American Found Guilty of Murder in Italy

I cannot help but be fascinated by the Amanda Knox case. An Italian court found the Seattle native guilty Friday of murder for the death of her roommate in Perugia two years ago, Meredith Kercher.

The trial has lagged on for two years, and according to a British news web site, The Guardian, the pace of trials in Italy progresses at a leisurely rate with two hearings at most each week. This trial, according to the news site, has lasted nearly a year.

I believe what fascinates me the most about the case is the Italian justice system, and the way the police handled the case. I'll start with the latter. According to various television in-depth reports, police did not find any evidence against Knox inside the apartment where Kercher's body was found in 2007. Also what's shocking is the fact that some of the evidence, including a piece of a bra, was left in the apartment about 50 days after the crime, and that it was tossed around as if it was never going to be included in the buffet of evidence. The reports said the bra had DNA evidence of Knox's Italian boyfriend, 25 year old Raffaele Sollecito. Sollecito was also found guilty of murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison for involvement in the murder.

Perhaps the American justice system has much to be desired, but the case has shed light on an Italian system that many say did not do its job. A few things we might find interesting about their court system: the verdict does not have to be unanimous among its jurors; the jurors consist of two professionals (the judges) and the rest civilians who were not screened for bias. Also, an opinion verdict is rendered based on how the prosecution paints a defendant's character. In other words, cold hard facts aren't necessarily the deciding factor to prove a case. It's been argued that because Knox dressed inappropriately inside the courtroom and performed cartwheels inside the police station while Sollecito was being questioned became two very solid reasons for the jury to dislike the student.

One more interesting note is that another man associated with the case had already been convicted of murder in the same case, yet Knox and Sollecito were put on trial for the same crime after the man's conviction.

The appeals process will now take place, but that could take years. Is this just another case of a justice system that convicted an innocent person, or did the Italians get it right and convict the right people?

Unfortunately, no question in this case will ever be answered.