By: Vickie J. Rubinson
An Italian jury has found American student Amanda Knox guilty in the stabbing death of British exchange student Meredith Kercher. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in an Italian prison, despite the lack of evidence in the crime. The following is a Q & A with legal expert Robin Sax:
Q- Do you think Amanda Knox got a fair trial?
A- No, I do not feel she got a fair trial.
Q-Do you think she was "set up" for the murder of Meredith Kercher?
A- I don't have enough evidence to know where the basis of this opinion comes from. Overall thoughts though: I believe that American students who are traveling abroad for international education should be afforded some protections. The U.S. did not have any jurisdiction in this case and I do not believe that is fair. The problem is--unlike an American adult going to another country on their own--this is still a student/kid who is very young, has a language barrier and is not experienced in the culture of this country. Just like a U.S. armed service-person receives special protections abroad, I believe that American study abroad students should receive some protection as well.
Q- Since no actual evidence was found linking Amanda to the murder, can you still prosecute her based on circumstantial evidence?
A- I can't say Amanda didn't do it (based on what I saw of the evidence presented), and none of us can say for sure what happened that night. I can say this: I do not think Amanda would have been convicted of murder here (if she was tried for the same crime in the United States). The concept of "not guilty" and innocent (or didn't-do-it) are very different things in the American system. You can believe a person is not innocent, but the evidence is not enough to prove guilt--so the verdict is "not guilty" (which again, is different from "innocence").
An Italian jury has found American student Amanda Knox guilty in the stabbing death of British exchange student Meredith Kercher. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in an Italian prison, despite the lack of evidence in the crime. The following is a Q & A with legal expert Robin Sax:
Q- Do you think Amanda Knox got a fair trial?
A- No, I do not feel she got a fair trial.
Q-Do you think she was "set up" for the murder of Meredith Kercher?
A- I don't have enough evidence to know where the basis of this opinion comes from. Overall thoughts though: I believe that American students who are traveling abroad for international education should be afforded some protections. The U.S. did not have any jurisdiction in this case and I do not believe that is fair. The problem is--unlike an American adult going to another country on their own--this is still a student/kid who is very young, has a language barrier and is not experienced in the culture of this country. Just like a U.S. armed service-person receives special protections abroad, I believe that American study abroad students should receive some protection as well.
Q- Since no actual evidence was found linking Amanda to the murder, can you still prosecute her based on circumstantial evidence?
A- I can't say Amanda didn't do it (based on what I saw of the evidence presented), and none of us can say for sure what happened that night. I can say this: I do not think Amanda would have been convicted of murder here (if she was tried for the same crime in the United States). The concept of "not guilty" and innocent (or didn't-do-it) are very different things in the American system. You can believe a person is not innocent, but the evidence is not enough to prove guilt--so the verdict is "not guilty" (which again, is different from "innocence").
No comments:
Post a Comment