Re: Amanda Knox murder trial in Italy - verdict could come any day. Guilty, or innoc
The killer has already been found guilty......
Rudy Hermann Guede
Born December 26, 1986 (1986-12-26) (age 22)[45]
Ivory Coast
Conviction(s) Conspiracy to murder
Penalty 30 years imprisonment
Status Incarcerated
Rudy Hermann Guede, 20, originally from the Ivory Coast, was arrested on November 20 for suspected involvement in the Kercher killing. He was subsequently convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years.
Guede came to Perugia at the age of five with his father.[46] His father left Italy when Guede was 16, and he was informally adopted by the family of a wealthy local businessman, Paolo Caporali.[46] Caporali stated that he had been disappointed by Guede's behaviour, describing him as a "tremendous liar", skipping school and being reluctant to do any work.[46] Guede played basketball for the local team which Caporali sponsored.[46]
DNA tests indicate that Guede had sex with Kercher before her murder [47] and that feces found in the toilet were his.[48]
Guede was reportedly a hanger-on with the residents of the downstairs apartment, where Kercher's boyfriend of a few months lived.[citation needed] It has been said that he would "couch surf" at this and other apartments, where he tended to arrive unannounced. Knox has confirmed meeting Guede a few times.
Guede's account of the evening was that he and the victim had consensual sex, after which he became sick from a bad kebab and left the room to use the toilet. He claimed to be listening to music on his iPod while using the facilities and thus did not hear the killer enter the house.[49] He did, however, hear Kercher scream,[49] and emerged to see the murderer, an Italian man whom he did not know, stabbing Kercher. As the man escaped, he said "You're in trouble, you black bastard"[49] after which Guede claims to have been so frightened that he fled the scene and made his way to Germany. [50] The investigators stated that Guede's version of events was "a highly improbable fantasy."[49]
Guede was observed dancing in a nightclub later on the night of the murder. He fled to Germany shortly thereafter, but was tracked by computer and apprehended by authorities after emailing a contact suggesting that he was in need of financial assistance. The German transport police arrested Guede on a train near Wiesbaden, Germany, where he was caught riding without a ticket.[46]
[edit] Trials and conviction
Guede elected for a "fast track" trial on 16 October 2008. On 28 October 2008 he was found guilty of murdering and sexually assaulting Meredith Kercher and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Guede is appealing the conviction.[51] The appeal started in November 2009; a verdict is not expected to be reached until 2010.[52]
The trial of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito began on 16 January 2009 with much attention from the media; both Knox's and Sollecito's lawyers used the occasion to proclaim their clients' innocence. Guede has declined to testify in the trial.[53] During the first session, judge Giancarlo Massei rejected a request by the Kercher family to hold the trial behind closed doors. He ruled that the trial will be public, but closed sessions will be decided on a case-by-case basis.[54]
Running concurrent with the criminal trial are two civil trials. The family of Kercher has filed a civil suit for $33 million against anyone found guilty of the murder.[55] Patrick Lumumba, the man Knox originally accused of murdering Kercher, is suing Knox for more than half a million dollars in damages.[55]
Knox testified for the first time on 12 June 2009, pleading her innocence. She told the court that she had been with Sollecito in his apartment on the night of the murder. She also made claims, that have not been substantiated, that the police had intimidated and beaten her, causing her to give false testimony and to falsely accuse Patrick Lumumba.[56][57]
The lead prosecutor in the case, Giuliano Mignini, has previously been the subject of abuse-of-office charges, though those charges did not result in conviction. These charges stemmed from "unauthorized wiretapping of journalists and others" conducted by Mignini and his law enforcement colleagues during the investigation of the Monster of Florence serial killings in the 1970s and 1980s.[58]
Nearing the close of the proceedings, a local paper in the Italian region of Umbria (Corriere dell'Umbria) reported that a consultant to the defense, using an instrument called a "crimescope", discovered forensic evidence that had not previously been known. This evidence consisted of stains on a pillow found underneath the body of Kercher, and is considered to be potentially volatile evidence that could be highly damaging to either side in the case. However, as of October 19, 2009, this discovery has yet to be deemed credible enough to interrupt the court's proceedings, as the period for introducing evidence has passed.[59]
Italy sure has some strange ways with regard to trials......:roll:
