JoB
I am very troubled by the assumption that Amanda Knox is a "poor little rich girl" who is getting a free ride by the "Knox PR machine".
I am also troubled by the assumption that just because the Italian system requires legal representation at all stages of the investigation that it better protects the rights of the accused.
the jurors in this case went home every night to be exposed to the Italian press trying the case in the media.. complete with innuendos and outright fabrications.
"rich little american girl" is one of those fabrications…. while the Knox family must be better off than some of us to be able to spend as much time in Italy as they have and to afford the kind of legal representation they provided for their daughter… they don't appear to fit the standards for conspicuously rich… to the Italian press, most Americans are rich… we should know better.
One of the reasons so many cases are overturned on appeal in Italy is that they are no longer today's news by the time they hit appeal and must stand on the merits of the evidence.. not on inflamed public opinion.
besides, just like here.. the prosecutor has already gotten their political bump from the publicity surrounding the original guilty verdict and are less publicly aggressive on appeal.
It is apparent that Amanda made some pretty huge mistakes… whether one of those was participating in the murder of Meredith Kercher remains to be seen.
I don't see how any of us could form an opinion from the media buzz on either side… i suspect we would have had to be in the courtroom listening to the evidence to come close to having an informed opinion… and only then if we ignored the media circus that has surrounded this case.
Regardless of what really happened, this is a tragedy for both Meredith and Amanda's families. Meredith's family has already lost their child… with no hope of ever getting her back.
There is still hope for Amanda's family.
Regardless of how we may personally feel about Amanda's guilt, i believe we owe her family our sympathy and respect. This has to be devastating for them.
No matter how this all turns out, they will end up ruined financially and emotionally from all of this.