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| Amanda Knox at her Appeal September 7, 2011 |
Amanda Knox, detained at the maximum-security Casa Circondariale Capanne prison compound just outside the Umbrian capital of Perugia since November 6, 2007, has finally seen some progress in her appeal for the murder of her then roommate, Meredith Kercher, a British citizen. Knox's ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, was also convicted of the crime, and a third person, Ivory Coast national Rudy Guede, was already found guilty when Knox and Sollecito went on trial. Guede had a streamlined trial that proceeded quickly and led to a 30-year sentence.
When an appeals court rejected the prosecutor's request Wednesday for additional DNA testing, it signaled that the independent review of DNA testing would stand, good news for Knox because the report favored her denial of participating in the crime. The U.K. Telegraph reports that "court appointed experts have criticised the way the original forensic investigation was carried out by police."
Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellmann/s ruling against the prosecutors allows for closing arguments to proceed Sept. 23. The prosecution will present their arguments first, followed by those of civil plaintiffs and the defense. Knox's lawyer Luciano Ghirga cautioned against assuming that the court's rejection of new DNA testing would automatically lead to Amanda Knox's release. It does, however, give Knox and her family some reason to hope for a positive outcome.
Ham on Wry's author has followed this case since its inception. Online articles have remained popular and always spike when media stories appear. No one will ever know exactly what happened in 2007, except the person or people who killed Meredith Kercher, but perhaps now the accused and all of the families involved will have closure. After learning about the Italian court system in following this case, Ham on Wry suggests that travelers from other countries avoid legal problems in Italy.
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