Monday, December 07, 2009

Amanda Knox conviction questioned

Senator Maria Cantwell, D-WA, has taken up the cause of Amanda Knox, a 22 year old American college student who was convicted of murder by an Italian court.  Senator Cantwell is quoted by CNN:
"The prosecution did not present enough evidence for an impartial jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms. Knox was guilty," Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat, said in a written statement. "Italian jurors were not sequestered and were allowed to view highly negative news coverage about Ms. Knox.

"Other flaws in the Italian justice system on display in this case included the harsh treatment of Ms. Knox following her arrest; negligent handling of evidence by investigators; and pending charges of misconduct against one of the prosecutors stemming from another murder trial," Cantwell said.
CNN shows just how confusing the case is.  Even though there was no motive or physical evidence tying Knox to the crime, there are other aspects of her behavior that have produced a lot of speculation.

Speculation, however, should not replace hard evidence when convicting someone to a 26 year prison sentence.  The jury seemed to have the attitude that "she might have had something to do with it, so let's convict her just to be safe."

The family of Amanda Knox will appear on Larry King Live tonight to discuss Amanda's trial and conviction. It should be interesting.

Update:  Since I posted this, I have come to believe that Amanda Knox and Raffael Sollecito are innocent of the crime.  See Injustice in Perugia, a site detailing the wrongful conviction of Amanda Knox and Raffael Sollecito.

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