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Shortly after the Amanda Knox conviction for murder in Italy, I changed my opinion in light of emerging evidence.  I had at first accepted the prosecution's tale of murder and intrigue, but soon thereafter concluded that Knox was innocent and that her conviction a disgrace to justice.

Today in Italy, Knox's appeal moved her another step closer to freedom.  ABC reports:

The family of Amanda Knox said that testimony today by DNA experts at the appeal of her Italian murder conviction was "huge" and put the American exchange student "another day closer to freedom."

The Knox family was buoyed by the testimony of court appointed experts who said the prosecution's collection, handling and interpreting of DNA on two crucial pieces of evidence used to convict Knox of killing her roommate was blatantly flawed.

The two DNA experts disputed claims made by the prosecution during the original murder trial:

Conti and Vecchiotti testified today that they found no DNA or blood on the blade of a knife found in Sollecito's kitchen that prosecutors claimed was the murder weapon. Prosecutors had claimed during the trial that the knife had DNA from both Knox and Kercher on it.

Read more about it here.

Amanda Knox in Italy

Amanda Knox, an American student studying in Italy, was convicted of being an accessory to the murder of fellow student Meredith Kercher in 2009.  At first the conviction seemed obviously right and proper; however, various parties, including form FBI and other crime experts, subsequently reviewed the evidence and concluded that Knox is innocent.

Amanda Knox's appeals trial began in May, and the prosecution's case against Knox is being demolished bit by bit.  Key witnesses in the first trial are convincingly refuted or shown to be untrustworthy; scenarios described in the trial are shown to be completely untrue, e.g. that Knox was seen buying bleach the day after the murder (she didn't), that her boyfriend's kitchen knife had the victim's DNA (it didn't) even after having been washed in bleach (it wasn't).  A woman witness who had testified that she had heard a scream the night of the murder now admits she has mental problems; other witnesses have been utterly refuted (one of which is a drug addict and homeless man who has testified at numerous trials for the prosecution).

The most "convincing" evidence has been found to be complete fabrications by the Italian prosecutor.  The prosecutor seems mentally unbalanced and dangerous:  he has filed over a dozen lawsuits against journalists and even Knox's parents for criticizing him and the outcome of the trial.  One blogger had his blog removed by its host after the prosecutor threatened litigation.

The online news site Seattlest describes the original trial:

For Amanda Knox, the 23-year-old Seattleite accused of murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher, during a study abroad program in Perugia, Italy, the tide may be turning. Knox and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted of the crime in 2009, and are currently appealing their case. Confusion reigned during the investigation and conviction of the pair. The standards of modern law enforcement investigation fell by the wayside, replaced by a tumult of amateurism, half-baked musings, and a media feeding-frenzy. Much of the chaos and confusion seemed to emanate from the chief prosecutor: Giuliano Mignini, a man whose flair for bombast and drama seemed tailor-made for the brutal, bawdy world of modern tabloid journalism.

Seattlest reports that even the frenzied Italian tabloids, so eager to see Knox convicted in the first place, are backing away from both the prosecutor and the conviction, and that this may signal a coming end to the unfair and unjust ordeal of Amanda Knox.  Let's hope so.

See also Injustice In Perugia for more information on the crime, the trial, the conviction, the evidence and the latest developments.

My friend Larry Auster and I do not agree on every point.  He has concluded that Amanda Knox was most probably guilty, and her innocence is only a lie being pushed by the liberal media in America.  I, on the other hand, believe she is innocent of the crime for which she was convicted of murder.

Read Auster's opinion here.

The case was recently made more ambiguous by a stupid "Lifetime" movie on the crime that was fiction, told with the premise that Knox was guilty.  I had a ton of hits yesterday from people who had viewed the silly flick and were looking for information on Knox.

Almost all of the lies, distortions, myths and falsehoods about Amanda Knox and the crime for which she was framed are covered at Injustice In Perugia.

Prosecutors who frame innocents simply to augment their reputations or to express their biases are nothing new.  It happens, more often than most Americans want to believe.