Amanda Knox
No new information was heard from the main
witness at yesterday's appeal hearing for Amanda Knox and Raffaele
Sollecito as Rudy Guede, the man responsible for Meredith Kercher's
murder, took the stand for the prosecution. Guede was called to refute
the testimony of five inmates that told the court last week that Guede
informed them during prison yard discussions that Amanda Knox was
innocent.
Guede's testimony reiterated the feelings
he expressed in a letter written in 2010. In a strange courtroom
display, his letter was read aloud by Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini
because Guede claimed to be unable to read his own handwriting. Judge
Hellmann found this odd prompting him to ask Guede if he understood the
big words written in the letter; in a very telling admission, Guede's answer was no.
As Mignini read the words allegedly penned
by Guede, the court heard Guede's accusation that Knox and Sollecito
murdered Meredith Kercher. Guede has lied repeatedly throughout this
case, modifying his stories, based on news reports as it best suited his
defense, so hearing Guede's most recent claims, once again, was old
news.
Old news or not, hearing these words while
Guede was in the same courtroom was shocking to Knox and Solleito none
the less. Knox requested to make a statement while Guede was present but
the request was denied, leaving her to give an emotional declaration to
the court once Guede had been shuffled out.
"Please the Court, I simply want to declare that the only time that Rudy Guede, Raffaele and I were together in the same space is in a courtroom. We never had any kind of contact. I am shocked and anguished by his declarations, truly, because he knows it, that we weren't there. He knows that we weren't involved and I don't know what happened that night. I just wish I could tell him "Look, mistakes can be fixed by first telling the truth." That's all. Thank you."
Raffaele also passionately addressed the court showing disgust that he was unable to face his accuser.
"Rudy said in his chat to Giacomo Benedetti that Amanda wasn’t there, and as a male he saw just a shadow. Then he accused us just because we were already blamed!"
"For almost 4 years I’m fighting against the shadows, and he comes here, and doesn’t even speak. What should I defend myself from, if he doesn’t speak?"
Although Guede's testimony has been
dramatized by the media it actually went exactly as expected. No one
imagined that Guede would come clean and tell the truth. He did
answer my question as to whether or not he had a conscience; the answer
is clearly no.
As I predicted shortly after the first
trial concluded in December, 2009, we have seen a clear shift in the
media leaning toward innocence during the appeal for Knox and Sollecito.
As the truth becomes crystal clear, journalists around the world are
finally coming to terms with reality. As I have said repeatedly, some
may have seen the error of their ways, others are just jockeying their
position so they don’t end up on the wrong side of the story.
Even though the media has improved
drastically over the past year, it had to be expected that details of
yesterday's hearing would be simply too irresistible for even the most
disciplined reporters to not exaggerate. Unfortunately this led to
another round of sensationalized headlines and misrepresentation of the
facts, suggesting to the public that Guede provided shocking new
information. It's okay, the headlines carry no weight and will quickly
fade leaving Guede's testimony to have no lasting effect on the trial.
When the dust settles from the commotion created
during the past two hearings, the media coverage will soon come back to
reality, back to the embarrassing heroin addicted super witness, back
to the faulty DNA, back to the complete lack of evidence against Knox
and Sollecito. The haunting words of Sollecito "fighting against the shadows" couldn't
be more relevant as the truth is now being exposed from the darkness.
Two who were once condemned will soon find freedom.
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