Amanda Knox: Trouble Abroad
By Katherine Littlejohn, Staff Writer
Almost exactly eight years ago, Amanda Knox’s life changed forever. After the events that took place in Italy, Knox is not likely to ever take for granted the many rights granted to her, as an American, by the Constitution and Bill of Rights of the United States. The Fifth Amendment of the United State Constitution states:
[N]o person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject to the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, not be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. [1]
Essentially, the Fifth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment ensures that all Americans have the right to a fair trial, both procedurally and substantively.[2] The Italian government does not guarantee these rights to its prisoners, which became abundantly clear in the case regarding the murder of Meredith Kercher.
Amanda Knox, originally from Seattle, Washington, studied abroad in Perugia, Italy, during her junior year of college.[3] Most people will recognize her name and face from the news headlines depicting her being arrested in connection with the murder of Meredith Kercher, her roommate in Perugia. Kercher’s body was found on November 2, 2007, in the villa that she shared with Knox and two Italian women.[4] Four days later, Knox was arrested, along with her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, and Knox’s boss, Diya Lumumba.[5]
Prior to Knox’s arrest, she experienced coerced interrogations, badgering, and beatings by the Italian police.[6] She was allowed very little sleep, was questioned incessantly, and confessed to a story that was created by police, which named Lumumba as the murderer.[7] The officers told Knox that they had evidence showing that Knox and Sollecito were in the house the night of the murder, that her DNA was on the knife that was used to kill Kercher, and Sollecito’s bloody shoe print was left on a mat in Kercher’s room.[8] Ultimately, Knox and Sollecito were arrested based upon that coerced confession. The “evidence” that the officers told Knox they had, and which the prosecution presented against Knox at trial, was ultimately thrown out because the court deemed it unreliable, based on a report requested by Italy’s appeals court. And, therefore, Knox and Sollecito were acquitted and released in October 2011.[9]
While Knox was in jail, the further examination of the evidence led to the arrest of Rudy Guede on November 20, 2007.[10] He had a prior record and was particularly known in Perugia for theft and threatening people with a knife.[11] He was recorded talking with a friend, admitting that he had been at Kercher’s house the night of the murder but only to use the bathroom and that Knox was not there.[12] Further testing revealed Guede’s DNA all over the room.[13] The testing revealed that the bloody handprint on the wall matched his exactly, his DNA was inside Kercher, the bloody footprint (which the prosecution previously claimed was Sollecito’s) matched his shoes, and his DNA was on her purse, from which her cellphone and money were missing.[14] Further, Guede fled Perugia the day after Kercher’s murder.[15] However, even with all of the evidence against Guede, the prosecution continued to press charges against Knox and Sollecito for Kercher’s murder. Later, Guede elected for a fast-track trial and due to his cooperation, his sentence was reduced to 16 years.
Regardless of the evidence that shows Guede was the murderer, on March 26, 2013, Knox and Sollecito were ordered to stand trial yet again.[16] In February of 2014, the court found them guilty of the murder and Knox received a 26-year sentence, while Sollecito received a 25-year sentence.[17] However, Knox never stopped fighting for her freedom from a sentence she was never meant to serve, and in March of 2015, the Supreme Court of Italy overturned their convictions, freeing Knox and Sollecito from incarceration.
[1] U.S. Const. amend. V
[2] U.S. Const. amend. XIV
[3] Amanda Knox, Waiting to be Heard 23-31 (2013).
[4] Id. at 127.
[5] USA Today, Timeline: Amanda Knox case, USA Today (Jan. 30, 2014, 5:13 PM EDT), http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/30/amanda-knox-timeline/2113397/.
[6] Knox, supra note 3 at 178.
[7] Id. at 205-13.
[8] A Murder. A Mystery. Amanda Knox Speaks (ABC News television broadcast April 30, 2013).
[9] Barbie L. Nadeau, Amanda Knox decision explained by Italian court, CNN (Sept. 8, 2015, 8:23 PM EDT), http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/08/europe/italy-court-amanda-knox/.
[10] ABC News, Amanda Knox, ABC News http://abcnews.go.com/US/AmandaKnox (last visited Nov. 1, 2015).
[11] A Murder. A Mystery. Amanda Knox Speaks supra Note 8.
[12] Id.
[13] Id.
[14] Id.
[15] Id.
[16] ABC News, supra Note 10
[17] Id.
