Monday, February 21, 2011

The strange case of Amanda Knox just gets stranger and stranger

Amanda Knox is either a poor American waif, used and abused by Italian authorities, or a university study-abroad director's worst nightmare. Convicted of murdering her roommate, her international celebrity will be vastly enhanced by the movie that is airing as I write this.

Meanwhile, AP reported last week:

Knox's parents indicted in Italy
PERUGIA, Italy (AP) - A lawyer says the parents of Amanda Knox, an American student convicted of murder in Italy, have been ordered to stand trial for alleging that Italian police abused their daughter.

Italian news agency ANSA said Curt Knox and Edda Mellas were indicted Tuesday in Perugia for libel. Lawyer Luciano Ghirga confirmed the indictment and said trial was set for July 4. He said the couple did not attend the hearing.

The charge stems from an interview they gave Britain's Sunday Times years ago in which the father alleged police had physically and verbally abused his daughter during questioning after Meredith Kercher's 2007 slaying, before Knox was arrested.

Police have denied harming Knox.

A family representative said there was no comment.


While in the US, libel is only a civil liability matter, in much of Europe it also has potential criminal consequences.

And, meanwhile (yet again), the Italian court has ruled that the DNA evidence, called into question by her defense attorneys, should be re-examined. This December 2010 ruling led to her lawyers seeking to keep the film from airing. Reportedly, only the most prejudicial scene, depicting her participating in the murder, has been excised from the movie being aired tonight.

And, last but not least, her defenders are joined by the author of a new book, which joins several other volumes which, like the film, have been rushed onto the market:





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