Verdict in Italy, but American’s Murder Case Isn’t Over
By RACHEL DONADIO
Published: December 5, 2009
PERUGIA, Italy — Tensions and cultural misunderstandings ran high on Saturday after an American college student was found guilty here of murdering her British housemate.
Rather than clarifying the saga of what prosecutors said was a sex game gone fatally awry, the conviction on Saturday of Amanda Knox, 22, a Seattle college student, for killing her roommate, Meredith Kercher, 21, seemed only to heighten the conflicting public opinions voiced in two years of fierce international news coverage.
As the yearlong trial unfolded in the media as much as in the courts, Ms. Knox was often depicted in the United States as an innocent abroad, a fresh-faced young woman caught in the vagaries of the Italian justice system.
Yet in the Italian press, she was a blithe, dope-smoking party girl who had accused a former boss, Patrick Lumumba, of the crime before changing her story. (She later said the police had pressed her to accuse him.) On Saturday, she was also found guilty of defaming Mr. Lumumba, whose lawyer called her a “little she-devil” in closing arguments last week.
The trial also tapped into longstanding town-and-gown tensions in Perugia, where residents blame foreign students like Ms. Knox for helping transform the picturesque city into a pub crawl.
The Knox family insisted Saturday that this cultural clash and the concern with the gossipy details of Amanda’s personal life obscured the focus on what really happened on Nov. 2, 2007.
“It appears clear to us that the attacks on Amanda’s character in much of the media and by the prosecution had a significant impact on the judges and jurors and apparently overshadowed the lack of evidence in the prosecution’s case against her,” the family said in a statement.
The family vowed to continue its campaign to free Ms. Knox. Asked if they would appeal, her father, Curt Knox, replied, with tears in his eyes, “Hell, yes.”
Ms. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison, and her Italian former boyfriend, 25-year-old Raffaele Sollecito, to 25 years. A third defendant, Rudy Guede, 22, is appealing a 30-year sentence for sexual assault and murder. He has admitted that he was at the house the night of the murder, and his DNA was found on Ms. Kercher’s body.
For many in Britain and the United States, what was on trial here was Italian justice.
In a statement after the verdict was delivered early Saturday, Senator Maria Cantwell, Democrat of Washington, said, “I have serious questions about the Italian justice system and whether anti-Americanism tainted this trial.” She added, “The prosecution did not present enough evidence for an impartial jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms. Knox was guilty.”
Ms. Kercher’s family saw it differently. Relatives, who held a rare and sober news conference here on Saturday, expressed satisfaction with the verdicts.
“Ultimately we are pleased with the decision, pleased that we’ve got a decision, but it’s not a time for celebration, it’s not a moment of triumph,” said Lyle Kercher, the victim’s brother.
Another brother, John Kercher Jr., added, “Her presence is missed every time we meet up as a family.”
Asked if they were convinced by the verdict, Ms. Kercher’s mother, Arline, said, “You have to go on the evidence, because there is nothing else.”
Prosecutors used both forensic and circumstantial evidence against Ms. Knox and Mr. Sollecito, whose defense lawyers failed to persuade the jury.
Beyond the atmospherics, Italian legal experts said, the case appeared to have been deliberated on the merits. “It’s true that the longer the trial, the longer the pain, but it also means that there can be an in-depth analysis of the facts,” said Michele Ainis, an expert in Italian constitutional law. “I hope that happened.”
“Our justice system is certainly in rough shape,” he added, “but it has a lot of self-correcting mechanisms.”
In the Italian system, the end of this yearlong trial closes only the first chapter. Unlike in the American system, in which appeals center on issues of law, not fact, in the Italian system, appeals are automatic and defendants can ask to retry the entire case in a first round of appeals.
From there, the case can go to Italy’s highest court, which is required to hear every appeal.
It may be years before a definitive sentence is reached.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/world/europe/06perugia.html?_r=1
