Advice to Amanda Knox. Don't say a fucking word until you get out of the country.

[Horse with no Name]

Seriously.

[devilgrrl]

1. However, feel free to prattle on unmolested once back in the US

Double jeopardy can't lay a hand on you.

[Kber]

5. Italy and the US have an extradition treaty

and, unlike in the US, the prosecution can appeal.

If she is retried, and found guilty by the Italian Supreme court, by treaty the US Government may have to arrest and return her.

It's not necessarily over.

[B2G]

8. Do you really think the US gov would do that?

Personally, I don't. Public sentiment would not back double jepordy. No way.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. In a heartbeat

[pnwmom]

18. Except that we don't extradite without probable cause.

Which they won't have since their court just ruled she was not guilty.

[B2G]

20. That's what I would think

No way that would ever happen. Ever.

[msanthrope]

35. I guess you were right, pnwmom, and I was wrong.

You have been a fierce advocate for her.

[pnwmom]

64. msanthrope, let me say

that I really appreciate anyone who is willing to let factual evidence change their minds about a situation. So thank you for your words.

And that I think that ability to reason -- with evidence -- is what separates us from the tea baggers.

:hi:

[Marnie]

40. We don't execute with out a trial and a conviction either.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

44. If an appeal to their supreme court by the prosecutor is successful

She would no longer be not guilty. Italian law is very different than ours in that regards

Its not that I think she is guilty, just pointing out that the US has to support extradition etc if we want to have other nations support our requests.

[pnwmom]

65. Why would it be? I think Judge Hellman bent over backwards to be fair.

He doesn't want this overturned anymore than the defendants do -- it wouldn't reflect well on him.

I think I also heard somewhere that he is actually a member of that panel.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

72. Who the hell knows, its the Italian legal system

Many here were aghast that she was convicted the first time.

My point was that it is a legitimate possibility under Italian law and if it occurred the US would turn her over in a heartbeat.

[SoCalNative]

12. Then she needs to go to a country

that has no extradition treaty with either the US or Italy.

[Drahthaardogs]

41. She will be well on her way to Argentina if they do,

her family has money and the people of Buenos Aires are Italians who think they are French anyway. She would feel at home.

[maxsolomon]

49. what money are you talking about?

they're now deeply in debt, and they were never rich - she went to private high school on a scholarship.

[pnwmom]

67. Correct. And Amanda's house was very nondescript, in a very

middle class neighborhood of Seattle.

[pnwmom]

66. If you knew where they lived in Seattle, you'd never say they have money.

Her mother is a school teacher and her father is in business, but they were hardly wealthy, even before they had to spend and borrow over a million to pay for the defense and travel costs. Even the grandmother kicked in by borrowing $250K.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. Are you so sure about the double jeopardy part

It is Italian, not US law in play here

[Puglover]

22. She step on your toe once upon a time or what?

You are spreading your swill and spamming every thread about her here. WTF is your problem? Issues much?

[Raster]

29. you seem to have such a strong opinion. You've commented in several other threads....

...an Italian jury just reversed her conviction and freed her.

Do you have any other information that may have bearing on this case?

Do you have any experience or information about the Italian justice system that may have bearing on this case?

[SoCalDem]

2. amen.. get out of Italy, start using a middle name

and live a low-profile life..

She is a very fortunate person, indeed.
NO MEDIA....NO tell-all book..

just live a normal life and be grateful

[bigwillq]

3. Do you really believe

she won't do a tell-all and/or other media appearances?

It's all about the $$$$$

I don't think she'll be able to pass it up.

[Horse with no Name]

4. Not that I am looking forward to seeing it BUT

I do know that her family's finances must be in shambles after this. It may be a necessity to do it.

[bigwillq]

7. If the poster above had said that

"I do know that her family's finances must be in shambles after this. It may be a necessity to do it."

I would agree.

But that's not what the poster said, which is why I responded the way I did.

[Missy Vixen]

15. Her family is millions in debt due to her defense and expenses involved

They may not be able to turn their backs on any money-making opportunity.

[pnwmom]

21. Even her grandmother took on more than $250,000 in debt.

Her family was out more than a million dollars, and that was a year ago.

[CTyankee]

36. I think this is already done...that private jet to take her off Italian soil gives me a hint.

Yep, book and movie deal.

Not that I think she's guilty. I don't. I think her trial was a miscarriage of justice. I'm glad she's free. But the reality is, she needs the money.

Sad...I hope she can just go on with her life somehow...

[foreigncorrespondent]

45. And you would be right...

...found this in this morning Australian Age: http://www.theage.com.au/world/free-at-last-bidding-war-starts-for-amanda-knox-story-20111004-1l5ym.html It mentions in the story about the private jet.

[CTyankee]

46. it was an obvious guess..she has to make up the money for the trial in some way.

[foreigncorrespondent]

48. Yes she does.

Still it is a good thing that she is free and able to help her family get back some of what they have lost financially. Sadly though no amount of money will ever erase this from her memory.

[Missy Vixen]

69. And evidently, they're making stuff up

We live thirty miles east of Seattle. EVERY story we have heard about Amanda Knox' release mentions that she is returning home via commercial jet, and these would be actual reporters speaking to her family/spokespeople, not hearsay.

[SoCalDem]

6. she probably will, but in her place, I would sure want to get a normal life back

good luck to her though, no matter what course she charts.

repeatedly picking a scab means it will take longer to heal.. I hope she "fades away", and gets a normal life somehow.

[pnwmom]

19. More power to her. They've stolen 4 years out of her life and cost her

more than a million in attorneys fees and traveling costs for her family.

Do you think she's happy about what she's been through? Do you think she would have done this for ANY amount of money?

[GSLevel9]

16. being that she's leaving Italy on an ABC private jet...

I think we all know where this is going...

Interview, Book and Movie coming soon.

[pnwmom]

24. Good. She deserves that and more.

She's suffered for four years because of an insane prosecutor who had already been convicted of prosecutorial abuse in a similar case -- and allowed to continue as prosecutor while he appeals his prison sentence.

[tammywammy]

47. Thank you for all your posts on Knox

You have been very informative to me, since I didn't read any of the news accounts, etc at the time. You provided all the background anyone could ever want.

I was very glad to hear they both got off, and Knox is apparently traveling back to the United States tomorrow.

[pnwmom]

63. Thank you for keeping an open mind on the case.

I've been happy to see very little vitriol tonight. I think, after a horrible beginning driven by a nasty tabloid press, most people seem to have come around by now. I hope it will be the same for Raffaele in Italy -- though I'm afraid it will be longer before most Italians change their mind about the case.

[reggie the dog]

28. an innocent young women held for four years for nothing..

i hope she becomes a millionaire off of the movie rights and can retire in 2 years.

[GSLevel9]

73. she will... and I'm cool with that. nt

[Missy Vixen]

34. Where did you get this information?

CNN reported less than an hour ago that there was NO private jet travel and the Knox family didn't even book her returning airline ticket. As a matter of fact, her passport is expired. The reporter mentioned that the US government would likely get involved with any passport issues on her return.

The Seattle Times reported an hour ago via Twitter that she will be returning to Seattle tomorrow morning.

[isuphighyeah]

43. I hope CNN is wrong. I hope she is in the

air as we speak. After what they did to her, Italy should be providing the jet for her.

[maxsolomon]

51. Mignini said this in his closing statement

it was a rumor - he used in in court.

If I was Bill Gates or Paul Allen, I would have sent my jet to pick her up. She could be landing at Boeing Field and sleep in her own bed by midnight PST.

[Missy Vixen]

54. Mignini was evidently wrong

The local TV stations are still Tweeting that they do not have definitive information as to whether she lands tomorrow or Wednesday, but CNN has already reported she is on the first commercial flight tomorrow out of Rome to Seattle.

[JVS]

38. But middle names are for serial killers.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

70. And the middle name is usually Wayne.

Elmer Wayne Henley
John Wayne Gacy

[southernyankeebelle]

11. Remember folks there still is a victim. It is good Ms Knox and her

boyfriend got off. I feel bad for the victim whose family hardly had the money to fly to Italy for this retrail. No matter the outcome the victim doesn't get to go home. Please remember that. Miss Knox will fly home and will get millions of dollars to tell her story.

[trumad]

13. And good for her..

sham trial for sure.

[RaleighNCDUer]

14. There were several victims here, of Guede's crime.

Knox and Solecito included.

[pnwmom]

25. Amanda and Raffaele are alsol victims. They weren't murdered,

but they lost four years of their young lives and will never be the same.

I feel bad for Meredith's family, but Amanda and Raffaele have nothing to apologize for. The Kerchers are suffering because of the actions of Rudy Guede, and only Rudy Guede.

[hlthe2b]

27. No one here has been a more dedicated & steadfast supporter of Knox than you, pnwmom

I'd surely want someone like you in my camp, if ever I was facing something similar.

Congratulations to you. Congratulations to Knox, her family and her former boyfriend.... :toast:

May the victim's family likewise find some peace. I regret how painful this has been for them as well.

[Horse with no Name]

30. To be honest

I had a preconceived notion of her guilt because I saw something on TV that was pretty compelling.

It was pnwmom that made me realize that I really didn't know what the deal was (and I honestly wasn't going to delve into it)...so, I changed my position from being guilty to just admitting that I didn't know enough about the actual case OR Italian law to make an informed decision on the outcome of the case.:hi:
That being said, I am glad she gets to come home.

[hlthe2b]

31. That's the position, I've had as well Horse With No Name...

I still have not taken the time to research the case sufficiently to be certain, but I was surely convinced that she probably was innocent and deserved to be freed on reversal.


See, sometimes we DUers can convince each other! LOL

[CTyankee]

32. please, what does HWNN mean? thanks.

[hlthe2b]

33. I spelled it out on edit.... (the other poster's abbreviated screen name)

;)

[CTyankee]

37. Oh, thanks. I 'm glad it's an abbreviated DUers name, not some Internet thingie.

thanks...

[Horse with no Name]

39. I don't think it happens often

:rofl:

[pnwmom]

57. That is because rational people are open to changing their minds

upon presentation of valid evidence.

And that's what makes us different from the tea baggers, among other people.

[pnwmom]

55. That touches me. Thanks.

When I first looked into this, it was because she was a local girl -- I know someone who went to school with her -- and her first trial was coming up and I wanted to find enough information on-line so I wouldn't have to feel bad about the outcome. With all those criticisms of her being weird or quirky, she just seemed like a typical Seattle girl. Quirky is good, in Seattle. :)

If her guilt or innocence seemed like a toss-up, I would just trust the Italians. But the more I read, the more appalled I was. For example, how could the judge not allow the defense to even look at the raw DNA files from which the police lab drew its conclusions? How could they interrogate her without a lawyer or translator, and how could they include the statement in the trial even after the Supreme Court ruled it inadmissible?

I have a son about her age and if he had been in this predicament, I'd want people shouting his innocence from the rooftops. Fortunately, Amanda had a lot of real friends who felt the same way -- especially friends and teachers from her high school -- and they are all celebrating now.

[pnwmom]

56. Thank you, hlthe2b. And let's hope none of our loved ones

are ever in a situation anything like this one.

But I'd be happy to be in your camp in the unlikely eventuality!

:hi:

[jberryhill]

26. The actual murderer was convicted a while ago, and remains in jail

Why people think it is somehow regrettable that two people with no connection to the actual murderer won't also be in jail, is a profound mystery.

[pnwmom]

58. Hard to figure, isn't it? This feeling that someone had to pay,

even if they were the wrong people.

[jberryhill]

60. Scary, really

[tblue37]

52. That fact is not relevant to whether or not Amanda Knox needs to somehow recoup the money spent

by her family.

There is another man in prison (a drug addict drifter) whose DNA apparently was all over the murder scene, whose semen apaprently was found in the vitim's body, and who confessed and was convicted of the murder.

Of course it is tragic that a young woman was murdered, but that doesn't mean another young woman's life should be ruined just so the family can get some feeling of vengeance.

That's like thinking it's a good idea to smash some Muslim country--any Muslim country, no matter how unrelated it was to the events--to get vengeance for 9/11.

[pnwmom]

59. Yes, Rudy Guede. Isn't it funny how many people are still acting as if

now the murder is unsolved? When the correct person has already been convicted and is in prison?

[tblue37]

62. And it's also weird that people who don't know the actual murderer has been

imprisoned seem to think justice would somehow be better served if two innocent people are locked up rather than if no one is locked up. Somehow, letting two innocent people "go free" means that Meredith's family are being deprived of justice.

I am appalled at what so many people think about the way the justice system should work. Imagine--some of these people could easily end up serving on juries someday, and some probably already have!

[pnwmom]

68. It has been scary to see the psychology of all this.

I am so impressed with both Amanda and Raffaele never to break under all of this. Especially Raffaele -- I bet anything Mignini would have given him a fabulous deal if he had handed Amanda over on a silver platter. (Rudy got his sentence greatly reduced for changing his story to falsely testify against them.) But Raffaele showed his strength of character. He's a good man and I wish all the best for him.

[pnwmom]

61. Do you think any amount of money could make up to Amanda and Raffaele for what they've been through?

Four years of their young lives in prison on a murder conviction? Both of their lost of trust in the justice system?

The money is nothing -- except it will help her parents and grandmother get out of debt.

[in_cog_ni_to]

17. DITTO! And get out FAST! n/t

[Warpy]

23. I think after 4 years at the mercy of Italian justice

she knows that.

I also sincerely doubt she'll ever go back to visit.

[isuphighyeah]

42. You can bet she won't. n/t

[Pisces]

50. She is probably terrified out of her mind and can't wait to get out of Italy.

[tblue37]

53. My guess is she will never travel outside of the US again. nt

[BlueCheese]

71. This article from the Guardian seems like a nice summary.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/04/amanda-knox-meredithkercher?intcmp=239

If it's accurate, the original prosecutor in the case might be the long-lost brother of the DA in the Duke lacrosse case.