A closer look at the prosecutor in the Amanda Knox case.

[Are_grits_groceries]

Douglas Preston wrote a true crime book while in Italy entitled The Monster of Florence. Preston himself was almost arrested as the killer.

The prosecutor in this case is the same one in the Amanda Knox case. Here is an article that summarizes the first case. When I read that Giuliano Mignini was the prosecutor, I said gawd help her. I was right. He himself was convicted of abuse because of his actions in the Florence case which has never been solved.

This is an article about Mignini and both cases.:

Could Prosecutor's Conviction Help Knox?
The upcoming appeal by Amanda Knox, the U.S. college student convicted last month of the murder of her British roommate in Perugia, Italy, may have improved chances now that the man who prosecuted her has been convicted himself for abusing his office in an unrelated case.

Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini faces a 16-month suspended jail sentence after a Florence court convicted him of abusing his position in a 1985 investigation into the death of a doctor believed to be part of a satanic group. An Italian police investigator was also convicted in the case.
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Mignini's role in the Monster of Florence case was the subject of controversy for years, particularly his contention that Satanism was behind the Florence murders -- a factor that is not connected to his conviction last week. Knox's backers have pointed out that Mignini accused her of murdering Kercher as part of a "ritualistic" slaying that occurred around Halloween. He later denied he meant anything satanic by the phrase.

Knox and her former Italian boyfriend were convicted last month of Kercher's murder in the Umbrian university town of Perugia, where all three were studying. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in jail, while her co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito, received a 25-year sentence. Both have insisted they are innocent. A third man, Rudy Guede, was convicted separately in the case and sentenced to 30 years, though that was reduced to 16 years on appeal.
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http://www.aolnews.com/2010/01/25/could-prosecutors-conviction-help-amanda-knox/

I know the Italian justice system is different from ours. I am focusing on this one prosecutor and his actions.

Read the book to get a real flavor what it is like to get caught in his version of the justice system.

[JustAnotherGen]

1. I must have responded to a post about this sometime

By you! ;-) Yeah - it's very different. Without reading the book - my fiance is an Italian citizen living in the U.S. He's followed this case closely. He's said the same thing about the prosecutor. Because in his home country you are guilty until proven innocent - the assumption (unfortunately) is that the three situations (re this particular prosecutor) are mutually exclusive. So it may not impact her at all (unfortunately).

However, he'll also tell you everything is a shake down and a scam in Italy and the real case is that this guy is 'thought' to be Camorra. Cosa Nostra is what we are most familiar with in the U.S. Ndrengheta (sp?) and Camorra are lesser known here - but if he is Camorra - the best thing that could help her is the Ndrengheta pointing out over and over again he's engaged in a 'war' against them using his position in the justice system for his organization. That could get everything this man has touched turned upside down.

You only find this in the Italian papers that get exported over here. Go to an Italian bakery or Import shop and you'll find the print editions there pretty inexpensivley.