What a FARCE!!!! {You can tell it's going to be one of my passionate posts, can't you?} Things have been so tense lately bec...

Guilty, Not Guilty, Guilty

Thursday, January 30, 2014



What a FARCE!!!!

{You can tell it's going to be one of my passionate posts, can't you?}

Things have been so tense lately because there are all these questions...

Will we get the house?

Will the Broncos win the Superbowl?

Will Amanda Knox be found innocent {again}?

Yes, Amanda Knox has been on my mind a lot lately.

You might not know this about me, but I'm an Amanda Knox fan these days. When I first heard of this case in the news--crazy to think, that was back when I was just newly pregnant with Eisley--I heard the crazy things about her, and you probably have too. Cartwheels in the police station? Buying lingerie right after roommate is murdered? Tells police she was there at the crime? Calls herself Foxy Knoxy? All that made it not so hard to believe when the media started portraying her as a vixen.

It all sounded really fishy. At that time I found the case mildly interesting and thought, wow, what a crazy world.

Then she was convicted. I stopped thinking about it.

Then, years later, she is acquitted and released. That got my attention. I started reading the articles about her. While the European news (i.e. Daily Mail, etc.) was still painting her as the sex-crazed vixen who lied and did odd things, the United States media was starting to show a new side to Amanda Knox. It was through the American articles that I learned: there is a whole other side to this story.

So, last year when Amanda's book, Waiting to be Heard, came out, I immediately read it. Rather, I listened to it on audio book, which I highly recommend because Amanda reads the book herself. Hearing her memoir in her own voice is really something.

Everyone should read her book. It is a cautionary tale. It explains so much. Not explains like excuses, explains like, clears it up completely, makes you think, "Ohhh...that's the truth behind the buying-underwear story. Makes total sense now. Heck, that's something I might do." It really makes you see the terrifying way the media can twist truths to make you see anything they want you to see.

It also details her life in an Italian prison, which is much different than prison here in the US. The book explains how the language barrier was an issue, and probably helped the Italian police in getting her to say seemingly incriminating things.

You see a whole other side to Amanda when you read her book. It doesn't just come out through her words, but her tone and her beliefs and the grace in which she handles all the criticism she gets. She was an incredibly naive, friendly, goofy girl who went off to Italy to study abroad for a year, trying to "find herself" and gain independence. She was in Italy for just 5 weeks before Kercher was mudered. She barely spoke any Italian at that time {and you better believe that tainted their interrogations of her}. She had known her supposed accomplice for a few days. She didn't do cartwheels around the police station, she was stretching after hours of sitting through the night while being questioned. A friendly police officer noted to her that she was very flexible, to which she responded that she did yoga. He asked her to do the splits, she showed him she could {still thinking she was just there to help out with the investigation}, and at that moment the same officer who struck her upside the head later walked in and saw. Next thing you know, the news is saying she's doing cartwheels while being interrogated. Maybe the Italian to English translation of splits/cartwheels got mixed up. You see how everything was just twisted?

In fact, I'd never related to Knox before, but while reading her book, the person she describes in college before Kercher's murder reminds me very much of my young self. Naive, goofy, maybe a little nerdy. Her book is a horror story of how everything that could possibly go wrong with Meredith Kercher's murder investigation, went wrong. And Amanda Knox was the only stupid one left there to act as scape goat.

She spent years in prison for a crime that she so obviously did not commit.

And now? Italy can't admit they made a huge mistake. This most recent trial was not about evidence {because they really had none} it was about on politics.

It's about an American girl pinned for killing a Brit in Italy, and the Italian police needing to save face for some very serious mistakes they made early on. They seem to accomplish this by forcing a round peg in a square hole and convicting Amanda (AGAIN) when she was so obviously not there. I, for one, just think the Italian judges and prosecutors look like a bunch of fools. But Amanda, in the eyes of most Europeans, is nothing more than a crazy, spoiled American wild child.

I didn't just read her book, I read everything I could find. I even found myself reading translated court transcripts.

The prosecutor's case was built on character assassination. They have no decent DNA evidence at the scene of the crime that implicates Knox. Uncomprehendingly, they continue to go after Knox while there is a man, Rudy Guede, who's DNA was all over the scene of the crime. He even left his...ahem...waste in the toilet. He admitted to being at the scene of the crime. He was sentenced to 16 years and is currently in prison in Italy. They have their man!

Yet, because of a botched police investigation--one in which the village police even allowed Meredith Kercher's roommates and friends to traipse throughout the house instead of waiting for the military police to arrive (they would have known to keep everyone out of the evidence)--they go after the one roommate who was too naive to lawyer-up and leave the country. The one girl who willingly walked into a police station in order to help with the investigation, and then found herself being interrogated for hours and hours, hit upon the head, and screamed at. Yes, those are the actions of a guilty person.

Amanda, after hours of being shouted at and interrogated and struck upside the head, finally incriminated herself in a state of confusion. Under such circumstances, that is hardly anything new. As soon as she left and had time to think, she immediately retracted her statement. They continued to use everything she said and did against her. Amanda meanwhile, knowing she was innocent, had absolutely no idea how she really should have been protecting herself. You could even say, the poor girl was a bit stupid about it. But guilty of murder? The evidence just doesn't agree.

Let's not forget Ryan Ferguson, who was just recently released from prison after 10 years for a crime he didn't commit. This stuff happens. It's scary. We need to be aware of the media and how much influence it has.

The fact is, they have no real compelling evidence and no motive.

Yet they convicted her and sentenced Amanda to 25 years. Meanwhile, the guy who did admit to being at the crime and his DNA agrees with his confession, got only 16 years. What the...?

Are you beginning to see what a FARCE this Italian justice system is?

Mignini, the prosecutor who went after Amanda Knox, is the same guy who made a fool out of himself before Kercher's murder by trying to convict journalists and police for killing a doctor in a satanic ritual {same excuse he used for Knox, satanic sex games}. The doctor had committed suicide. Mignini was later charged with abuse of office.

This is the same guy who went after Knox!

I've been counting down to January 30th for a while now. I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was check the news. Later in the morning, it was announced that the verdict would come at 2 p.m. MST.

I had to run an errand to the mall to return something, but I was in my car at 2 p.m., watching the live CNN coverage on my phone.

They found her guilty.

Again.

After finding her innocent last time. I couldn't believe it.

Well which is it ITALY?! Their justice system is a whole other story...it's cartoonish in nature. Their system is antiquated, it's so old. The court rooms are unruly and disorganized. Even the Italians have no faith in their justice system.

I'm passionate about this and writing this post for the following reasons:

Pray for Amanda. I believe in her innocence 1000%. In fact, when  you look at the facts of this case, it's an absolute joke that most Europeans--albeit loyal to their British Kercher--still believe Knox is guilty. Sadly and tragically, Kercher is dead. But there is another victim here who continues to live her life under scrutiny and fear of the Italian justice system, joke that it is.

We need to all be very aware of how the media can spin things. Amanda's true character has been absolutely trashed beyond recognition by the media and the Italian police. This sort of thing could happen to anyone! Sometimes what they say on the news is so convincing. But Amanda's case makes me frightened at how they can turn the image of an incredibly naive, happy-go-lucky college student into a sex-crazed murdering monster.

Amanda Knox. Guilty, AGAIN.

I am gutted for her right now.

Italy, you're an embarrassment.

Seriously, read her book. I strongly recommend it. You might have heard a few things in the news, but you have no idea the crazy details you haven't heard. You can also read this story done by Rolling Stone, it's one of the best, most accurate ones I've read from the media outlets. It's older though, so a few more details in the book make it worth reading.

In her book she writes that, while in prison, Amanda's one comfort was the priest who visited her and offered compassion. I sincerely hope she's putting her life in God's hands right now. He is certainly bigger than the Italian justice system. There is talk that the US won't extradite her because of our double jeopardy law, and maybe also because we're the only country in the world to see past the media hype over "Foxy Knoxy". I really hope that's true.

Cheers,
Heather

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5 comments

  1. It is frightening that this could happen to anyone. I don't know much about the Amanda Knox case, but I do enjoy reading books like this. I haven't read a book in awhile. It will probably take me some time to actually get down to it & find it. Read all you wrote.. agree, hope they won't extradite here.

    BTW, why did she buy underwear? Just curious.

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    1. Thanks for the comment! Love your blog :-)

      So what was reported was that Amanda and Raffaele went into a lingerie shop and were talking about sex, and she bought a pair of underwear--all while a murder just happened in her own home.

      The truth was: she was locked out of her house due to the murder investigation and needed a pair of clean underwear (I think in the book she even mentioned being on her cycle that week which made the long interrogation even more awkward). That's totally understandable, right? Oh, and it WASN'T a lingerie shop, just a regular shop. The store owner or clerk who told this to the press was paid for his interview, and spoke no English. So, why did he say he heard them talking about sex? Also, the "lingerie" was a pair of red briefs with a cartoon cow on them.

      See what I mean? Everything was so horribly twisted.

      You might find this interesting:
      http://www.injusticeinperugia.org/myths.html

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    2. Thanks Heather. ☺

      See, that all makes sense! The media can be so scandalous!

      I'll let you know when I read the book. You've got me intrigued, I'm going to see if there are any shows online to download.

      Have a good weekend!

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  2. This whole thing is just so terrifying and heart breaking. I've been hooked on this case for a long time, but surprisingly haven't read the book, I'm totally picking it up this weekend. She is so close to me in age, I can't imagine having that much of my life just taken from me in an instance. Finally, as she started to get her life back together this happens, I was in total shock yesterday. Thanks for sharing, it is easy to read what's online and just go with that. I know that when this case came out, it took a lot of explaining to get my husband to realize how fabricated the story the media was telling was. I know that all of us Amanda followers are sending all our positive energy to her.

    Hanna

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    Replies
    1. It is terrifying! Let me know what you think of the book, Hanna!

      Thanks for the comment :-) Glad I'm not alone in my shock over this injustice.

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