Re: Amanda Knox's American law "consultant"

On Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:28:26 -0700, mcl2 wrote:

On Mar 11, 12:15 pm, Charlie Wilkes
<charlie_wil...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

You don't think the bad press on Magnini means anything.  I do.  I
think this chick is being railroaded, like the Duke Lacrosse players,
like Kevin Fox, like the guys who were falsely accused of
raping/killing Jeanette Nicarico back in the 80s, like the "sex ring"
people in Wenatchee, WA and the McMartin pre-school case in CA, and
like hundreds of other innocent people who have fallen under the power
of bad prosecutors.


I think I understand thr conflict here,now.

Some of us, for example Charlie and me, think that, in Italy, a
prosecutor can pull a Nifong-Duke thing without any consequences to
himself or his department or to the legal system itself.

I don't know enough about the Italian system to say it's worse than the
U.S. system. But I think it's safe to say that abusive practices by
police and prosecutors can take place in any country.

In the US they often will keep people that are innocent. Such as
Richard Ricci in the Elizabeth Smart case, or Richard Jewell in the
Olympic bombing (never arrested, but having the FBI do 24-7 survelliance
on you for while could get wearing) . In the Manson murders, William
Garrettson spent some time in jail for the Manson murders. Bulowski in
"Helter Skelter" implied that Garrettson ws held beyond the period of
time that he was a suspect.


The thing is, in the US, you really ahve to let people go when they stop
being a reasonable suspect. Typically, in a high-profile crime where
they keep an innocent man in jail to keep the press satisfied, THEY LET
THEM GO as soon as they have a real suspect.

My impressioin is that they don't always do that in Italy.

Also, I think that the hard-core interrogation tactics Charlie mentions
would make a little stoned suburb girl spout any kind of nonsense they
want. Some of you think that is the same as her generating lies
herself.

I don't think so. For me, "14 hour interrogation without a lawyer " is
all I need to hear.

She was put under a lot of duress. She wrote a statement to the police
on Nov. 6 in which she was seriously confused. Here is part of what she
wrote:

"But the truth is, I am unsure about the truth and here's why:

"1. The police have told me they have hard evidence that places me at the
house, my house, at the time of Meredith's murder. I don't know what
proof they are talking about, but if this is true, it means I am very
confused and my dreams must be real.

"2. My boyfriend has claimed that I have said things that I know are not
true. I KNOW I told him I didn't have to work that night. I remember
that moment very clearly. I also NEVER asked him to lie for me. What I
don't understand is why Raffaele, who has always been so caring and
gentle with me, would lie about this. What does he have to hide? I
don't think he killed Meredith, but I do think he is scared, like me. He
walked into a situation that he has never had to be in, and perhaps he is
trying to find a way out by disassociating himself with me."

These are the classic techniques by which investigators railroad an
innocent suspect. They say they've got evidence to prove the suspect is
lying. They say that others are incriminating the suspect. They look
for tiny inconsistencies and make the suspect feel like he/she is lying
even if he/she is telling the truth. And they keep the interrogation
going hour after hour until whoever they are interrogating gives up and
says or signs whatever they want.

Douglas Preston got a small sample of this when he was grilled by Mignini
prior to being booted out of Italy for the high crime of researching some
unsolved murders. Amanda Knox got the full treatment, and it's no
surprise that her story has wandered all over the place. Nothing in her
life has prepared her for this kind of experience.

Charlie


I think that if they used those tactics in the US and then publicized
the resutst the way they did with Amaan, they would be vulnerable to a
lucrative lawsuit. In Italy? I dont' know, but I suspect not.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.. Maybe I'm not giving
the italian court system justice (as it were).

And unlike some other things I've argued about, this probably will get
to a resolution i a reasonable time.

I think that is where the difference lie .(Well. That and some person
whose reading skills I do not trust insulting my reading skills).

Mick
.