瘋人瘋語

「我離港前到過一間精神科醫院。當時有位病人禮貌地問,一個以作為世上最悠久民主政體而自傲的國家,如何能夠將此地交給一個政治制度非常不同的國家,且既沒諮詢當地公民,又沒給予他們民主的前景,好讓他們捍衞自己的將來。一個隨行同事說,奇怪,香港提出最理智問題的人,竟在精神科醫院。」彭定康 金融時報

“During a visit to a mental hospital before I left Hong Kong, a patient politely asked me how a country that prided itself on being the oldest democracy in the world had come to be handing over his city to another country with a very different system of government, without either consulting the citizens or giving them the prospect of democracy to safeguard their future. Strange, said one of my aides, that the man with the sanest question in Hong Kong is in a mental hospital.”Chris Patten Financial Times

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Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Pot-smoking party girl

Pot-smoking party girl – an "angel-faced killer"



這幾天蛇竇有人提出,有位22歲美國女學生,于2007年在意大利殺了她的英籍同房女子,上週五已被判26年的監禁,新聞報導說:最終可能會引發”意美“外交風波,云云!


《People.com》Two judges and six jurors in the Italian city of Perugia have a reached a verdict in the case of accused murderer Amanda Knox: guilty.

After nearly two years in jail, Knox, 22, was convicted on charges of masterminding the brutal murder of British roommate, Meredith Kercher, 21, in a sadistic sex game gone awry in 2007.

Alleged to have acted with her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 25, Knox, a University of Washington student studying in Italy, was portrayed in the European press as an amoral, pot-smoking party girl – an "angel-faced killer," in one headline.

In testimony at her 11-month trial, Kercher's friends described what they considered Knox's bizarre behavior when she was brought into the police station for questioning the day after the murder.

Knox began doing cartwheels and handstands and snuggling with Sollecito. "We were all crying, and I didn't see Amanda crying," said Robyn Butterworth. "She and Raffaele were kissing and joking."

But on the stand, Knox explained: "When I feel uneasy or nervous, I act a bit foolish."

According to authorities, Knox gave conflicting statements about her whereabouts on the night of the murder. Yet the prosecution was not able to link her conclusively to the killing through DNA.

In a separate trial in October, 2008, Rudy Guede, a 20-year-old drifter from the Ivory Coast in Africa, was convicted of Kercher's murder and sentenced to 30 years.

Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison.



吸食大麻的派對女子,在法庭上,當然不能穿上奇裝異服,打扮樸素的 Amanda Knox,就被塑造成鄰家女孩的形象,難怪歐洲的傳媒,《portrayed in the European press as an amoral, pot-smoking party girl – an "angel-faced killer," in one headline.》


以下是綜合CNN幾段報導輯成:

《CNN》Knox, 22, read a statement Thursday in the trial, which began in January in the university town of Perugia, 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of Rome, telling jurors she is not a killer.

Knox and Sollecito, who were arrested shortly after the slaying, were also charged with sexual violence. A third suspect was found guilty in a separate trial and is appealing. Knox testified in June that she was not home at the time of the slaying. Sollecito also denied any role in the killing.

The jury reached its verdict after deliberating nearly 11 hours on the 11 counts against Knox and Sollecito.

Defense attorney Luciano Ghirga rejected the suggestion that the American student hated her roommate, quoting Knox as having described the victim as her friend.

Prosecutors say Kercher died during a sex game in which Knox taunted Kercher while Sollecito and acquaintance Rudy Guede sexually assaulted her. Guede was convicted in a separate fast-track trial and is appealing. The prosecution said a knife found in Sollecito's house had Knox's DNA on the handle and Kercher's on the blade, among other pieces of evidence.

Knox's defense attorneys have tried to cast doubt on the knife, saying it matches neither Kercher's wounds nor a knife imprint left on a bed sheet. They also said the DNA sample is too small to be conclusive.

Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, who was sentenced to 25 years, were convicted on all charges except theft, and together must pay 5 million euros to the victim's family. In addition, Knox must pay 40,000 euros to a man whom she falsely accused of the killing.

Kercher was Knox's roommate in Perugia at the time of the November 2007 slaying.



我們不祇討論,有關于謀殺的過程,還包括美國人和英國人,各為自己的國人被殺和被控,各自各說。


《CNN》Knox's family insisted the verdict was unjust and vowed to appeal, and one of the senators from her home state of Washington publicly questioned the verdict minutes after it was announced.

"The prosecution did not present enough evidence for an impartial jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms. Knox was guilty," Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat, said in a written statement. "Italian jurors were not sequestered and were allowed to view highly negative news coverage about Ms. Knox.

"Other flaws in the Italian justice system on display in this case included the harsh treatment of Ms. Knox following her arrest; negligent handling of evidence by investigators; and pending charges of misconduct against one of the prosecutors stemming from another murder trial," Cantwell said.

Kercher's family, from the United Kingdom, said they were satisfied with the verdict. Pressed on whether it was the right one, they said people should follow the evidence.

That evidence, however, is far from conclusive. The outstanding questions don't clearly favor either the defense or the prosecution; neither side seems to have presented an airtight argument.



而英國人的喉舌 BBC 又怎麼說呢?

《BBC》 American student Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend have been found guilty by an Italian court of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.

Knox, 22, bowed her head and burst into tears as she was jailed for 26 years for murder and sexual violence. Italian Raffaele Sollecito, 25, looked impassive as he was given 25 years.

Miss Kercher, 21, a Leeds University student from Surrey, was found with her throat slit in Perugia in 2007. Knox had denied killing her in a sex game.

But prosecutors said Sollecito held her down while Knox stabbed her to death. The pair committed the killing with small-time drug dealer Rudy Guede, 22, who was jailed for 30 years for murder and sexual violence last October.

Police are still not certain why Knox, Sollecito and Guede were all at the house together, but they suspect it involved a drugs transaction.

They cornered Miss Kercher in her room and began some kind of sex game which ended with her being held down while Knox cut her throat with a six-inch kitchen knife. Her semi-naked body was found in a pool of blood.

Afterwards they tried to make the death look like part of a failed burglary, breaking the window in Miss Kercher's room to look like forced entry. But police realised it had been done from the inside.

Knox's odd behaviour after the body was found also aroused suspicions - she was reported to have performed a cartwheel and done the splits while waiting to be questioned by police.

After the judge read the verdict to a hushed court, Knox buried her head in her lawyer's chest and sobbed. Her sister Deanna wept uncontrollably as Knox was led out of court crying.

Miss Kercher's family lawyer, Francesco Maresca, said they were satisfied with the verdict. He said: "They got the justice they were expecting. We got what we were hoping for.

"With what we got with the Guede sentence last year, we have obtained truth and justice for this tragic event." The Kercher family are due to hold a press conference at a hotel in Perugia at 1000 GMT.

Knox's family, meanwhile, left court in tears, fighting through the crowds of journalists gathered outside. A spokesman for Knox's parents said they would immediately start the process of appealing against her guilty verdict.




美國人和英國人們『心中的一把尺』,當然絕然不同,而美國國務卿 Hillary Clinton drawn into row over conviction of Amanda Knox,由民間案件,攀上到外交層面。

《Timesonline》 A row broke out between Italy and the United States today over the conviction of the American student Amanda Knox for the murder of her British flatmate Meredith Kercher.

Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, was drawn into the battle to overturn the verdict on the grounds that it was a miscarriage of justice and the result of Italian anti-Americanism.

Senator Maria Cantwell, from Washington state, the Knox family's home state, said that there were serious questions about the Italian justice system and that she feared the judge and jury had been influenced by anti-American feeling.

"The prosecution did not present enough evidence for an impartial jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Miss Knox was guilty," the senator said. "Italian jurors were allowed to view highly negative news coverage about Miss Knox."

She said that Knox had been the victim of "harsh treatment", a reference to claims – denied by Italian police – that she was put under pressure during 53 hours of interrogation after the murder and twice struck on the head.

Asked on US television about the trial Mrs Clinton said she had not had time to study the matter and could not offer an opinion, but would meet with Senator Cantwell "or anyone who has a concern".

Headlines in today's Italian newspapers included "Hillary steps in to the Amanda case" and "Clinton intervenes in Perugia trial".



睇戲!睇戲!擔定凳子睇戲!


伸延閱覽:
Amanda Knox 谷歌搜尋
Image results for Amanda Knox 谷歌搜尋
American Student Amanda Knox Guilty of Murder in Italy People.com
Amanda Knox not an angel but a she-devil Times Online
Knox 'ready to fight on,' parents say CNN
Knox verdict leaves many questions unanswered CNN
Amanda Knox prosecutor: We had a strong case CNN
BBC news amanda knox 谷歌搜尋
Hillary Clinton drawn into row over conviction of Amanda Knox Timesonline.co.uk
Hillary Clinton drawn into Knox's Case 谷歌搜尋
Amanda Knox's family Interviewed Seattletimes


8 comments:

exile said...

Pot-smoking killer? Ha, it's funny because potheads usually don't quite fit the profiling of murderers. Have you heard we are trying to legalize pot in California?

The sentencing got the U.S media excited for about one day, then Tiger Woods's affairs completely took over. I don't think Americans care what happens to this girl. It's just the media playing it up like an international affair. At least we don't have to play the race card this time. A white girl found guilty of murdering another white girl. Peace!

No doubt some "proud" Americans like to assume that justice systems in other countries are inferior to ours. But it's not like we have not wrongly convicted anyone in the U.S.

the inner space said...

Exile, Arnold Schwarzenegger legalizing marijuana is eyeing on the taxation to subsidize the hugh deficits, indirectly for the goodness of the Californians.

Tiger Woods' 10th mistress is coming forward I can see there will be 11th 12th ......nth so far the magazines are willing to pay. Afterall Woods' case is domestic, Hillary Clinton needs not to be consulted.

Can the american judiciary system request transferring Knox back to US jail to serve her 26 year term and then set her free by granting Parole?

新鮮人 said...

space,
你"擔定凳子睇戲",
有點幸災樂禍之勢喎!!! =p

你講的"尺",
在這件事上只是各自"維護本家利益"啫,
唔覺得各方是用一個客觀的立場來評論,
說得底只是"親其親"而已!

Anonymous said...

I briefly heard this on the news. My understanding is that if she is allowed to serve the 26-year term in the U.S, she will have to serve all 26 years with no chance of parole.

I don't think this case will go any further. There is very little public interest in the U.S. We have much bigger problems to deal with right now. My guess is that her parents will be the only ones advocating for her from now on. Mrs Clinton may play some lip service when she is being asked but she won't take any active role to help this young lady. We'll see.

the inner space said...

哈哈哈!新鮮兄: 既沒有災,那裡來禍,沒災無禍,何來幸災樂禍?

正如 Exile from Hong Kong 說:“No doubt some "proud" Americans like to assume that justice systems in other countries are inferior to ours. But it's not like we have not wrongly convicted anyone in the U.S.”

是美國土佬鄉下婆救女心切,加上大美國主義的參議院女士,攪出要國務卿希拉莉女士出面干涉的鬧劇。

顧此我沒有幸災樂禍!

the inner space said...

另外 新鮮兄:英國人美國人用『心中的一把尺』來量度,就是未能“客觀”地,看事不看人,有了私心。

終於我們有丁點共識了。

the inner space said...

Exile, the parole option was suggested by one of my canadian colleagues. A canadian woman Brenda Martin was repatriated back to canada from Mexico jail for her jail term and soon after she landed in canada she was set free immediately.

Well, Knox has a murder case, brenda was just $60-million US internet fraud scheme.

the inner space said...

"I don't think this case will go any further. " Exile, we still could see being "picking up" on CNN front page yesterday.