Do you think Amanda Knox is guilty?

No, I don’t think she did it. The Italians were looking for an easy target with a lot of trumped up circumstantial evidence.

I do, I think she is guilty as sin. She’s trying to squeeze out of it.

The Italian cops must have excellent evidence if they went after her three times.

She and OJ (and for that matter, Zimmerman) all are trying to get away with murder. Literally.

Do you think there could be some political motivation rather than an actual belief in her guilt @elbanditoroso?

@Dutchess_III – possibly. What would it be? And why?

I’d just like to say thank you, Italy, for once again making America’s governing institutions look so damned good by comparison. We really do have a pretty good judicial system here. Not perfect, for sure, but good. When you’re used to the rigor and safeguards that are in force here, seeing how Italy operates is breathtaking.

Is Knox guilty? I have no idea. That’s the problem: the process by which guilt or innocence can be somewhat reliably determined has never been applied to her case. And forming opinion based on media accounts is no better than the Italian judicial process.

I don’t have an opinion either way as haven’t really read much about the evidence but so many people seem convinced that she is innocent that I am intrigued what the evidence in her favour is? Why would the Italian government be so sure that she is guilty if the evidence was strongly in her favour? What do the Italian government gain from finding her guilty?

Without having access to the evidence and facts, what I think is totally irrelevant. I was not in the court. I did not hear the testimony from all parties.

All we’ve seen is sensational media headlines.

From what I gather, if you read UK media, you know she’s guilty, and if you read US media you know she’s innocent.

I will say that he prosecutor’s belief in satanic cults throws doubt on the conviction for me.

No, I don’t. I was a huge supporter of hers even before her acquittal.

@thorninmud We aren’t focusing on the American judicial system; it’s not under the microscope here – the US has its share of insane stories and state laws so I can’t compare Italy to the US at this point. I’ve read some doozies and that’s why we have Project Innocence to defend the innocent—I’m not a supporter of the death penalty due to the number of innocent people they have saved alone. And the judges who use the bible to come to a decision or give out reduced sentences to people on trial who cllaim to have found Jesus. The US is far from perfect.

That said:

I personally feel that the poster @Naked_Whale_Tamer, has given the most honest and well thought out answer to this question. I literally cannot offer any additional commentary.

No, I do not. I have actually read as much as I possibly can about this case. And before I read about it, I thought she was guilty, and I was going in with the bias that she was a spoiled American girl who committed some freaky murder. But of course that’s exactly what the Italian media wants people to think.

The original motive for the murder was said to be the results of a “Satanic ritual orgy”, of which there has been absolutely no evidence whatsoever. The idea that Kercher was forced into obscene sexual acts by Knox and when she refused, she was stabbed. This is the case that the Italian prosecutor came up with.

There is already a man, Rudy Guede, who is imprisoned for the murder. His bloody fingerprints and DNA were at the scene and he was convicted of the murder and sexually assaulting Kercher. Yet they still want to go after Knox and her Italian boyfriend, claiming they assisted Guede.

She made a fatal error of confessing under pressure (in fact, implicating a man who had nothing to do with it)—I believe that if she hadn’t done that, she would not still be hunted down. Doesn’t change the fact that I still find her innocent, after all I’ve read.

Thank you for that recap @DominicX. Exactly that.

From what I’ve seen of Italian systems it’s probably one big dog and pony type event.

I don’t understand how she could be acquited and then retried? Does anyone know?

I’m with @elbanditoroso, I think she’s guilty. Even stoned and drunk, if you hear a girl screaming bloody murder, you don’t just go to sleep and say “nevermind”. I call bs.

@janbb In Italy, either side can appeal a verdict, so she was found guilty, appealed and got the verdict overturned. Then the prosecution appealed the decision to overturn. Yesterday’s guilty verdict was in response to the prosecution appeal.

The DNA evidence did not point to her guilt. the only people who know for sure are Knox and her ex boyfriend.

I don’t know if she was guilty, though I think there is what Americans would call reasonable doubt. I will say she muddied the waters herself when she lied to investigators on at least one occasion.

@janbb: she was “acquitted” (not sure that’s the right word) on appeal. It was then appealed to a higher court, which ordered a new trial. She wasn’t found innocent in her initial trial and then merely tried again.

Why was Rudy Guede tried separately, and Knox/Sollecito together? I read this, but it didn’t cover Guede’s trial at all.

Guede wasn’t a depraved ‘Merican.

Neither was Sollecito, was he?

I guess I don’t understand why they tried and convict 3 people in 2 trials.

Especially when one was found absolutely guilty and is serving his time.

I was looking through a recap on line….neither Knox’s DNA nor Sollecito’s DNA was found in the room. How could that possibly be if they were all involved in wild sex games just before the murder?

@Dutchess_III What are you worrying about the details and evidence for? They have her confession~. I’m sure they respected all of her rights in the interrogation.

What? She didn’t confess to anything.

”...probably one big dog and pony type event.” @Dutchess_III ^^^

@Adirondackwannabe <chuckle> Well, she’s just an American and drunk and high and maybe a murderer, who cares?!

I think she is totally innocent. I believe her version of the events that night, and I think that any statements she made during interrogation (one of which lasted all night) or implicating herself or anyone else were made under duress.

The DNA evidence corroborates her story, and exonerates Knox and Sollecito, whereas Guede’s DNA was all over the place, including on the knife. The prosecutor in the case said, “I knew from the minute I saw her that she was guilty.” And the courts were determined to prove him right, facts be damned. I’m glad she is safe in the USA.

No, though her behaviors during certain times shortly after the murder and while in prison were questionable. From what I had reviewed about the case, there’s no evidence Knox and her boyfriend was even present during the murder. All the evidence points to Rudy Guede. Guede’s DNA and blood prints were all over the murder scene, he changed his story when caught in a lie and he fled.

I don’t have a clue. I do not have the necessary information to reach an informed conclusion; everything would be pure speculation on my part.

@Paradox25 Yes, there were some issues shortly after the murder but hell….the kid was only 20 years old!

Unlikely Americans, Italians treat their 20-year-olds like adults.

When it comes to crimes, America does too. I meant she didn’t have the maturity or experience to even begin to handle the situation well. Hell, I don’t either for that matter. I can’t imagine finding myself in the middle of a nightmare like that much less if I was only 20 years old.

@Dutchess_III Personally I don’t find age as an excuse for poor behavior. Some of her behaviors and lack of empathy for the victim perhaps put on a seemingly display of ‘obvious’ guilt, like what we had seen with Casey Anthony for example.

The circumstances in this case are different though, in that there’s no evidence pointing to her guilt. On top of that, unlike in some other cases, there was a great deal of evidence against another person for the crime.

I don’t know if it was poor behavior as much as sheer terror that lead her to behave the way she did.
I hadn’t heard that she showed no empathy for the victims.

I think the no empathy might be true, @Dutchess_III.

@ibstubro I’m rather surprised by this turn of events because many MRAs (even Italian ones) accuse the Italian government of being ‘gynocentric’. Maybe it’s because Knox was an American girl who didn’t behave in a traditionalist manner, since religion is important in that country. The fact remains though that the Italian authorities fucked this case up with their obsession with Knox’s behavior and lifestyle rather than really looking for justice.

@Paradox25 So you disagree with me agreeing with you?