12/07/2009 3:25 pm
POV
Did Amanda Knox Do It? by Judy Bachrach
Our writer, well-versed in ways Italian, deconstructs the case of an innocenct abroad.
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Editor’s Note: Judy Bachrach writes for Vanity Fair, and is the creator of thecheckoutline.org, an online advice column for friends and relatives of the terminally ill.
Friday night at midnight Italian time, a jury of six civilians and two judges in the town of Perugia convicted an American girl of the murder of her roommate – based on virtually no evidence that would stand up in an American court. That girl is Amanda Knox. She is 22. She was once – two long years ago – a carefree Seattle, WA, college student, blonde, pretty, careless and often thoughtless, who had gone to Italy to study.
Two years ago, after spending the night with her Italian boyfriend, Amanda dropped by her own apartment and found the place covered in blood. The night before she’d smoked too much dope with that boyfriend, and her memory was, to say the least, hazy — a disastrous scenario. As it turned out, the blood all around her belonged to Meredith Kercher, a British student she had known for only two weeks. The butchered corpse was in the next room.
| She was "Luciferina with an angel's face." She was a mantide – a praying mantis. |
Knox is now sentenced to 26 years in prison for a crime she almost certainly did not commit. There is no indication of violence in her background; there was no obvious motive. The blade of the knife the prosecutor claimed she used for the crime doesn’t match the wounds of the poor victim. Her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for a crime he also almost certainly did not commit.
On the other hand, a drifter from the Cote D’Ivoire is stewing in jail for 30 years for that same murder: His fingerprints and DNA were all over the crime scene. At the start that drifter claimed he didn’t know Amanda or her boyfriend. But he did admit to engaging in sexual acts with the British roommate the night she died.
How did this happen? And more important, why did it happen?
As is, I’m afraid, usual practice in Italy (a country where I spent more than four years), the Knox case was tried first and at length in the press, which roundly condemned her a full year before the trial ever took place. She was "Luciferina with an angel’s face." She was a mantide – a praying mantis. The police recorded her conversations, translated these into Italian (often incorrectly) – and swiftly sent the transcripts on to members of the media. I know. I speak Italian and I read them. One of the things Amanda told her mother early on might be of special interest to Americans: She said she was slapped around in prison in order to elicit a confession. She was told, on inquiring, that she didn’t need an attorney: It would only complicate matters. There was no translator during these supposedly confessional moments, and at the time the college girl spoke little Italian.
What else went wrong? Well, the Italian lawyer for the murdered girl’s family informed me with great pride that the prosecutor had actually embraced him in full view of everyone on the street the day word came down from a judicial panel that Amanda Knox would not be permitted house arrest, but was to remain in prison before trial. (She was too much of a flight risk, said the judges. And besides, they added, a calculating and manipulative girl like her that might "influence" witnesses – a not-so-subtle suggestion that Amanda was a world-class, top-level seductress intent on bending the entire Italian judicial system to suit her needs).
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Okay, while I have followed the case from when it first started and have to wonder about Knox & Sollecito’s guilt (though I wasn’t on the jury, so I can’t say either way), there are a few things wrong with the article.
One, the t-shirt said "all you need is love." A small detail, but makes you wonder about the overall accuracy of this article. And blood wasn’t all over the place—just in the bathroom.
Also, I have to take offense with the idea that people should stop sending their children to Italy, as if anyone sent over there will end up in jail. That’s just silly. What parents have to think about is their child’s maturity—and these children and young adults need to be told to be careful and be aware that they are guests in a foreign country with different ways of understanding behavior and, yes, different laws. People who freak out about going to Italy based on this trial are overreacting, in my opinion.
Did you go to the bottom of the Daily Beasts article and click on "Read it at The Daily Mail" there was quite a bit of information there. I found "The Battleground for Appeal" interesting, it gave both sides of the issue, although not in any big detail.
I also watched the OJ trail, and I think that it was a terrible injustice. I think that the prosecutors were more interested in playing for the camera than they were about anything else.
Absolutely agree. "What parents have to think about is their child’s maturity—and these children and young adults need to be told to be careful and be aware that they are guests in a foreign country…" I also believe that she was judged by her frivolity after the fact…..this was a serious matter, as serious as they come and yet she seemed to have a problem grasping that.
I generally agree with your comments. While I haven’t actually followed this story at all, what I have read doesn’t include much about contacting the embassy. You should send your child to ANY country without first grilling into them that if they ever get into trouble say nothing except that you want to speak to your embassy. People are erroneously arrested everywhere, and trying to communicate in a foreign language when you’re accused of a crime is a disaster waiting to happen.
My nephew wants to go to Italy to study, but he has traveled to other countries and knows this rule very, very well.
Agreement here with all the above, expect the article’s author! What Americans fail to understand is that they are not in power anywhere, not even in America, but without staying in touch with the American Embassy in each country they visit, they are not only naive, they’re stupid - and for youth, their parents are more responsible. I’ve observed Americans in other countries acting as if to challenge laws - yes, in France, Italy, Germany, the UK, Belgium, Australia, and more …
But, this wasn’t confined to youth, it was also done in a juvenile manner by well-educated women! Once in Paris, observing another American woman who’s metro ticket was being rejected (shooting back at her), her travel friends already through the turn-style sang their orders to "jump over … " Thank goodness she did not do that but kept asking them to get her the correct ticket (I was busy taking notes … and heard her say her ticket was for the outer metro to La Defense). Presently, a man came up behind her in line, put in his own ticket and urged her through! Within minutes, there was a loud commotion and sure enough, the metro "police" had nabbed some teens that did just what they should not do - jumped over the turn-styles. Listening to her "friends," one was still yelping about all the fun she had had in other countries, teaching "all over the world" and all "you needed to do was just hop over."
Armada’s problem was succinctly described in the 2nd. paragraph of this article — unwise behaviour for any one much less someone visiting in another country. What appears to be in question is the manner in which evidence was gathered, and the culpability of the prosecutor; otherwise, the jury had what was needed - testimony, and evidence (as inaccurate as it may be). It is not up to the U.S. to determine innocence or guilt of anyone in another nation. Anyone who has had children knows that parents and adults cannot attest to child’s actions out of our sight, and I am certain that Amanda’s parents know she was not the angel depicted by others. But, we as a nation should be helping to ensure that our citizen was humanely, legally, appropriately cared for, and tried in a just court of law.
We should be helping the family with legal expenses, and our nation must do everything possible to work with Italy to bring this case to justice. After that, we have all done our best.
What no one seems to consider is that a woman was brutally murdered! Her family, loved ones, and friends will never heal from her tragic death, and all due consideration must be given to the survivors.
One last bit of knowledge for naive Americans - White Slavery exists in our country and has been increasing since the 1980s - no one is safe, but especially young women 13 years of age and older. The highest price tag is on virgins, so women should keep their personal conduct to themselves, especially among friends, and at work - the one place where they are identified as candidates for abduction. Yes, they are sold to high bidders in other nations, but this begins with "respectful" high-level business men who ‘review’ the candidates, first.
How can this be prevented? One major way is for young women to stay away from working in clubs, bars, hotel/motel restaurants that have adjoining bars, high traveler traffic … and contact their parents (and a lawyer) as soon as they notice being "introduced" to guests, or asked to travel off-site to meet with "a customer" (often about catering, etc.) - the police and sheriffs depts. in those areas are NO help!
Our young people are at risk and parents must be more alert, and aware. If they are actively visible, demand to know what their child’s job is, duties, supervisors, etc. much of this would not happen. Indeed, Carol there are "Horror stories out there." I am working on an article about a young high school student who’s mother averted her abduction into white slavery in America, but the lips are sealed from the top down… the family willingly permitted me to do the interview. Something is quite wrong in America, too.
Hi Carol, yes, there are horror stories out there, but it need not be that way. My family moved a lot and I spent 8 years of my childhood in four different foreign countries, went on a trip to Europe at age 16, and then was back overseas in my early 20s with the Army, and stayed overseas for most of the next 15 years. I took any opportunity to travel around alone quite a bit, seeing the sights and taking in the cultures, even in one assignment where things were not very stable and Americans were generally vilified. I never had any problems with the local people, though some of my friends did.
It is all in the attitude, an ability to blend at least enough that your presence is not the center of all attention (when that happens - it will almost always be negative!!), and keeping a general awareness / caution of your surroundings. I owe my attitude and my awareness to my Dad educating me on this topic from Day One. Parents who allow their young-adult children to go abroad in ignorance are really placing them in some danger, as you have noted and as the Knox case shows.
The author is quite opinionated regarding this case. The media may have planted many ideas about Amanda, but the fact remains that 19 judges looked at evidence in the case and felt she should be prosecuted. I find it hard to believe that 19 judges would be swayed by whether or not Amanda was shopping for thong underwear or other such nonsense.
Perhaps if Amanda had not tried to blame her boss and had not changed her story three times, she would be home celebrating her birthday with her family.