With all the flaws of our justice system,

[pnwmom]

I'm glad we chose to establish an adversary system similar to Britain's, as opposed to the inquisitorial system used in Italy. I'd rather have an attorney fighting for me than pretend that the prosecutor was going to be an impartial finder of truth.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/casey-gre ... 93820.html

In Italy, investigators propound a single, supposedly objective story in order to establish the absolute truth of a crime. Their purpose, at least in theory, is to determine truth, not to prosecute a defendant. Defense lawyers' ostensible role is not to present an opposing story, but to support the defendant in the investigation. The judge is not neutral, but is a member of and guiding presence on the jury, which renders its verdict by simple majority. This "inquisitorial" process stands in contrast to the American adversarial system, in which two sides -- prosecution and defense, in a criminal trial -- present competing stories. An impartial jury must reach a unanimous verdict, and a presiding judge approves it.

The single-narrative structure of the Italian system lends itself to the kind of runaway train that was Amanda Knox's legal journey. First she was a Satanic ritual orgy killer; then she was jealous; at one point she was said to have slaughtered Kercher in a marijuana-induced rage. The case stuck because it was interesting to the investigators, and it survived the 2008 conviction of a third defendant, Rudy Guede, because the investigators shifted their version of Knox's (and Sollecito's) role as the evidence changed. They weren't necessarily looking to railroad her, but they couldn't look away from the case that involved a beautiful girl, foreign college kids, and DNA on a bra clasp. Knox's own lawyers notoriously characterized her as "Jessica Rabbit" at one point, to distinguish the sexy and warm defendant from the diabolical murderer the investigators saw.

American litigators are constantly accused of being too aggressive, of picking fights, of acting like pit bulls. Our two-sided system of zealous advocacy has serious flaws. But supposed impartiality has more insidious effects than does frank opposition. Amanda Knox's own zealous participation -- in fun, in adventure, in guileless cooperation with investigators -- ensnared her in legal and personal horror. "I insist on the truth," Knox said yesterday. "It deserves to be defended and acknowledged." She respectfully challenged authority to correct itself and to do its job. An admittedly privileged, American woman expected no less.

[JustAnotherGen]

1. It's true for

Some people in America. For us brown ones? Not so much! :rofl: And don't be a black woman caught with a tiny rock of crack circa 1995 - you got life. The white guy with a pound of coke go to go to a country club for 6 months! :rofl:

I'm starting to laugh at things now in regards to this case. Because . . . both of our systems are flawed.

Hey! At least they don't kill innocent people there.

But on the other hand - we have a right to a trial of our peers.

Good or evil? Evil or Good? Better or Best? I'd still rather be here, as a black woman, having premarital sex . . . or in Italy - than in Saudi Arabia.

[pnwmom]

2. The have the same problem in Italy of lack of access to good attorney

for poor people that we do here. Added to that, they have a system that stretches on for years, and their very high rate of success on appeal (approaching 50%) means that they have a very high rate of false convictions in the first trial.

Yes, Italy is clearly a major step up from Saudi Arabia. But in Perugia, at least, many people do not seem comfortable at all with women's sexuality.