Saturday, March 28, 2015

Amanda Knox: "I'm The Lucky One"

'Grateful to have my life back': Amanda Knox murder conviction overturned by Italian court, surprising the mother of victim Meredith Kercher

Splash News

Amanda Knox addresses the media after being acquitted of Meredith Kercher's murder.

Speaking through tears outside her mother's Seattle home, Amanda Knox shared her relief hours after Italy's highest court overturned her murder conviction.
"I am so grateful for the justice I have received," Knox told local media outside her mother's Seattle home. "I am so grateful to have my life back."
The ruling by the Supreme Court of Cassation ended a years-long legal drama that brought two convictions and an acquittal for the 2007 murder of Knox's British roommate, 21-year-old Meredith Kercher.
Knox and her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted from afar last year after two previous flip-flops on the verdict.

Kercher’s mother, Arline Kercher, told Britain’s Press Association news agency that she was “a bit surprised and very shocked.”

“They have been convicted twice so it is a bit odd that it should change now,” she said.

Amanda Knox prepares to leave the set following a television interview in New York in January 2014.Mark Lennihan/AP

Amanda Knox prepares to leave the set following a television interview in New York in January 2014.

When the verdict was read aloud, Vedova exclaimed: "Finished!"
It’s a victory of justice,” Vedova said outside the courtroom. “This was a mistake from the beginning.”
Knox first thanked supporters in a short statement after the verdict was announced.
Amanda Knox talks on a phone in the backyard of her mother's house Friday, March 27, 2015, in Seattle.Ted S. Warren/AP  Enlarge
ITALY OUTMassimo Percossi/AP  Enlarge

Both Knox, who was awaiting the verdict in her hometown of Seattle were she works for a local newspaper, and Sollecito have long maintained their innocence.

“I am tremendously relieved and grateful for the decision of the Supreme Court of Italy,” she said. “The knowledge of my innocence has given me strength in the darkest times of this ordeal.”
Speaking briefly to media Friday night, with her family and fiance at her side, Knox wouldn't comment on who she believes killed Kercher.
"She deserved so much in this life," Knox said. "I'm the lucky one."
The judges’ decision will be released within 90 days, according to authorities.
Knox, who was awaiting the verdict in Seattle, and Sollecito have both long maintained their innocence.
Knox spent the past few years working as a freelance reporter for her hometown newspaper, the West Seattle Herald, and recently got engaged to former New York musician Colin Sutherland, who now lives in Seattle.
PHOTO RELEASED BY THE ITALIAN POLICE, AP  PROVIDES ACCESS TO THIS PUBLICLY DISTRIBUTED HANDOUT PHOTO TO BE USED ONLY TO  ILLUSTRATE NEWS REPORTING OR COMMENTARY ON THE FACTS OR EVENTS DEPICTED IN  THIS IMAGE.AP

Knox and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted last year for the 2007 murder of her roommate, 21-year-old Meredith Kercher (pictured).

Kercher was found with her throat slashed in the apartment she shared with Knox and two other students in Perugia, Italy, on Nov. 2, 2007. She had also been sexually assaulted.
Knox and Sollecito were arrested days later and first convicted in 2009 after prosecutors argued the murder was part of a ritualistic sex party gone wrong.
The pair claim they were not at the apartment the night of the murder, but at Sollecito’s home smoking pot and having sex.
Stefano Medici/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Amanda Marie Knox, left, and Raffaele Sollecito, stand outside her rented house on the day 21-year-old British student Meredith Kercher was found dead, in Perugia, Italy.

In 2011, an appellate judge overturned the conviction and Knox returned to the U.S. after four years in behind bars.
Eventually another man, Rudy Guede, from Ivory Coast, was arrested, tried and convicted of the murder in a separate trial and sentenced to 16 years in jail.
But Italy’s high court threw out the Knox acquittal last year and ordered new trials for her and Sollecito at a Florence appeals court.
Knox was sentenced to 28 ½ years and Sollecito to 25 years in prison before Friday’s decision.
Sollecito’s lawyer, Luca Maori, called the young man with the good news from the steps of the courthouse.
“You have your whole life ahead of you now, Raf,” he told Sollecito.
“He almost couldn’t speak," Maori said after the call. “Eight years of nightmare over.”
Francesco Maresca, an attorney representing the Kercher family, was clearly disappointed by the ruling.
“I think that it’s a defeat for the Italian justice system,” he said.
With News Wire Services

26 comments:

BostonLady said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
BostonLady said...

As to Amanda Knox, yes she is lucky because she is guilty. I feel sorry for the victim and her family who have been thru an emotional rollercoaster with this.

This is yet another case where justice has not been served.

Nic said...

Of all the quotes I've read about this case this week, "I'm the lucky one," stood out. It's the one I repeated to my husband over brunch this AM.

He was struck at how "unfoxy" she has tried to appear.

"I'm the lucky one," to me is a true statement. Considering the alternative to what happened. Meredith was not so lucky, insinuating she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And that, too, is the truth.

jmo

Nic said...

"I'm the lucky one." To me equates with "There by the grace of God go I".

I'm asking myself, why the comparison? What happened that night that she feels it could have been her and not Meredith?

As per Peter's previous analysis, I agree she may not have committed the final "blow" that killed Meredith; but I'm thinking based on "I'm the lucky one," she was at the scene.

I've been trying to play catch up via "themurderofmeredithkercher.com", but Is this where the the sex game reference came from? Was the sex game reference part of a statement? A threesome gone horribly wrong? Who referred to this? Thanks in advance.

~mj said...

I think her quote of being glad to have her life back is despicable. Meredith doesn't get to have her life back...ever.

Nic said...

Knox wouldn't comment on who she believes killed Kercher.
"She deserved so much in this life," Knox said. "I'm the lucky one."


This is so simple yet deceptive. Why wouldn't she comment? There is a man who was found guilty of being "one of" Meredith's killers. His name is Rudy Guede. She could have at least said his name.

So you have one incarcerated, one dead and two acquitted. But she's the lucky ONE? I would say she's lucky as is Sollecito. But she singles herself out.

Statement Analysis Blog said...

Amanda Knox used the proper word.

She needed "luck" in getting this overturned.

Peter

Sus said...

"She deserved so much in THIS life."
I find it interesting that Amanda Knox adds "this" before life. It's an unnecessary word and I wonder if it is how she has salved her guilt.

Note she immediately changes to thoughts of "I", proving to Amanda Knox life is "you or me."

"I'm the lucky one."
This entire sentence is unexpected, especially following her thoughts of Kercher deserving so much.
-she switches to I
-"the" in this case speaks of a comparison. Either Knox or Kercher can "deserve so much", not both. "The" speaks to one.
-"lucky one". Even though Kercher deserved so much, Ananda Knox ended up being the one who got it.

Don't forget that even though Amanda Knox says they were friends, other flat mates and their boss testified Amanda was jealous of Kercher.

Nic said...

Peter said:
Amanda Knox used the proper word.

She needed "luck" in getting this overturned.

Peter


I partly agree. She could have said that she was lucky or "so" lucky. But instead she chose to say I'm the lucky one. She is a highly educated writer. It's a subtle but distinct difference in meaning and I'm likening it to seepage. (Lots of people are lucky, by "the lucky one" is exceptional in comparison.) It answers who isn't the lucky one. (The one sitting in jail whom she wouldn't name because IMO, I believe they were in the same place at the same time and they both know it.) RG tried to blame an unknown black man as the one who stabbed Meredith and who he supposedly defended himself against, and she tried to pin it on her (black) boss at the bar. If it hadn't been for the Swedish eyewitness to contest that fact (he travelled back to Italy to provide her boss with an alibi,) her boss would have been behind bars for a lot longer than two weeks.

Bad luck for Rudy G.

jmo

Nic said...

Correction, it was a Swiss professor who cleared Patrick Lumumba.

John Mc Gowan said...

Amanda Knox in line for multi-million compensation payout as she prepares to return to Italy to write a book

27-year-old 'loves' the country and always wanted to return, her lawyer said

Supreme Court of Cassation's decision is final ruling in seven-year case
Knox was reportedly paid £2.7million for her first book Waiting to Be Heard

Miss Knox's defence lawyer confirmed she will seek 'compensation for wrongful imprisonment'



Read more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3016597/Amanda-Knox-return-ITALY-write-book-country-s-legal-cleared-death-Meredith-Kercher.html#ixzz3VoLXbyF8

Anonymous said...

She starts with "she deserved so much in This Life."

"I'm the Lucky One."

WOW, this really jumps out as awkward and boastful.

There were reports of Amanda being jealous of Meredith. Amanda makes the comparison between them both, with "I'm The Lucky One." As I get to have it all now that I am not going to prison.

News reports today about Knox wanting to go back to Italy to write a book. If you were accused of a murder you did not commit in a foreign country would you be talking of returning so soon, if ever?

Does Knox believe this is how an "innocent person" would behave traveling back?

She will be seeking wrongful imprisonment compensation? Good Luck, hope Mr. Lumumba sues her for it.

Maybe more book deals? It's like she struck the lottery. Feeling important and empowered. I find her scary, weird.

somanyways said...

so sad. she is guilty. she deserves to go to prison.

did you all hear she says she's moving to Italy to write another book. the audacity/ compulsion to return to crime scene.

I hope she drives herself to prison via psychotic hubris despite her "luck" just like OJ and Durst eventually did .

John Mc Gowan said...

Amanda Knox's Ex-Boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito Hails 'Air of Freedom'

ROME — Amanda Knox's ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito told Monday how he and his family went "crazy with joy" when the pair's murder convictions were overturned by Italy's top court.

"Everybody was pushing me… we were in kind of a frenzy… a chaos of happiness," the 31-year-old told NBC News. "It was great, it was really great."

The software engineer spent four years in an Italian jail after being convicted alongside Seattle native Knox over the 2007 stabbing death of British roommate, Meredith Kercher.

They were acquitted and freed in 2011 but an appeals court overturned the acquittals in 2013 and ordered a new trial, and they were convicted again last year. The latest decision, announced late Friday in Rome, is the final verdict in the case.

Sollecito said he struggled to believe the ruling.

"You put on it all your strength, everything, all your emotions, all your suffering … so it's very hard to have just words saying 'It's over' — you need something else."

He added: "I still have to realize it, but it feels like the air is more fresh … the air of freedom feels very nice, it smells nice!"

He told NBC News he had not spoken to Knox since the verdict, and had not yet discussed any plans for a lawsuit over his original conviction.

"I'm so glad for her, but for me psychologically having all these connections and grievances and all the people talking about my relationship with her really took me down," Sollecito added. "I want to be detached from this bond …not that I have anything against her."

Asked about his message to the victim's family, who said they were shocked by the verdict, he said: "I'm surprised that they are surprised The real facts show that I'm innocent."

Sollecito said he wanted to use his freedom — after more than seven years of legal process — to take a dream vacation in Japan and to be known for his work projects, not the murder case.

"It was a really long crazy experience … seven years is a big part of your life so I'm getting used to that, even little things. It's very hard to feel completely a sense of freedom because it's been a few days and I've been trapped inside the house for so long so now I have to start all over again, I have to look at the world around you in a different way.

"It's very sad because the 20s [are] the best period of everybody's life so it was completely taken away from me … but still I'm so glad I can think about having a new life starting from now."

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/amanda-knoxs-ex-boyfriend-sollecito-hails-air-freedom-n332396

trustmeigetit said...

Him and Amanda both when asked about what they would say to the family fail.

I would say "I didn't kill Meredith"

It's so simple. Yet never has been said

Still now that they are free from conviction they can't say it.

"The real facts show I'm innocent" That phrase disturbs me.

somanyways said...

"I am very sorry that Meredith's family was disappointed and saddened by this verdict. This verdict represents the judicial truth, which this time coincides with truth in fact," Sollecito said. "I have nothing to do with this murder."


THIS (not that)

charlotte from denmark said...

Finally! I hope Amanda Knox will be able to put this horrible experience behind her, and live a long and happy life.

She is happy for herself. Had I been wrongly accused of murder, my only concern would have been myself.

Rudy Guede will rot in hell, but at least he did the right thing by confessing and not falsely implicating anyone else.

I dont think Americans understand how corrupt Italy is. It is well on par with Russia.

Karen T said...

I agree that AK had guilty knowledge but I do not believe she is guilty of killing Meredith. Maybe by saying, "I'm the lucky one" she means that for some reason it could have easily been herself that was killed. Did she walk in on the assault/murder & hid while the murder took place? Had she been asked out on a "date" by Rudy? I believe there are many reasons why she said she was the lucky one. Only she knows why she chose those words. Everything else is supposition.

Nic said...

From Amanda Knox's email home:

[snip] in the living room raffael told me he
wanted to see if he could break down merediths door. he tried, and
cracked the door, but we couldnt open it. ...and then filomena arrived with her boyfriend marco-f and two other friends of hers. all together we checked the houe out, talked to the polie,a nd in a big they all opened merediths door. i was in the kitchen stadning aside, having really done my part for the situation. [end snip]


Aside from the "having really done my PART for the situation" (wow, minimize much?) here she contradicts herself. The police who first responded enquired about the locked door and it was Knox who told them that Meredith always locked the door, even when she took a shower. It was Filomena who, after she had arrived on the scene, said that Meredith never locked her door and insisted that the door be broken in. The first responders actually didn't want to disturb the door but it was at Filomena's urgency and demands that they did. (You can read the translated witness statements to this accord from the first trial available on line.)

In her email home, Amanda also refers to Raffaelle having tried to break in the door himself (before anyone arrived on the scene) that *day*. But given the contrary statement she provided to police, (Meredith's habit of locking the door,) I'm piqued as to why an inconsequential detail like a crack in the door is even mentioned. I can't help but believe, based on numerous contrary statements and lies by Amanda Knox, (Patrick Lumumba off the top of my head,) was motivated by "something" to embed the inconsequential detail about a crack in the door/WHEN the damage to Meredith's door occurred. Maybe her motivation was the "when" it actually happened. Maybe it happened the night before. If her and SR weren't there, why would she care about damage to Meredith's door via a struggle by a third party intruder. It would demonstrate Meredith's fight to survive, her fear, her non-compliance to the sexual assault and serious bodily harm she sustained and from which she died. Why work to change the time of occurrence if it doesn't mean anything to her?

Just my opinion and wonderment based on my review of the ever changing and conflicting statements publicly available/provided by Amanda Knox.

trustmeigetit said...

Nic....Interesting about the “cracked door” comment. I don’t think I have really thought much about that. Now I need to see the times she mentioned it and how…





One thing that I think is always interesting is to add other aspects to SA. In this case, I think its safe to say that Peter along with a lot of us, don’t necessarily think Amanda was the actual murderer, but think she was there……



This was a body language experts take on those 2 pieces. Murdering Meredith and physically being there.




What I cannot fathom however, is why if she was there did she hide this fact? If you didn’t kill her, and were just there, why would you not have stated this when your own freedom was on the line….

I have tried to imagine an scenario for that but just cannot. Does anyone else have any thoughts?










Here is the body language experts comments.





3. MISMATCH: Nods



A big red flag and mismatched body language was during one of Diane Sawyer’s most important series of questions. Here is how they went:



First, Sawyer asked Knox, “Did you kill Meredith Kercher?” Knox says “No,” very directly, with eye contact, no odd facial tics and, most importantly, a side to side head shake–the nonverbal sign of “no.” This negative head shake matches
her negative statement and the absence of facial leaks is also devoid of deception.



Second, Sawyer asks, “Were you there that night?” Knox’s verbal answer is the same, “No.” Yet, her nonverbal behavior at this question is different. She says “No” then flashes a microexpression of surprise and nods her head up and down–the
position of “yes.” Here her nonverbal does not match her words.. There are a number of reasons why she could have shown that surprise and head nod. Occasionally people raise their eyebrows as a verbal punctuator or exclamation point. Again, not a sure sign
of lying, but a definite red flag in my book.





4. MISMATCH: Swallow



Another red flag came directly following Sawyer’s question about Knox’s whereabouts that evening. Sawyer asked, “Do you know anything else you have not told police, that you have not said in this book?” First, it takes Knox a beat longer
to answer this question than previous questions–never a good sign. Then she deeply swallows showing intense nerves. This question would not make an honest person nervous. So, why was this question so hard for her to answer? Another red flag.



5. MATCH: Posture



For most of the interview Knox’s posture and the way she held her hands was quite relaxed. This matches her stance of innocence and that she has nothing to hide. The only time she showed extreme nerves was during the intense swallow following
Sawyer’s question about withholding information

trustmeigetit said...

Just read one statement by Amanda that I think was a slip that would make sense only if she was there that night. But curious if others see it that way.

She said

"I was angry, was pacing, thinking about what Meredith was -- must have been through,"

If I was not present and was imagining....I would say "imagining what she must have gone thru" not "was going thru".

"Was going thru" to me makes her present at the least to hear what happened.

Thoughts from others. One simple word but it changes the meaning...

Nic said...

@ trustmeigetit

Regretfully, I have not taken a lot of interest in this case throughout the years. Mostly because what the media was reporting was "one sided" and/or slanted with little to verify their reporting against. What I've read has been limited here on Peter's blog and not all of it because I've felt so far behind the "eight ball" I found it difficult to keep my interest. I should (and will) read his analysis because most of it was probably early in the investigation and right now, that's where I am most interested in reading about. It's really interesting stuff, especially since I've found a convenient repository of information that has everything all together. I'm talking transcripts/translations. As in "hearing" what was said versus listening to someone "report" what they heard them say within a prescribed timeframe. (What they think you should know.)

It's interesting stuff.

Nic said...

Here is something I read this morning that I found really interesting. I was using Google translator to translate scripts from the first hearing. This is from one of Raffaele Sollecito's Spontaneous Declarations:

[snip] io non sono un violento non lo sono mai stato e né lo sarò mai, io non ho ucciso Meredith e io non ero in quella casa la sera del delitto, ogni giorno che passa spero che il vero colpevole confessi, [end snip]

translated via Google:

[snip]I am not a violent are not never been and I never will be either, I did not kill Meredith, and I was not in that house the night of the murder, with each passing day I hope that the real culprit confessed, [end snip]

I thought that was so neat. He can say he didn't kill Meredith and can emphatically state he wasn't in "that" house [the night of the murder]. Not just say it, but the on-line translator "gets" his words loud and clear.

Last week, Amanda couldn't say who killed Meredith. If I were Amanda, I would have named Rudy Guede (the one sitting in jail). She could have said, 'aside from Rudy Guede, I don't know. I didn't kill her. Raffaele didn't kill her. I don't know."

I'd also like to add that at one point, RS recanted his statement that said he and Amanda were at his place all night and said that he lied because Amanda asked him to.

Remarkable. I can't stop reading now.

Nic said...

Also, I find this case is reminiscent of the Hailey Dunn case in that every time a discovery is made, the story changes. Probably why I can't stop reading.

Nic said...

@trustmeigetit said
"I was angry, was pacing, thinking about what Meredith was -- must have been through,"

If I was not present and was imagining....I would say "imagining what she must have gone thru" not "was going thru".

"Was going thru" to me makes her present at the least to hear what happened.


Definitely a change in what she was going to say. Missing information.

Re "hear'" Lots of references to her ears and I remember there being something Peter posted and analyzed quite some time ago about showering and cleaning blood from around her ear/s? I have to go back into the archives. Anyway, there is much reference to ears/covering ears, (subliminal?), so I agree with you that she could have t 'heard' what happened to Meredith. Neighbors' transcripts said heard a scream like they have never heard in their life that night.

Re Sawyer's interview. I didn't see it. But reference to her being relaxed, she is on record saying she would never go back to Italy/would go back kicking and screaming (at least until last Friday). So I think her being relaxed was more about her knowing there was a strong possibility that there would never be a consequential fallout from what she said.

BJD was very comfortable in front of the camera, too. She didn't even flinch when the phone rang while she was being interviewed (live). Most parents would have pounced on the phone hoping it was news of their missing kid. Instead, BJD was visibly irritated her 'face time" had been interrupted.

StudioTodd said...

Once again, you people sound insane.

You have a man who confessed to the murder, who stated that he acted alone, and who fits the crime scene evidence. Yet you still want to go off on tangents because Amanda Knox said that she was "the lucky one?"

FWIW, I agree with her--she is the lucky one of the two women who were living in the house at the time. Lucky that she was not at home that night--otherwise, she might have been murdered as well.

This case was prosecuted by a man who believes in actual devils and witchcraft and asserted that the murder was part of a satanic ritual. That she was ever convicted (or even brought to trial in the first place) is almost unfathomable--until you recognize how completely corrupt the Italian legal system is and how far this delusional publicity hound of a prosecutor would go to win his case at any cost.

No rational person could look objectively at this case and believe that Amanda Knox and her boyfriend had anything to do with murdering Meredith Kercher. If you believe they were involved, it is because you want to believe it.

Either that or you are just an idiot.