sad state of affairs when justice is a game. In light of this man's past discretion as a prosecutor, I feel it is only necessary to FREE AMANDA, give her a fair trial, or acquit her of all charges.
For more information, see the links below...
Synopsis of the Monster case and Mignini's role in it (with some interesting commentary on Gabriella Carlizzi, too!)
5 comments:
Yeah--let's just free Amanda. Never mind that she has abundant circumstantial evidence working against her. And never mind that a beautiful British girl, cold in the ground, will never be able to point a finger.
As an educated American, I am often mystified as to why our elitist press machine puts forth the b.s. that the American legal system is the only fair form of justice in the modern world. It seems to me that the Italian police and judges have offered plenty of opportunities for Amanda to clear her name by producing a specific alibi as to her whereabouts on the night of the murder. Big problem: neither she nor the boyfriend can find a single living human being to prove that they were anywhere other than in that Peruvian cottage at the time of the tragedy.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave--when first we practice to deceive.
Welcome, and thank you for your condescension. Let's mind that the "abundant" circumstantial gathered is based on the inane blogging of a true fabricator of hoaxes, conspiracy theories, and outright fairy tales. Not to mention that circumstantial evidence is defined as "indirectly supporting the truth of an assertion." That's what the evidence against her is. Mignini buys into the Carlizzi fables, and passes them off, and anything supportive of such theories, regardless of verification of proof. The man is a menace to the justice system. As for Knox's alibi, there is little question as to why it cannot be verified. She and her boyfriend have both said they were with one another that night. Why is there nobody to verify this? Probably because they were being intimate...not exactly something you want an audience for, despite what Mignini may believe. As for the American justice system, it may not be perfect, however they also don't botch crime scenes as regularly.
It is a tragedy what happened to the victim. An absolute horror for her family, and a life that was cut too short. However, to pin the crime on somebody that wasn't even in the house, and make up a big conspiracy based on the accusations of a known drug user, seller, and petty thief, as well as the forced testimony of a young woman interrogated in an unfamiliar nation in an unfamiliar language is absolutely absurd. The only tangled web is the web of lies and absurd theories that are being bandied about by the prosecution in this case, while a person's personal liberties are at stake.
So yes, acquit. When there is NO evidence, it is the only proper way of action.
Cheers to that. Great blog. And btw, I love Bill Simmons. Thanks to you I just found out that his wife has a blog!
After quite literally just finishing Preston & Spezi's book "The Monster of Florence," but knowing little about Amanda Knox's case (I will watch that CBS investigation tomorrow, but not right now at 1:15 AM), I must think that Amanda's case should be thrown out for the sheer fact that Mignini was the one conducting the interrogation. Mignini is a menace who needs to be removed from the Italian judicial system for good!
It's been almost a year since I personally traveled to Italy, Florence included. And had I known that there were such crazy individuals in such powerful roles, I would have suggested to my husband that we honeymoon in the Caribbean instead!
Good to see Amanda released today.
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