Italy’s Highest Court Overturns Acquittal of Amanda Knox

[jettakd]

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO
Published: March 26, 2013

ROME - Italy’s highest court on Tuesday ordered a new trial in the sensational case of Amanda Knox, an American student accused of murdering her 21-year-old roommate, Meredith Kercher of Britain, in 2007.The judges’ announcement that an earlier acquittal had been overturned was greeted by a shocked

Comments

[clevermanka]

Regardless of my feelings about Ms. Knox's guilt or innocence, my first thought was "Wow, a judicial system that's more fucked up than that of the U.S. Why am I not surprised that it's Italy."

[clevermanka]

while the criminal justice process in the United States is fragmented, confusing and often unjust, things like this make me appreciate part of it

Exactly.

[moonshaz]

This.

[abiding]

MTE

[cinnamontoast]

At least they don't have the death penalty, which is not reversible.

Everyone seems to have the trial by media, however.

[chaya]

The UK has some legal restrictions on reporting on pending cases that we don't have.

[cinnamontoast]

The Daily Mail didn't seem to have many restrictions (moral or legal) when the trials were ongoing. The tabloid was only knocked back when they erroneously reported her guilt at the end of the second trial. Otherwise, they went all out to convict her based upon her appearance and behavior rather than the veracity of the evidence presented at the trials.

I'm not saying that American media is any better (the NY Post and The Daily News disgust me), just that tabloids are tabloids everywhere. I freely admit that I'm very biased against tabloids and any information that they publish is suspect in my eyes - They will lie with no conscience or compulsion to get at the truth. They write to sell newspapers to the lowest of the low. They don't care who they hurt in the process and any fines or lawsuits that come their way as a result are the price of doing business.

I despise them.

[chaya]

Yes, but none of that means publication bans don't exist over there or that they aren't used with regular frequency.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publication_ban#In_the_UK

[cinnamontoast]

The Wiki link has scant information, so I looked for more. The publication bans seem to be domestic trails the where the jury could be tainted. Not trials held in other countries.

[chaya]

I thought we were talking about 'trial by media' in general, not 'trial by media reporting from uninvolved countries'?

[cinnamontoast]

The story is about a trial in Italy. I said that everyone seems to have the trial by media. The tabloid rags in the UK did their best to convict both Knox and Sollecito before they could be brought to trial. There was no publication ban on what The Sun or the Daily Mail (in the UK) wrote about the case.

[bigtitch]

Yes it's very strict about what can be reported once a person has been arrested. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub_judice
It always amazes me how much reporting of high profile cases there is in the US media. In the UK once someone is arrested it all goes quiet until the actual trial is in progress.

[cinnamontoast]

But THIS story is about a trial that took place in Italy. The Sun and The Daily Mail went nuts the entire time the trial was going on. They painted Knox as a she-devil who slaughtered Kercher without mercy.

The UK DOES have tabloid press that does the same thing.

[kittenmommy]

Regardless of my feelings about Ms. Knox's guilt or innocence, my first thought was "Wow, a judicial system that's more fucked up than that of the U.S. Why am I not surprised that it's Italy."

This was pretty much my thought too.

[mistress_siana]

Well, I guess you have to be from the US to consider retrial more fucked up than the death penalty.