Murder of Meredith Kercher

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Contents 1 Meredith Kercher 2 Murder and investigation 2.1 Timeline and police investigation 2.2 Forensic investigation 2.3 The upstairs flat 3 Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini 4 Defendants 4.1 Rudy Guédé 4.2 Amanda Knox 4.3 Raffaele Sollecito 5 Media coverage 6 Trials and convictions 6.1 Rudy Guédé trial 6.2 Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito trial 6.2.1 Personnel involved 6.2.2 Courtroom events 6.3 Civil actions 7 Reactions to the trials and convictions 8 Various controversies 8.1 Claims of police mistreatment 8.2 Prosecutor under indictment 8.3 Mobile phone evidence 8.4 Italian media sentiment 9 References 10 External links

The murder of Meredith Kercher took place in Perugia, Italy, on 1 November 2007. At midday on 2 November, police discovered the body of the 21-year-old British student, who was part of a university exchange programme, in the upstairs flat that she shared with three other female students. Kercher was found lying partially clothed under a duvet in her locked bedroom, with her windpipe crushed and her throat partially slashed; her body had 43 bruises, scratches and knife wounds, and there was evidence of sexual assault.

On 6 November 2007, police arrested three suspects: Amanda Knox, an American student; Raffaele Sollecito, an Italian student who had been Knox's boyfriend for two weeks; and Patrick Diya Lumumba, the Congolese supervisor of Amanda Knox at his restaurant/bar.^[1] The prosecution theory was that the three suspects had killed Kercher in an extreme sex game or attempted sex orgy that turned violent.

Subsequently, an arrest warrant was issued against a fourth suspect, Rudy Hermann Guédé, an Ivorian long-term resident of Perugia, based on DNA and fingerprint evidence found near the victim's body. Lumumba was released and exonerated. On 20 November 2007 Guédé was arrested in Germany, and on 6 December extradited to Italy.^[2][3] The three remaining suspects were held in custody in Perugia and were charged with murder, sexual assault and theft.^[4]

Guédé elected for a fast-track trial.^[5] Guédé admitted in November 2007 to being with Kercher when she died. He claimed that he had a date with Kercher and was present in her home as an invited guest. Guédé asserted that an unknown intruder subsequently entered the home and stabbed her.^[6] Guédé was convicted on 28 October 2008 of the sexual assault and murder of Kercher and sentenced to 30 years in prison,^[7] but this was reduced to 16 years on appeal.

The trial of Knox and Sollecito began on 16 January 2009. Knox and Sollecito claimed that they were not at the Kercher home when Kercher was killed and had no motive to kill her. They further claimed that the murder had been commited by Guédé, a man with whom they had no relationship, acting alone. On 4 December 2009, both were found guilty of murder, sexual violence and other charges on a theory that they had acted together with Guédé. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison, while Sollecito received 25 years.^[8] Prosecutors had sought life terms for Knox and Sollecito.

The case received extensive media reporting in Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. Media interest was intense in the United States with widespread support for the defence of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, and concern over the adequacy of the prosecution's forensic evidence.

[edit] Meredith Kercher

Meredith Kercher
Born	28 December 1985 Southwark, London, England
Died	1 November 2007 (aged 21) Perugia, Italy
Nationality	British
Other names	Nickname - "Mez"
Occupation	University exchange student
Known for	Murder victim
Parents	John and Arline Kercher

Meredith Susanna Cara Kercher, known to her friends as "Mez", was born on 28 December^[9] 1985^[10] in Southwark, London, England, and lived in Coulsdon, South London. She was the youngest of four; her two older brothers are John and Lyle, and her older sister is Stephanie.^[11] Before beginning university, Kercher studied at the Old Palace School in Croydon.^[12] She attended the University of Leeds and, as part of the ERASMUS student exchange programme, had gone to Perugia, Italy, to complete her degree course in European Studies^[12] at the University of Perugia.^[13][14][15] She appeared in a music video for singer Kristian Leontiou's song "Some Say" shortly before her death.^[16] In Perugia, she lived in a suite on the upper floor of a house at Via della Pergola 7, sharing it with two Italian women. Amanda Knox moved in when she too came to study at the university.^[17]

Kercher's funeral service was held on 14 December 2007 at the Parish Church in Croydon, Greater London, with more than 300 people in attendance.^[18][19] She has since been awarded a posthumous degree by the University of Leeds.

John Kercher, the victim's father, is a freelance journalist^[20] and her mother Arline Kercher is a homemaker, born in India.^[21] In June 2009, her father wrote a piece for the Daily Mirror in which he described his last interactions with his daughter and how the Kercher family learned of their daughter's murder.^[22]

[edit] Murder and investigation

[edit] Timeline and police investigation

This article's factual accuracy is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. (December 2009)

Kercher was murdered on the evening of 1 November 2007.^[23][24] Led by Dr Luca Lalli, pathologists put her time of death at "around 23:00".^[14][23][25] The autopsy results concluded that it took her several minutes to die, as she inhaled her own blood.^[17] Her hyoid bone was broken, her superior thyroid artery severed by a stab wound, her lungs had bled through asphyxiation and she had suffered bruising to her vagina and perineum.^[23]

Initially, the police believed that Kercher had met her killer the previous night during Halloween festivities.^[26] It had been reported that Kercher met a man at a Halloween party and made a date with that man scheduled at her home for the night of the murder.^[27] Police claimed that the murderer's fingerprints were all over Kercher's bedroom and that he had staged a break-in to divert suspicions away from his scheduled date with Kercher.^[26]

On 1 November, Kercher had spent the early evening at the home of Robyn Butterworth with some friends,^[28] watching the film The Notebook and eating a home-made pizza. Just before 21:00, she left with her friend Sophie Purton to walk home; the two parted company on reaching Purton's flat, and Kercher walked on alone the 500 yards (460 m) towards the house.^[17][29]

During the night of the murder, elderly neighbour Nara Capezzali heard a scream that she later said "was so chilling, I felt as if I was in a house of horrors".^[17]

On the morning of 2 November, the Italian Post and Communications Police came to investigate the discovery of two mobile phones in a nearby garden, one of which was registered to Kercher.^[15] Arriving at the house in Via della Pergola 7, where Kercher lived, at 12:35,^[28] they found Knox and Sollecito sitting outside. Knox and Sollecito told them that the premises had been burgled, that a window had been broken and that there were drops of blood in several rooms.^[23] The police investigated the upstairs flat, which they reported to have been cleaned thoroughly with bleach,^[28] except for blood drops or smears in several rooms,^[23] a bloody footprint in the smaller bathroom, an unflushed toilet in the large bathroom, broken glass in the third bedroom, and blood near the locked bedroom of Kercher.^[23] The window of Filomena Romanelli's bedroom had been smashed, with broken glass and a large stone on the floor,^[23] and the room appeared ransacked.^[30] The washing machine was found to be on final cycle with Kercher's clothes inside,^[28] but not the clothes she wore when attacked.^[23] The police confirmed finding blood drops, as reported by Knox and Sollecito,^[23] in several rooms: on the floor of the central living room/kitchen; outside the locked door to Kercher's bedroom; and in the adjacent bathroom (on the floor, sink, toilet cover, door and light switch).^[23] As other residents returned, they informed the police that nothing had been taken.^[17]

At the insistence of one resident, the door to Kercher's room was forced open by Romanelli's boyfriend,^[23] where the police found Kercher lying beneath a duvet "soaked in blood," with blood smears, finger streaks, and blood pools around the room.^[23][31][32] Others were told not to enter, as the area was secured for investigation.^[23] Police said at the time that Kercher was found wearing only a cotton shirt (Italian: una maglia di cotone) rolled halfway up, and they concluded her throat had been slit with a shard of glass or a pen-knife.^[33] They subsequently concluded that she was wearing 2 cotton-mesh shirts rolled up,^[23] and that the apparent break-in at the flat had been staged.^[34]

Knox and Sollecito were interrogated several times by the police in the week after the murder, with some interrogations lasting all night.

Patrick Diya Lumumba was the owner of a bar/restaurant named Le Chic,^[23] at which Knox occasionally worked.^[1] He was arrested on 6 November 2007 after Knox implicated him in Kercher's murder. He was detained for 2 weeks until the arrest of Guédé. Sixteen months later, a court awarded Lumumba €8,000 (approximately equivalent to US$12,000 or £7,200 as of December 2009^[35]) in damages for unjust imprisonment.^[36] Knox has also been ordered to pay Lumumba €40,000 (approximately $60,000 or £36,000) compensation.^[37]

[edit] Forensic investigation

The investigating judge assigned to the case read the pathology report at a preliminary hearing for the suspects and ruled that Kercher's carotid artery had not been ruptured in the attack, and that she likely died a "relatively slow and agonising death."^[38]

In Kercher's bedroom, the body had been found on the floor, lying on her back, with her head towards the front wall and left foot towards the back wall (along the doorway).^[23] Blood was found on numerous items in the room, including:

some white tennis shoes, blue jeans and a white severed bra on the floor, a zippered blue shirt, and two towels partially or totally soaked in blood.^[23] On the bed there was a book with blood at the corner plus two blood patches on the mattress sheet, between a white terrycloth towel with blood smears and a beige woman's handbag of imitation leather (Italian: una borsa da donna in similpelle). Around the floor were patches of blood (some with the imprints of "hair formations") and 3 floormarks with blood "signs of concentric circles" (Italian: segni circolari concentrici) considered to be a foot trail of three bloody shoeprints.^[23] Underneath the body was a white pillow, containing a blood handprint.^[23] Dried blood pools were found around the wardrobe case in the outside corner of the room, with leather boots standing in the blood.^[23]

The fingerprints and DNA of Rudy Guédé were found in many locations in the bedroom. ^[23] His DNA was found on and inside Kercher's body, on her shirt, on the zipper of her handbag (purse) and mixed with Kercher's blood splatter. ^[23] His partial palm print in Kercher's blood was found on one of her bed linens. ^[23] Guédé was an acquaintance of the residents of the ground floor of the cottage, a group of young male students.^[26]

When Sollecito's home was searched, the police confiscated one knife from among many knives in the kitchen drawer. That knife was subsequently determined to contain one small trace of Kercher's DNA on the blade and traces of Knox's DNA on the handle.^[17] In the trial of Knox and Sollecito, their defence asserted that the knife confiscated was not the lethal weapon because it did not match two out of three of Kercher's wounds.^[39] Testing failed to find any blood on the weapon.^[40] The police theorized that the knife may have been cleaned with bleach. An outline of the knife used in the murder was imprinted in Kercher's blood on one of her bed linens. That outline did not match the knife confiscated from Sollecito's kitchen drawer. .^[39][41]

Other forensic evidence included an analysis of the clasp of Kercher’s bra, which revealed traces of DNA belonging to Sollecito and three other unidentified people.^[39][41] The defence argued that the DNA on the clasp, which had been severed from the bra, could have been contaminated when it was left on the floor for 6 weeks after the murder or in the forensic laboratory in Rome. They noted that Sollecito's DNA would have been present in the house as the result of his many visits there as a guest of Knox. ^[39] The judge at the trial of Rudy Guédé (a different judge from the one in the subsequent Knox-Sollecito trial) described the claim of contamination at the laboratory as making "no sense", since there was no material from which such contamination could have come and so "the risk would have been the loss of traces found there, not the risk of somehow discovering new traces".^[23] Chemical analysis revealed bloody footprints in the house, which prosecutors said matched the shoes of Knox^[42] and Sollecito.^[43] Both admitted to having been in the house the day after the murder, and claimed that this was when they stepped in the blood.^[39]

Italian prosecutors allege that the lethal wound was inflicted by Knox while Kercher was held down by Guédé and Sollecito. Knox's defence claimed that there was no evidence placing Knox in the bedroom where the murder occurred and that she had no motive to murder a girl whom Knox regarded as her friend.^[39][44]

Speculating on how the murder might have occurred, the prosecution pointed to violent literature, such as comic books, that they found in Sollecito’s apartment.^[45][46] Prosecutors allege that manga comics found there recounted tales of killing female vampires on Halloween night and that many of the details in the comics were similar to the scene police discovered. Kercher herself had attended a number of Halloween parties dressed as a vampire on the night of 31 October (the evening before). Defence lawyers for Knox dismissed these allegations of the prosecution, claiming that they were a "huge fantasy" and that the murder had been committed by Guédé alone.^[47]

[edit] The upstairs flat

The house at Via della Pergola 7 was investigated, along with the residence of Sollecito, and also Guédé's former flat. The house was on an open hillside below a motorway of the town whose buildings towered higher on the hill. Meredith Kercher shared the upstairs flat with Amanda Knox and two female Italian students (F. Romanelli and L. Mezzetti). The entrance of the flat was along a sidewalk rising from a hillside staircase, at the opposite end of the walkway. Through the front door, a foyer entered into the central kitchen/living room area.^[23] There were two shared bathrooms with sink, toilet and bidet: a larger bathroom with a tub, and a smaller bathroom (no window) with a corner-shower, adjacent to Kercher's room (see diagram at right).^[23] There was a laundry room, with a washing machine, next to the larger bathroom (see diagram). The outdoor balcony extended along the main hallway, which opened via windowed-doors to the outside. Kercher had arrived in Italy during August 2007; Knox arrived in mid-September.

The downstairs flat of the house, containing another bathroom,^[23] covered a similar area, but with an enclosed room instead of the balcony above. It was occupied by four young Italian men who said they had known Rudy Guédé, and that he had visited them several times.^[23]

[edit] Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini

Guiliano Mignini is the Pubblico Ministero (public prosecutor) of Perugia.^[48] He led the interrogation of Amanda Knox in which she implicated Patrick Lumumba.^[49]

[edit] Defendants

The three convicted killers in the case are currently being held in separate Italian jails. Amanda Knox is being held in Capanne prison near Perugia; Raffaele Sollecito is being held in Terni; and Rudy Guédé is being held in Viterbo.^[50]

[edit] Rudy Guédé

Rudy Hermann Guédé
Born	26 December 1986 (1986-12-26) (age 23)[51] Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Conviction(s)	Murder and sexual assault
Penalty	30 years imprisonment, reduced to 16 years on appeal
Status	Incarcerated

Rudy Hermann Guédé, then aged 20, originally from Côte d'Ivoire, was arrested on 20 November 2007 for suspected involvement in the Kercher killing. He was subsequently convicted of conspiracy to murder and sentenced to 30 years, on 28 October 2008. On appeal, the conviction was confirmed but the sentence was reduced to 16 years.^[52]

Guédé came to Perugia at the age of five with his father,^[53] Pacome Roger Guédé.^[54] His father left Italy when Guédé was 16, and he was informally adopted by the family of a wealthy local businessman, Paolo Caporali.^[53] Caporali stated that he had been disappointed by Guédé's behaviour, describing him as a "tremendous liar", skipping school and being reluctant to do any work.^[53] Guédé played basketball for the local team, which Caporali sponsored.^[53]

DNA tests indicate that Guédé had manually or genitally penetrated Kercher before her murder,^[23] and that faeces found in the toilet were his. His DNA was found mixed with Kercher's blood at the crime scene.^[55]

Guédé's account was that he met Kercher the night before the murder at a Halloween party which Kercher had attended with her girlfiends.^[23] He claimed that Kercher spent the latter part of Halloween with him in Perugia, rather than continuing on with her girlfriends.^[23] He claimed that he and Kercher had scheduled a date for the next evening at her home.^[23]

According to Guédé, on the night of the murder he went to Kercher's home.^[23] He claimed 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.^[23] In the larger bathroom, he claimed to be listening to music on his iPod,^[56] and might have heard the doorbell ring.^[23] He said that he did hear Kercher scream,^[56] and emerged to see the murderer, a man whom he did not know, holding a knife, while Kercher was on the floor.^[23] Guédé claimed the man moved, cut his hand but then fled, saying (possibly to others outside) in perfect Italian, "...is black, found negro, found guilty; let's go"^[23] (from Italian document by Micheli: "in perfetto italiano: è nero, trovato negro, trovato colpevole, andiamo".).^[23] At that point, Guédé claims to have used bath towels to wipe blood, and then held the dying Kercher as she uttered a final "A-F" which he wrote on the wall^[56] in her blood.^[23] Without calling police, he fled without locking the doors, went home to wash, then to the nightclubs "Domus" and "Shamock".^[23] Days later, after hearing news reports, he made his way to Germany.^[57] The investigators stated that Guédé's version of events was "a highly improbable fantasy."^[56]

Interpol traced a computer IP address he used in Germany to access Facebook, where he responded to a journalist from the Daily Telegraph.^[58] In his message, he said that he was aware he was a suspect, and wanted to clear his name.^[59] On 20 November 2007, the German transport police arrested Guédé on a train near Mainz, Germany, where he was caught riding without a ticket.^[53]

[edit] Amanda Knox

Amanda Marie Knox
Born	9 July 1987 (1987-07-09) (age 22) Seattle, Washington, US
Conviction(s)	Murder and sexual assault
Penalty	26 years imprisonment
Status	Incarcerated

Amanda Marie Knox was, at the time of Kercher's murder, a 20-year-old University of Washington language student from Seattle, Washington.^[60] She was studying in Perugia at the University for Foreigners. Her parents, Kurt Knox and Edda Mellas, divorced when she was two.^[61] Knox's parents visited her frequently during her pre-trial detention and steadfastly maintain her innocence.^[62]

Knox was arrested on the morning of 6 November 2007, following police questioning on 5-6 November, during which police had made a decision to class her as a suspect in the case.

Knox attracted attention for her demeanour during police questioning and the trial; for instance, she was witnessed cartwheeling and laughing during police questioning.^[63] It was also reported that Knox had earlier written a story, and posted it online, about the drugging and rape of a young woman.^[64]

The Italian press described Knox's media appeal by saying that she had "the face of an angel - but the eyes of a killer".^{[citation needed]} The BBC reported, "The only explanation, according to prosecutors and feverish media coverage, was that Knox was that most-loved of villains - the middle-class monster whose white-bread exterior hides a diabolical soul."^[65]

The prosecution against Knox and Sollecito contended that they were involved with Guédé in the sexual assault and murder of Kercher, in an attempted sex orgy in which Kercher would not cooperate, and that they had returned to the crime scene to move the body and stage a break-in.^[66] Knox contended that she was not present during the murder, had no association with Guédé, and had no motive to murder Kercher, whom she regarded as her friend.^[67]

Mixed samples of Knox's DNA and Kercher's blood were found in the apartment, including in the bathroom sink and in Filomena Romanelli's room.^[68] The defence argued that Knox's DNA should be expected to be present there in the ordinary course of her use of the apartment and bathroom.^[67]

Knox's DNA was found on the handle of the alleged murder weapon, a knife found in Sollecito's kitchen drawer, with a tiny amount of Kercher's DNA found on the blade. Questions were raised as to whether the Kercher DNA sample was too small to be reliable.^[41][69][70] During the trial of Rudy Guédé, the judge had rejected claims that the DNA sample was too small to be reliable, but his ruling on this issue in the Knox trial has not yet been published.^[23]

The defence also questioned whether the knife was actually the murder weapon, because it was a 6.5 inch knife, which did not match two out of three of the wounds on Kercher's body that were made by a 3 to 3.5 inch knife.^[71][72]

Apart from the alleged murder weapon, there was no forensic evidence, such as DNA, hair, fibre, blood, skin or fingerprints, directly indicating that Knox had been in the bedroom where Meredith Kercher was sexually assaulted and murdered.^[39][73][74] Knox's defence and supporters claimed that it would have been impossible for her to have engaged in an attempted sex orgy and violent murder without leaving some DNA or other trace of herself in the bedroom.^[67]

On 4 December 2009, Knox was convicted by the Corte d'Assise of Perugia of all counts except theft against Kercher and was sentenced to 26 years in prison.^[71][72][75]

[edit] Raffaele Sollecito

Raffaele Sollecito
Born	26 March 1984 (1984-03-26) (age 25) Giovinazzo, Italy
Conviction(s)	Murder and sexual assault
Penalty	25 years imprisonment
Status	Incarcerated

Raffaele Sollecito, from Giovinazzo, Bari, was 23 years old and nearing the completion of a degree in engineering at the University of Perugia at the time of the murder. He had known Knox for two weeks when Kercher was murdered,^[76] at which time Knox and Sollecito were lovers.^[77] He is from an affluent family, the son of a urologist from Bari.^[76]

Sollecito claimed that he was in his flat and spent the evening using his computer on the night of the murder.^[78] Detectives have said that his alibi is not substantiated by records of his internet service provider, though a private detective working for Sollecito disputed this.^[79] The defence has argued that the hard drives of three computers belonging to Sollecito and Knox, destroyed by the prosecution's computer expert when he performed examinations of them, had contained exculpatory evidence.^[41] Like Knox, Sollecito admits to having smoked marijuana on the day of the murder.^[79]

The prosecution claimed that his footprint was found in blood in Kercher's room, and that his DNA was on a severed bra clasp.^[78][80] However, the defence claimed that the footprint belonged to Guédé, not Sollecito,^[39] and that the DNA evidence on the bra clasp had been contaminated.^[39]

On 4 December 2009, Raffaele Sollecito was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to 25 years in prison.^[81]

[edit] Media coverage

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (December 2009)

The case has received extensive media coverage in Italy, Britain and the United States, with Amanda Knox receiving significantly more attention than Sollecito or Guédé.^[82] Knox has been portrayed both as a femme fatale who took part in killing her friend in a sex game^[82] and as an innocent girl caught up in the court proceedings of a foreign country.^[20][83]

Immediately following the crime, Knox's MySpace website was subject to analysis in the press.^[84][85] According to Vanity Fair, she had posted a picture of herself in a mini dress while posing "provocatively" with a museum Gatling gun.^[20] Knox had also posted to her site a short story about rape described by "Vanity Fair" as "utterly unrealistic". The Vanity Fair article goes on to discuss how Knox's story was widely characterized in the media as a "blueprint for crime".^[20] Vanity Fair also claimed that her "Foxy Knoxy" moniker had sexual connotations.^[20]

Other journalists were more doubtful about Knox's guilt and criticised the way the case was handled in the Italian judiciary system. As an example, journalist Peter Popham wrote an opinion piece for The Independent in which he raised doubts about the evidence against Knox and Sollecito and claimed that the publication of details about the case by the prosecution "makes miscarriages of justice horribly likely".^[86] Knox's family has claimed that she was convicted because of a larger culture clash.^[87]

The Knox family engaged the services of a Seattle-based public relations firm in order to counter what they perceived as a media bias against Knox.^[88]

Another facet of coverage was public criticism of Italy's judicial process, by Knox's friends, supporters and various public figures.^{[citation needed]} Certain media experts^[who?] have claimed such critical statements may have backfired against Knox.^{[citation needed]}

Anne Bremner, spokeswoman for the "Friends of Amanda" support group, criticised the Italian media for its presentation of the case against Amanda Knox. Bremner also claimed that the Italian media overly dramatized the relationship between Knox and Sollecito, stating that the two had only been dating for two weeks. She also stated that incorrect reporting about Knox had impaired her chance of obtaining a fair trial,^[89] because the jury had not been sequestered.

[edit] Trials and convictions

[edit] Rudy Guédé trial

Rudy Guédé elected for a "fast-track" trial on 16 October 2008.^[90] Guédé's claims were discredited during his trial. The judge pointed out, firstly, that he changed the details of where he had supposedly met Kercher, and secondly, the friends who had accompanied Kercher for Halloween evening testified that no meeting between them had taken place.^[23]

On 28 October 2008 he was found guilty of the murder and sexual assault of Kercher and sentenced to 30 years in prison. The full details of the judgement were published on 26 January 2009.^[91] In the judgment, Judge Micheli sets out the reasoning that led to the guilty verdict and the reasons for his conclusion that more than one person was involved in the murder. From a detailed analysis of the very large number and positions of blood stains and marks in the flat, and the cuts and bruises sustained by Kercher, he concludes that Kercher was sexually assaulted and then murdered by multiple attackers. He also concludes that one or more people returned to the crime scene and rearranged the body, as well as trying to fake a break-in, some time subsequent to the murder, after Guédé may have already left the scene.

Guédé appealed his murder conviction and related charges, which was heard by the Corte d'Appello (Court of Appeals) starting in November of 2009.^[92] On December 22, 2009, the Corte d'Appello upheld his conviction for murder but reduced his sentence of 30 years imprisonment to 16 years.^[93] According to his lawyer, Guédé continues to assert that he is innocent and will pursue a second and final appeal to the Corte di Cassazione (Supreme Court) to challenge his conviction. ^[94]

[edit] Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito trial

The trial of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito began on 16 January 2009, with much attention from the media. In November 2008, they had been indicted by Judge Paolo Micheli, who had presided over the Guédé trial in October 2008.^[23]

[edit] Personnel involved

The head prosecutor (Italian: Pubblico Ministero) in the trial, was Guiliano Mignini. ^[48] He had led the interrogation of Amanda Knox in which she implicated Patrick Lumumba.^[49][95] The chief judge was Giancarlo Massei. Deputy judge at the trial was Beatrice Cristiani.^[96] A panel of eight judges (the two professional judges and six lay judges) was assembled to hear the case and determine the verdicts.^[96]

Amanda Knox was represented in Italy by attorneys Luciano Ghirga and Carlo Dalla Vedova.^[97][98] Raffaele Sollecito was defended by attorney Giulia Bongiorno.^[99] Investigations had been assisted by personnel from Rome. The forensic biologist Patrizia Stefanoni, who had collected evidence at the crime scene, testified during the trial. There were many other witnesses, including the other two housemates in the Kercher/Knox flat (Romanelli and Mezzetti) and residents of neighbouring properties.

[edit] Courtroom events

On 16 January 2009, Knox's and Sollecito's lawyers began by proclaiming their clients' innocence. Hearings were held nearly every two weeks (except for summer break) until 4 December 2009.^[100] Rudy Guédé declined to testify in the trial of Knox/Sollecito.^[101] 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 would be public, but with closed sessions to be decided on a case-by-case basis.^[102]

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 alleged that, when taken for interrogation, the police had intimidated and beaten her, causing her to give false testimony and to falsely accuse Patrick Lumumba.^[103][104]

The prosecution contended that Knox and Sollecito were involved with Guédé in the sexual assault and murder of Kercher, as an attempted sex orgy in which Kercher would not cooperate, and that they had returned to the crime scene to move the body and stage a break-in to deflect suspicions away from them.^[66]

On 4 December 2009, Knox was convicted by the Corte d'Assise of Perugia of all counts except theft against Kercher and was sentenced to 26 years in prison.^{[71] [72][105]} Sollecito was found guilty of all five charges attributed to him and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.^[106] The decision was delivered by the presiding judge at around 11:45 pm local time, following 13 hours of deliberation.^[107]

[edit] Civil actions

Running concurrently with the criminal trial are two civil trials. Kercher's family has filed a civil suit for US$33 million (approximately £20 million or €22 million) against anyone found guilty of the murder.^[108] Patrick Lumumba, the man Knox originally accused of murdering Kercher, is suing Knox for more than $500,000 (approximately £300,000 or €330,000) in damages.^[108]

[edit] Reactions to the trials and convictions

In the U.S., the verdict against Knox immediately gave rise to extensive controversy and media coverage. The U.S. Senator from Knox's state of Washington, Maria Cantwell, issued a statement critical of the verdict, stating that she had concerns whether "anti-Americanism tainted this trial." ^[109] Cantwell expressed the view that there had not been enough evidence to convict Knox beyond a reasonable doubt. Cantwell also spoke of the "harsh treatment of Ms. Knox following her arrest; negligent handling of evidence by investigators; and pending charges of misconduct against one of the prosecutors stemming from another murder trial." Cantwell indicated her intention to seek assistance from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has yet to take a position on the case.^[110]

John Kercher, Meredith's father, has described the suggestion of anti-American bias during the trial as "ludicrous", saying: "The Americans seem completely ignorant to the fact that there was a mass of evidence other than the DNA. I don't blame them because they are going on what they have seen and read. But it is upsetting for my family".^[111]

On 9 December 2009, when visited in prison by Democratic Left Italian Member of Parliament Walter Verini, Knox reportedly stated that her "rights were respected" in the trial and that she still has had faith in Italian justice.^[112]

Knox, her family and many supporters in the U.S. maintain that she has been unjustly convicted and vow to continue to fight on through the appeals process.^[113] Issues raised in the press include whether the police found the correct knife used as the murder weapon, whether the DNA evidence was mishandled, the fact that three computer hard drives were destroyed by the prosecution's computer expert during examination which might have contained information useful to the defence, the illegal interrogation of Knox without an attorney present and a possible relationship between Guédé and the police as a police informant.^[41]

A delegation of the Italy-USA Foundation with a journalist of Associated Press met on Sunday December 13, 2009, in Capanne prison on the outskirts of Perugia, Amanda Knox in an effort to heal any rift over accusations that Italy's justice system is unfair. “I am waiting and always hoping,” Knox said, switching from English into Italian for the delegation. “I don’t understand many things, but I have to accept them, things that for me don’t always seem very fair.”^[114]

[edit] Various controversies

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (December 2009)

[edit] Claims of police mistreatment

Amanda Knox was held for questioning overnight between 5 and 6 November 2007 ^[115] for nearly 14 hours, during which time she was interviewed twice. She alleged that she was insulted by being called a "stupid liar", and that she was hit on the head to force her testimony.^[116][117] The highest court in Italy ruled, due to lack of an attorney during initial questioning, that her remarks during part of that questioning were inadmissible for the trial;^[115] however, due to the fact that it was admissible in the concurrent action against Knox for falsely accusing Lumumba, her voluntary handwritten statement was available to the panel of judges during the trial.^[115]

The prosecution rejected Knox's claims of having been forced to accuse Lumumba. Her claims were refuted in court by several witnesses.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Prosecutor under indictment

According to CNN, the head prosecutor, Giuliano Mignini, was under indictment, during the trial, for prosecutorial misconduct in a prior trial.^[95] He has been charged with "abuse of power, obstructing justice and illegal wiretapping" of journalists, while investigating the "Monster of Florence" serial-killer case in the 1980s.^[118] (the Monster of Florence, Francesco Narducci, allegedly killed 14 people during 1974-1985, but he was found drowned in a Perugia lake). The prosecutors in Florence have also claimed that Giuliano Mignini used intimidation and falsified evidence,^[100][119] and they are requesting a 10-month jail term for Mignini, but the ruling expected in May 2009, has been delayed until after the Knox/Sollecito trial.

[edit] Mobile phone evidence

Although the prosecution alleged that Knox and Sollecito had pre-planned the event with Guédé,^{[citation needed]} who had admitted he saw Meredith Kercher die,^[6] none of their mobile-phone records in 2007 showed any calls between them.^{[citation needed]} Phone records of Amanda Knox revealed calls on the day of the killing between her and Diya "Patrick" Lumumba (aged 38),^[115] her manager at the bar Le Chic, which were discussed during her interrogation as possible evidence of a pre-planned rendezvous.

The lack of phone-contact evidence with Guédé was a point of controversy. The judge in the Guédé trial said that the fact that Guédé's phone was in the possession of the police during the period leading up to the murder explained the lack of a record of calls between him and the other suspects.^[23]

The death of Kercher was estimated to occur circa 10:30-11 pm. The prosecution noted that both Knox and Sollecito turned their mobile phones off on the evening of the murder at around 8:40 pm.^[23] Sollecito's phone records show that his phone was turned off (or the battery quit) on several days: at around 7-7:30pm on three separate days during the previous month.^[23]

[edit] Italian media sentiment

In the last days of the trial it is reported that media sentiment in Italy shifted in favour of the defendants.^[115]

[edit] References

[edit] External links