Marley23, you have long been a know it all, a sort of Diogenes the Cynic-lite type poster/moderator; always SO smug and self satified, no subject beyond your wise expertise.
You are not quite as big an asshole as is Dio, (and probably not quite as intelligent) but you two are peas in a pod, and if everyone else is afraid to inform you of this, I will be happy to step up.
I have been polite and courteous to all I have interacted with on this board (never had any warnings, never posted in the Pit) but I am glad to tell you that your arrogance and pseudo-intellectualism is wearing thin.
Other than the posters you just accused of masturbating over this case, yes, you had been. But you now have two warnings. I was not joking. Knock it off pronto.
Just out of curiosity, why exactly does this case matter so much to so many people?
I mean I don’t know the evidence too well and can’t really have an informed opinion as to whether she is a sociopath who killed for the fun of it or to see what it would be like or as part of play that went too far, or if she is an immature party girl who got scared and lied stupidly and then got railroaded as a result. But I don’t quite understand why I should care more about this possible miscarriage of justice any more than the thousands of cases in American courts every year that could be debated the same way but happen to involve urban poor folk as both victim and accused. And if those don’t warrant my attention - and clearly by my actions (I do not read the crime pages and analyze this stuff ) they don’t, then why should this one? Because she’s cute? Because she’s an America abroad about the age of my kid who is abroad? Because of the sex angle? I mean at least the Tiger story has pre-existing celebrity to it and a clean cut family man with everything storyline.
Ach. Nevermind. I only ask because my wife is one of those fascinated and horrified by the “injustice” too and I can’t get it. And it isn’t worth the fight to debate it with her!
It’s a murder case (always a good start for an interesting case), and the sex/drugs/party angle helps play it up, as well as the debates about justice abroad (which is what most of this thread turned into); but I’d bet that if Knox was dark-skinned and/or ugly and/or male and/or old, there wouldn’t be nearly as much interest in the case.
Young attractive white women always seem to be a sure-fire ratings attraction for the media.
FWIW, I don’t have any interest in what you do or do not “care” about nor would I ever be interested in telling you what should/should not deserve your (or anybody else’s) attention. As for me, I’ve long been interested in the WM3 case and I see some similarities between it and Knox/Sollecito. I also like Douglas Preston’s writing and so I’ve read The Monster of Florence. If you’ve read the Monster of Florence, this is sort of a no-brainer.
That said, as a general rule, I find cases like these interesting though I can’t really give you a succint why. I think, for the most part, I’ve got a certain fascination whenever people hear hoofbeats and decide looking for zebras is the correct course of action. This extends not just to criminal cases but to pitbulls, urban legends and moral panics nor does race or sex enter into it, if my interest in the Tulia drug busts is any indication. In other words, everybody has to have a hobby.
At least two states do not require a unanimous verdict in criminal trials. Oregon & Louisiana allow majority verdicts (10-2) for crimes other than 1st degree murder (which carries the death penalty). Now Louisiana’s legal system is based on French & Spanish civil law, but Oregon’s is based on English common law just like the rest of the country.
In truth, yeah, the reason this case piqued my interest in the first instant is probably that she’s hot…
But it’s held my interest because of the injustices of the case (not that I’m convinced she’s innocent, just that I have a reasonable doubt of her guilt).
Yes, there are many similar cases in the world, but that doesn’t make it wrong to focus momentarily on an individual case; just human nature. We need individuals that we can empathize with.
That’s nice. I don’t expect you to. Why would you or should you? I’m not asking for you to justify your interest, nor am I trying to play holier than thou. I am honestly curious about why this draws the attention and I appreciate the honest responses. (My wife seems to be drawn by identifying the women as being similar to the one of my kids not abroad right now -my 18 yo- but who could easily end up making up a stupid lie if he was scared and could very well follow his older brother in spending some extended time abroad in the next few years.)
I don’t think it’s possible for anyone here to have anything more than an opinion on Knox’s guilt, the whole case was too farcicle to be able to draw any valid conclusion from.
I would expect that under the British justice system just the irregularities in the evidence collection by the police would be enough to have the case thrown out or a full re-trial. Not to mention possible media influence on the jury. Sadly there are always failings in any system but this case does seem particularly extreme and points to some big problems in Italy’s process IMO
I am frankly shocked that the pair can be convicted, though I am not certain of their innocence.
Consider myself schooled. Though this is a bit like using Nebraska and Maine to refute claims made about the electoral college.
To address the more recent posts in this thread, people were interested because both victim and suspect were so young and attractive females, yes. That there was an alleged sex game turned violent surely also played a role. All those involved hailed from five countries if one counts Lumumba, so you know it’s all going to generate interest in their respective countries as well. In the end, as with many serious crimes that garner much media attention there is no one ‘this is why we should care’ answer since it tends to be a confluence of reasons, but it’s not surprising at all that so many people, including myself, do.
Based only on the media reports we’re reading/hearing about, I can’t for the life of me figure out how anyone could convince themselves of either Amanda’s guilt or innocence. Simply far too little to go on.
I would assume that the entire trial was conducted in Italian?
I’m glad you brought that site up. It’s one that I’ve regularly referenced in keeping apprised of the case. They especially excel at citing Italian media, and have a couple of very articulate and persuasive main contributors.
I for one don’t think the outcome was a “horrific miscarriage of justice”. It’s the verdict I was expecting based on what I had seen (third-hand) of the evidence, and I have considered many of the defense counsel’s arguments and found them unconvincing.
As to why this case in particular is so interesting, I can only speak for myself. I recall in the days when the story broke back in November 2007 that US and UK media were presenting diametrically opposed versions of events. That caught my eye, then ironically, what fueled my interest further was the phenomenon, as evinced in this very thread, of the stridency of Knox supporters. Then, you get into the details of the case itself, with the admittedly bizarre motivations attributed to the defendants, and by then, you’re hooked…
From all I’ve read about the case, if Knox and Sollecito weren’t guilty, they did a great job of convincing everybody that they were in the days after the murder. Repeatedly changing their story, conflicting alibis, lieing to the police: why?
That’s quite a long page. Is there any argument or evidence on it that has not already been mentioned in this thread?
Because I still don’t see anything compelling.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice is federal law, passed by Congress and signed into law by the President, aka two branches of the civilian government.
