I don’t get it. I have read and re-read dozens of reports surrounding the case of Meredith Kercher’s brutal murder, and I just don’t get it. Usually when this happens in my current life, it is some quirk of Russian life that can only be explained away by the simple shrug of resignation that tells of many unfulfilled answers. This time, it is Italy and its legal system that is causing the trouble. My understanding of law is sketchy, but common sense is something we can all subscribe to, no matter what our nationality or disposition. It seems to me that there is a lack of this with regards to the annulment of Raffaelle Sollecito and Amanda Knox’s murder convictions, so although I usually wouldn’t launch into a legal/politcal rant on this platform, I feel moved to in this instance.
I had the pleasure of meeting Meredith Kercher – or ‘Mez’, as she was introduced to me
Meredith was a fellow student of Leeds University where I also studied Italian, but our paths never crossed a great deal. I did meet her once, however. Our mutual friend Dom suggested going to watch the up and coming singer ‘Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly’ in the Strawberry Fields pub in Leeds, so we watched, drank, and even chatted about vague plans to fly out to Rome and watch Oasis and Stereophonics in concert. It was a fun time, especially as we had waltzed straight to the front of the queue with “VIP” tickets. Everybody who knew her will have their own memories of ‘Mez’; mine are of a smart girl who had a quick mind and a sharp wit, much sharper than Dom’s or mine anyway.
The campaign behind Amanda Knox even reached the high priestess of US TV – Oprah Winfrey
After the horrific events in 2007, it was hard to know where to turn to for answers. Why? Who? How? In a case that swiftly developed into an international news item with even Hilary Clinton wading in to offer her political sway to the case, it was answers everyone wanted. Pictures of Amanda Knox, Meredith’s flatmate in Perugia, were published of her performing cartwheels outside the police station the morning after being questioned; a $4 million dollar book deal with HarperCollins was signed in 2012 for the Seattle-born defendent to tell her story; sickening details of what had immediately preceded the murder were splashed across front pages worldwide.
Amanda Knox maintains she was treated harshly by Italian authorities, who she claims manipulated a confession out of her
As if that were not unsettling enough, the handling of the case by the Italian police, and then by the justice department, became more and more bizarre. Knox claimed that she had been pressured into confessing to the crime without the support of a lawyer, which in itself would be a heinous miscarriage of responsibility. She claimed an astonishing 62% of exonorees in murder cases have been forced into a false confession in an interview with the Guardian’s Simon Hatterstone. It does not stretch the imagination too much to believe this was possible. Another friend of mine was studying in Turin the year before Meredith arrived in Perugia, and was caught up in a police sting operation targetting marijuna dealers. She was forced to give evidence in court without a translator, a fairly intimidating experience for young foreigner who had been guilty only of attempting to buy light drugs (fortunately her Italian was excellent – she received a commendation at graduation the following year).
Raffaele Sollecito was branded as ‘Forest Gump’ by his own defence lawyer, Giulia Bongiorno – but it worked in his favour
At the conclusion of the initial court case in 2009, Sollecito and Knox had been sentenced to 25 and 28 and a half years in prison respectively, but after an appeal they were acquitted. This is a standard process; without the right to appeal, many innocent people would be sent down wrongly. The Kercher family had to go back to the drawing board having thought they’d been given closure, while Knox was given hope of claiming back at least some part of her life.
But skip forward a few years, and the madness really began. According to the multi-tiered Italian legal appeals system, after the initial sentence has been passed, the Supreme Court can reopen the case and effectively retry a defendant twice for the same crime. Italian lawyers claim this protects the state and defendants, giving them multiple chances to reach the right verdict. Well of course it protects the state; if the lower courts cannot be trusted, this system allows the higher courts to mop up the mess made by their supposedly competent but inferior ‘junior’ colleagues. To me, this simply says that the Supreme Court doesn’t have sufficient faith in its own legal system, which is hardly a reassuring stance to take.
Sollecito’s attorney – Giulia Bongiorno – is virtually a celebrity in her own right as a star defence lawyer
The crowning glory of this incomprehnsible mess happened late on Friday night when the superstar lawyer Giulia Bongiorno, who had previously represented Italian football legend Francesco Totti and former PM Giulio Andreotti, convinced a five-judge panel to overturn the Supreme Court’s verdict, this time (so they tell us) definitively. What the fourth verdict should do is categorically close off this case with a satisfactory conclusion; instead all it has done is create more questions than before.
Ivorian Rudy Guede has been left as the only convicted person in this case, with his reduced sentence already half spent
Rudy Guede’s conviction has by and large passed under the radar in comparison to the global rollercoaster of this case’s journey, but the Ivorian has already served half of his 16-year sentence for his part in the murder. That’s right, his part. The same court that acquitted Knox and Sollecito ruled that Guede could not have committed the crime alone, as suggested by the much longer sentences handed down initially to the former lovers. Considering that there have been no other suspects, other than swiftly-acquitted Patrick Lumumba, it begs the fairly obvious question – if the Supreme Court now believes they didn’t do it, who do they believe did do it? Will they work tirelessly day and night to find the accomplice(s) of Guede? Do they even believe they can find who did it? These are the bare minimum of questions that must surely be answered.
Amanda Knox has received coverage across major TV networks, book deals and newspapers – forcing the debate onto an even more global stage
Other nuances of the case beggar belief. The DNA that was said to place Knox and Sollecito at the crime scene was later revealed to be unreliable – how could the forensics team be either so incompetent, or even more worringly, so corrupt as to produce false evidence? The disgusting build-up of a virtual media war between armies of supporters of Meredith and Knox spawned a well-used nickname that was designed to add extra ‘appeal’ to the American. I refuse to repeat it, as its very use perpetuates the problem of distinguishing between the image of a person and the reality.
The bottom line, in my honest and humble opinion, is that the Italian legal system has been shown to be a complete mess. The very least the Kercher family deserve is finality, especially when one considers their composure and grace under such unimagineable pressure. The very least Knox deserves, if she is indeed entirely innocent, is her life back. And therein lies the worst part; I only feel able to write ‘if she is innocent’, because my own faith in Italian justice is non-existent. Such a flimsy and messy process transforms what should be a thorough examination of the facts into a battle of who has the more persuasive lawyer. Instead of being the cornerstone of a democratic country, the system becomes a different beast entirely.
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