Two years after Amanda Knox of Seattle, is alleged to murder her roommate,  Britisher Meredith Kercher, the case goes go to the Jury of six laypeople and two professional judges
 
I have followed this case all this time, and the number of times that Amanda has changed her story, and wrongly accused others of the murder, is astounding. 
 
The Prosecutors put on a Meticulous Case including a very modernistic 20 minute Film Reenactment with Avatars.  Amanda was described  as "narcisitic, aggressive, manipulative, angry, transgressive and easily given to disliking people who she disagreed with or whose ideologies differerd." She also tended to try to dominate and was obstructive. 

PERUGIA, Italy -- Italian prosecutors requested life sentences for Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito after a dramatic day of closing arguments that included an animated film reenactment and an emotional declaration by the Seattle native on trial for murder. 

Knox, 22, of West Seattle, is being tried in Perugia, Italy, alongside her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher on Nov.1, 2007. On Saturday, she took a deep breath as lead prosecutor Giuliano Mignini began to announce the harsh sentence he is seeking.

Just before, he read this Latin phrase about justice from ancient Roman jurist Eneo Domizio Ulpiano: Iustitia est constans et perpetua voluntas ius suum cuique tribuendi. Iuris praecepta sunt haec: honeste vivere alterum non laedere, suum cuique tribuere. ( Justice is the constant and perpetual will to render to every man his due. Live honestly, don't hurt others and to each his own).

"You must give them what they deserve," Mignini told the jury of six laypeople and two professional judges. "Ergastolo."

Life imprisonment, which carries no minimum term in Italy. But also requested 9 months of daytime solitary confinement for Knox and two months of solitary confinement for Sollecito. A slightly harsher penalty was requested for Knox because in addition to sexual assault, murder, simulating a crime scene and theft (for taking Kercher's two cell phones and 300 euros in rent money) she also is charged with slander for falsely accusing Congolese pub owner Patrick Lumumba, who was cleared of any connection with the crime after two weeks in jail. Another African man, Ivory Coast immigrant Rudy Guede, was eventually charged and convicted for his role in the murder. He is now appealing.

Knox, who became emotional and wept yesterday during Mignini's reconstruction, Saturday stared straight ahead, refusing to watch the 20-minute film re-enactment that was shown to the court, with her as lead protagonist of the brutal murder scenario. Afterwards she decided to make a spontaneous declaration calling Mignini's theories "Puro fantasia" or "pure fantasy."

"It is not the truth," she said. "Meredith was my friend. I did not hate her," she said in Italian, her voice quivering with emotion. "The idea that I wanted to vindicate myself against someone who was always nice to me is absurd." Knox also took issue with the prosecutor's claims that she really knew Guede, who she said she had no relationship with. Knox's lead counsel, Rome attorney Carlo Dalla Vedova echoed his client's criticism, adding that the case was "totally lacking in proof."

"This is a trial," he told the Seattlepi.com." You bring in evidence, not an animated film."

Co-prosecutor Manuela Comodi did address evidence in her morning summation, mostly by criticizing defense consultants' use of "shell games" to distort and discredit the forensic evidence presented in the case. She defended the work of police biologist Patrizia Stefanoni and other police forensic investigators and appealed to jurors to use common sense when considering the reliability of defense consultants' testimony.

"At the scene of the crime there is a footprint made in blood on the bathmat and Knox and Sollecito's footprints made in blood on the floor," Comodi said. "and these were supposedly made at some different time because they stepped in bleach or rust or fruit juice? It's up to you to decide."

Both Mignini and Comodi also addressed attempts by "teams" from Knox and Sollecito's hometowns to sway public opinion in the media, both in Italy and from "across the ocean." Superficial claims unfairly denigrating the Italian justice system created a "parallel trial" in the media very different from the reality unfolding in the courtroom, Mignini said. He noted, however, that the "Seattle lobby" does not necessarily reflect the sentiment of a nation."America is a big continent," he told the jury. "and not everybody there or in Seattle, thinks like they do. "

The jury retreated twice to deliberate on how to handle a controversial prosecution request to show an animated film re-enactment of the crime, which Dalla Vedova opposed, arguing it was sensationalist and would unduly influence the jury. Lawyers made references to another high-profile Italian murder case involving a young female victim currently under way in the nearby city of Garlasco, where a similar multi-media presentation was shown. The animated production, which the jury allowed to be shown, included three-dimensional avatars fashioned to look like the suspects as they walked to apartment and eventually confronted Kercher. During the depiction of escalating violence, there were fictionalized images of the partially clothed or nude victim, layered with actual images from the crime scene and real photos of wounds on Kercher's face and neck, taken during the autopsy, as well as blood-splatter analysis. The re-enactment also showed the staging of the crime scene, with Knox and Sollecito's avatars returning to the scene, taking off their shoes, bringing a lamp from Knox's room into Kercher's room, undressing Kercher to make it look like she had been raped, putting a blanket over the body and cleaning up some of the apartment with a mop. The courtroom, packed with dozens of journalists, members of the public and other observers, was eerily silent as Comodi narrated and clicked through the disturbing presentation, which ended with the audio recording of Sollecito calling the Caribinieri to report a break-in and blood in the house.

After the presentation, Mignini went directly into his final statements, capitalizing on the emotional moment in the wake of the disturbing images of the scenario and Kercher's battered face. He reminded the jury to not forget her, recalling how she had been preparing to return home to London to visit her ill mother for her birthday.

"But Meredith would never go home to embrace her loved ones," Mignini said. "Her mother, father, sister Stephanie and two brothers, who now have no choice but to go to the cemetery to be near her remains. She was literally eliminated."

Eliminated, he argued, by a young woman with a particular psychological profile. Citing the observations of an unnamed "noted criminologist" he described Knox as "narcisitic, aggressive, manipulative, angry, transgressive and easily given to disliking people who she disagreed with or whose ideologies differerd." She also tended to try to dominate and was obstructive, he added. 

Chris Mellas, Amanda's stepfather, summed up his reaction to the day's arguments in one word: "unbelievable. "

"You would think after two years he could figure out Amanda," Mellas told the seattlepi.com. "But I think there's a generation gap. I don't think he wants to know. This is quite the wonderful story he thought up, but it is not based on fact and how can you convict if it is not based on fact?"

Mellas said family and friends remain optimistic that the jury will choose to acquit. At least seven family members are expected to arrive in Perugia for the December 1 and 2 closing arguments of Knox's defense and the jury decision afterwards. The jury will begin deliberating December 4, and must decide if they believe Knox and Sollecito are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, as the law prescribes. If the jury acquits, Knox will be released from prison and can take the next plane home (a ticket has already been purchased, family members said earlier this week). If convicted, the eight-member jury will immediately give sentences and establish compensation.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/412538_knox21.html
 

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