Lack of Common Sense Apparent in Amanda Knox Conviction

Meredith Kercher was murdered in Perugia Italy, November 1st, 2007. Meredith had her life stolen from her in an act of senseless violence. For Meredith's roommate Amanda Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, Meredith's murder would mark the beginning of a long drawn out nightmare that continues to this day. A botched investigation with suspicious motives led to both being wrongfully convicted.

Investigators were aware early on that there was no evidence at the crime scene to suggest that Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were present at the time of Meredith Kercher's murder. They were also aware of the fact that the lead prosecutor on the case, Guiliano Mignini, was telling them the two were involved. With this in mind, they would try desperately to find incriminating evidence to satisfy Mignini’s request.

This approach led to a rush to judgment long before a single piece of evidence was tested and more importantly before the real killer, Rudy Guede, had even appeared on their radar.

If you have listened to news reports regarding this case then you have undoubtedly heard the details of the evidence from one of Amanda’s attorneys, Theodore SimonTheodore Simon. You may begin to wonder why you keep hearing the same information over and over again on the news. The reason is simple. The truth will be repeated over and over again until this injustice is corrected.

There was absolutely no credible evidence in the murder room that could be attributed to Amanda and Raffaele. Not one fingerprint, palm print, shoe print, footprint, no hair, no saliva, no bodily fluid of any kind, and no DNA. All of the evidence collected in the murder room pointed to one man; Rudy Guede.

The court looked past the absence of evidence and suggested that Meredith's bra clasp (which had become separated from the bra) retrieved from the crime scene 47 days after the murder took place proved Amanda and Raffaele were involved. Raffaele's DNA was found on the clasp along with the DNA of at least five other people. After viewing the video showing the discovery of the bra clasp, I am amazed it was allowed to be entered as evidence.

Raffaele's DNA made up 1/6 of the DNA present. The DNA was at LCN (low copy number) levels but was not tested as LCN. In the 47 days that the clasp was on the floor it was seen in photographs and video moving around the room and finally ended up under a dirty rug. Keep in mind that this clasp also had cloth attached to it from the bra. This cloth collected dust for 47 days. Raffaele was at the apartment on several occasions. Finding his DNA in the apartment would be no surprise. Raffaele's defense states that the testing was so flawed that the small sample tested doesn't even belong to Raffaele. It amazes me to this day that investigators neglected to collect this vital piece of evidence on the first day of their investigation.

The bra clasp tested positive for the possible DNA of Raffaele, DNA of the victim, and most likely four other people that visited the apartment. In other words, the bra clasp proves nothing. So how could Amanda and Raffaele have been involved in the murder if there was no evidence of their presence in the murder room?

Maybe Amanda and Raffaele were blessed with the gift of flight. After all, this is the only way they could have participated in Meredith’s murder. With everything else the prosecution was able to pull off in the courtroom, maybe they should have made this suggestion to the jury. Maybe prosecutor Mignini could have presented an animated movie showing Amanda and Raffaele flying around the room. I am in no way attempting to be comical. Mignini actually used animation during his closing argument. The court was presented an extremely unprofessional and highly offensive animated movie depicting Amanda, Raffaele, and Rudy attacking Meredith.

The defense could have easily created an animated movie depicting Rudy as the killer. Is that how cases should be tried? Who ever creates the best animated short film wins. Of course, this is complete nonsense. At some point common sense must be applied. We all know Amanda and Raffaele cannot fly. Therefore common sense tells us they were not present at the time of the murder.

Italian courts have an obligation following trials that is not seen in the United States. The court is required to write a report called a motivation explaining the reasoning that led to their conclusions. This report in this case is often referred to as the Massei report because Judge Massei was the lead author. In the report, the court dismissed the prosecution’s theory that Meredith was murdered because Amanda resented her and there is no mention of a sex game gone wrong. The court makes no mention of the three alleged attackers meeting up any time prior to the attack as the prosecution had suggested. The court believes that Rudy Guede was the instigator and Amanda and Raffaele decided to join in. In order for this theory to work, common sense has to be thrown out the window.

Amanda and Raffaele had been dating for just under a week at the time of the murder. During that time, Amanda had been sleeping at Raffaele’s at night and would return to the cottage each morning to shower. She had not yet brought clothes or any of her other personal Items to Raffeale’s at that time and she also preferred to use her own shower.

The court suggests that Amanda and Raffaele decided to change their routine on the night of the murder. Instead of enjoying the complete privacy of Raffaele’s apartment, the court suggests that they went to the cottage to be intimate in Amanda’s room. Why would Amanda and Raffaele leave the privacy of Raffaele’s apartment to go the cottage where Amanda’s roommate would be home? Meredith had made no mention that she had plans to be away. Amanda would have assumed she would be home. To suggest that Amanda and Raffaele would prefer the cottage over Raffaele’s apartment makes little sense.

The court’s theory of the attack is mind boggling. The court suggests that Amanda and Raffaele were being intimate in Amanda’s room when they heard Meredith being attacked. At that time, they both went to Meredith’s room and witnessed the attack in progress. At that moment, influenced by smoking marijuana, along with Raffaele’s memories of violent comic books, they decided to join in on the attack. I guess the court assumes, at that moment, Amanda also thought to run to her bag and get Raffaele’s kitchen knife that she had been carrying around for protection.

What? This theory is not just ridiculous, this theory is insane. Why would Amanda decide to help a virtual stranger attack and murder her friend? Why would Raffaele just decide to go along? How would they have known that Rudy would not attack them? Are we really supposed to believe they both entered the room and saw the attack in progress and not only had absolutely no fear of the attacker but also decided to assist in the attack?

Common sense based on the facts provided, tells us that Amanda and Raffaele were not at the cottage on the night of the murder. There is absolutely no logical reason for Amanda to have been carrying around Raffaele's kitchen knife for protection. The court makes it clear the attack wasn't planned. The court accepted the prosecution's claim that Raffaele's kitchen knife was used in the murder. This threw a wrench into the court's theory. The result was a fabricated story about Amanda carrying the knife for protection. This fictional story provided the court with reason for Raffaele's knife to be present during the murder.

So if the court had it all wrong, then what really happened? The truth is clear to anyone willing to see it. Rudy Guede broke one of the cottage windows with a large rock, climbed up to the window using the security bars on the lower level window, released the latch and climbed in. His plans to burglarize the cottage were altered when Meredith arrived home for the evening. Meredith made a phone call shortly after walking into the cottage that was interrupted. Rudy ambushed Meredith in her own home, fatally stabbing and sexually assaulting her. This was a horrible crime but not a complicated one. The case became complicated when two innocent people were accused of the crime.

I am hopeful that common sense will be alive and well as the appeal moves forward in Perugia, Italy. I was encouraged to hear Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellmann make this statement as the appeal began: "the only thing we know for certain is the fact that Meredith was murdered." Judge Hellmann has a very difficult job ahead. I hope he has strength to stand up against this injustice.

Bruce Fisher is the author of "Injustice in Perugia: a book detailing the wrongful conviction of Amanda Knox & Raffaele Sollecito." Currently available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, and Injusticeinperugia.org

For more information about this case please visit InjusticeinPerugia.org.