The Italian Supreme Court of Cassation is scheduled
to rule on the prosecution’s appeal of the Amanda Knox appeal verdict tomorrow.
In 2011, Knox and her Italian
boyfriend at the time Raffaele Sollecito were released from an Italian prison,
on appeal, after previously being convicted of participating in the murder
of her British roommate Meredith Kercher in 2007. Based on the Galati-Costigliola Report (112-page final appeal document), the prosecution’s appeal
attacks the approach of the appeals court and their handling of trial from both
a procedural and a reasoning standpoint.
The Galati-Costagliola appeal also surmises that the
Hellmann-Zanetti Report (original
appeal decision – 144 page-report) not only cherry picked certain pieces of
evidence while neglecting the totality of the evidence as a whole, but it also
points out how they cherry picked certain aspects of a single piece of evidence
while overlooking other qualities of that same piece of evidence. The Galati-Costigliola
Report goes as far as calling the Hellmann-Zanetti Report “illogical” and “contradictory,”
brining up several instances where their reasoning had no logical basis for
conclusion.
It is also important to note that the Italian
Supreme Court has already ruled on Rudy Guede’s final appeal, and their verdict
acknowledged that Guede did not act alone, even going as far as stating that the
forensic evidence points overwhelmingly to three assailants having been
present. This is important because it put the Supreme Court on the record, and
it was the only time they were ever heard from in this case up to this point.
That being said, there are two ways that this can go
for Knox and Sollecito. (1) If
the Supreme Court upholds Knox and Sollecito’s acquittal, threat of them ever
returning to prison for this crime is officially over. (2) Or, the court could
rule that the Galati-Costigliola Report has merit, meaning that
the points of contention raised in their report will be looked at again. It’s
not truly considered a retrial, but rather a closer look at the decisions of
the previous appeals trail. It is doubtful that other evidence from the
original trial—that was not contended in the appeal—will even be brought up in
this second appeal.
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