Amanda Knox-Guilty or Not Guilty.

[Chavster]

No idea. Just like most of Italy, it looks like a dump, but I dont know what candy they make there. Dump Candy? Candi della Dumpo?

I agree though, law enforcement isnt a glowing highlight of the city (but that can be said for the whole of Italy too).

Do any of you remember the case of Louise Woodward, the British 'nanny' (aka: babysitter) who was accused of shaking a baby to death in Boston? That was another weird case. Guilty as hell, IMO.

[Slynito]

Melissa Gilbert, is much to old to play the youthful, Mandy.

[Chavster]

Oh please. If Barbra Streisand could play a teenage boy, Mel can play Mandy Anyway, there's never been a tv movie made in the history of the world that hasnt starred Melissa Gilbert, Lindsay Wagner, Valerie Bertinelli or Jaclyn Smith, and apart from Melissa, they're really ARE too old.

[Slynito]

Ummmm, but Valerie Bertinelli has recently been born again...clean of drugs and lost her Mama fat. She's been well used but is lookin' good.

[Razor X]

Do any of you remember the case of Louise Woodward, the British 'nanny' (aka: babysitter) who was accused of shaking a baby to death in Boston? That was another weird case. Guilty as hell, IMO.

Yes, and I have thought about that a lot during the Knox case, particularly when reading comments from outraged Brits in the UK newspapers who seemed to think that there was a nationwide groundswell of support for Amanda (there wasn't).  They seemed to conveniently forget that all of England came to a standstill during the Woodward trial and refused to even entertain the notion that she might be guilty despite some damning evidence.  About a week before she was convicted, a British nurse was sentenced to be beheaded in Saudi Arabia or someplace in the Middle East.  After the Woodward conviction a lot of the UK papers were trying to put the Saudi Arabian and US justice systems in the same category. 

[tomgallagher]

Ummmm, but Valerie Bertinelli has recently been born again...clean of drugs and lost her Mama fat. She's been well used but is lookin' good.

"Well used", you mean in the theatrical sense.....LOL.

[Slynito]

"Well used", you mean in the theatrical sense.....LOL.

Yes, of course that's what I mean. I doubt if that cute lil' thang is doing basketball players, like the pit bull with lipstick.

 

[Chavster]

Do any of you remember the case of Louise Woodward, the British 'nanny' (aka: babysitter) who was accused of shaking a baby to death in Boston? That was another weird case. Guilty as hell, IMO.

Yes, and I have thought about that a lot during the Knox case, particularly when reading comments from outraged Brits in the UK newspapers who seemed to think that there was a nationwide groundswell of support for Amanda (there wasn't).  They seemed to conveniently forget that all of England came to a standstill during the Woodward trial and refused to even entertain the notion that she might be guilty despite some damning evidence.  About a week before she was convicted, a British nurse was sentenced to be beheaded in Saudi Arabia or someplace in the Middle East.  After the Woodward conviction a lot of the UK papers were trying to put the Saudi Arabian and US justice systems in the same category. 

Woodward was innocent because she was British, according to the British, in much the same way Knox is innocent because she's American, according to Americans. Not all, but most.

There's nothing wrong with protecting your own but when it starts to cloud the real facts, then there's something wrong. The problem with both cases was that the real facts were never known.

The only real difference I foresee here (and I could be wrong) is that Louise Woodward almost completely shunned the publicity (and the money) that was being offered to her, and when she returned to the UK, she vanished, never to be heard from, until recently. She got married 2 or 3 years ago and gave a short interview to a magazine or a tv station, I cant remember which. She's now a dance instructor.

I get the feeling Amanda Knox will go down the Melissa Gilbert route. I dont know why, but thats just my suspicion.

Would I turn down several million bucks if someone wanted make a movie of my life? (although I'd probably be played by Bob Hoskins  ) Probably not. But 'coming soon to Lifetime - Death in Perugia: The Amanda Knox Story, starring Melissa Gilbert' just seems tacky to me.

[Razor X]

There's nothing wrong with protecting your own but when it starts to cloud the real facts, then there's something wrong. The problem with both cases was that the real facts were never known

I agree. The other difference was that Woodward did receive a fair trial.  She was only sentenced to first degree murder because her attorneys overplayed their hand and would not allow the jury to convict of a lesser charge, which they would have done if they'd been given the option.

The British press were also critical of the cameras in the courtroom.  I'll admit that they can create a circus-like atmosphere, but the same people who were criticizing it were, very hypocritically, glued to television sets in every pub while the trial was taking place.

The only real difference I foresee here (and I could be wrong) is that Louise Woodward almost completely shunned the publicity (and the money) that was being offered to her, and when she returned to the UK, she vanished, never to be heard from, until recently. She got married 2 or 3 years ago and gave a short interview to a magazine or a tv station, I cant remember which. She's now a dance instructor.

I get the feeling Amanda Knox will go down the Melissa Gilbert route. I dont know why, but thats just my suspicion.

I tend to agree with you there, as well.  That being said, Knox has probably run up some huge legal bills so it's kind of hard to blame her for taking any money that is offered.  Hopefully she'll fade into oblivion soon.

[Chavster]

Sky News is a news channel similar to CNN. Its a 24/7 news channel. However, during the Woodward trial, from 2pm every day, news itself stopped, and the Woodward trial began. People here couldnt get enough of it. I think it was partly because the idea of allowing tv cameras into a courtroom was virtually unknown, but mainly because she was a 'nice English girl, and obviously she's innocent, and those wicked Americans just want to convict someone'. I'm not sure what the current viewpoint on televised trials is in the UK now, but I think that we're about to start televising some of our own trials, although they wont be trials for major crimes like murder. They'll be for misdemeanour offences like speeding or stealing a bag of potatoes from Tesco. Yawn.

Murder itself is a strange beast because there are so many definitions of it, and so many ways of viewing it.

True story: my mother has a friend called Betty. I'm not sure if they're still in contact, but they used to get together every so often for coffee, shopping, etc. One day, there was a story on the local tv news, about a woman who had been murdered in Betty's apartment building. She'd been hit over the head by a statuette that she had in her flat (apartment). My mother didnt know the dead woman, but she called me and jokingly said 'maybe Betty did it'.

Three weeks later, Betty was in police custody, accused with the murder. A short time after that, they charged her with the murder. Apparently, Betty had lent (loaned) the dead woman some money to gamble with (Betty is, or at least was, a gambler - and also, it transpired, a former prostitute - who liked to hang around in the casinos in London). The dead woman didnt/hadnt/couldnt repay the money, so Betty lost her temper and hit her over the head with the statuette. How very neighbourly.

Betty was sentenced to life in prison (which in the UK usually means 15-20 years). However, Betty had plenty of money, and she managed to buy herself a lawyer who was able to convince the jury at a appeal hearing that she was a good, honest woman who simply had a moment of insanity. She was released from prison around a month later, and went back to her previous life of hanging around casinos.

The definition of murder is defined by law in every country, but in reality, murder is defined by the lawyers and by the jury. If the lawyers can put a good enough spin on a story to a sympathetic enough jury, then murder can almost be turned into a petty crime.

In Amanda Knox's case, we'll never know what happened. For as long as people give a sh1t about the story, it will be a mystery. However, she's a young girl with a lot of life ahead of her, and if I were in her position, and if Paramount/Universal/Lifetime/ABC offered me x-million dollars, I'd grab it with both hands. I wouldnt blame her at all.

My big worry (and 'worry' is taking it a little far because I'm not really concerned one way or the other) is for the family of Meredith Kercher. Amanda Knox is now a has-been. She's yesterday's news. But for Mama Kercher and the rest of the family, they will probably never have any type of closure, and I think thats the real tragedy of the story. Im hoping (and I'm sure it will happen, if it hasnt already) that one of the newspapers here will offer them some big money for their story, because apart from anything else, I think being able to vent will help their grieving.

Plus, it will help Mama Kercher to buy some new teeth, because she needs them. Badly.

[tomgallagher]

Anybody that thinks that the Italian justice system isn't screwed up should read the book "The Monster of Florence".

[Tyler]

If Amanda is truly innocent, then it's sad that she had to spend that much time in an Italian prison.  Though, if she plays her cards right, this 4 year tragedy could result in her having enough money to live comfortably the rest of her life.

[tomgallagher]

That's the way this will probably work out.

[BaldHDbiker]

From the show I watched last night it did appear that Amanda is innocent.

What a shame she had to spend all that time in prison.

[Slynito]

i saw the news show too...it seems that way to me also.