Amanda Knox’s Conviction is Upheld

After a long wait the Italian Supreme Court’s verdict in the Amanda Knox, Raffaele Sollecito case was finally revealed on Thursday: guilty. The judges in Florence overruled her previous acquittal and sentence her to 28 years and 6 months in prison, while Knox’s ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, was also found guilty and given 25 years in jail. But their lawyers vowed to appeal to Italy’s highest court—a process that will take at least a year and drag out this legal saga even further. 

Yet, not surprisingly, Knox has still managed to garner support from the American media, who by and large still believe that she is an innocent girl being played by a corrupt and antiquated Italian justice system. Knox’s PR machine (The Marriott Group) and the legion of Knox apologists still gawk at those, like myself, who believe that Knox is nothing more than a murderer, master manipulator, and worthy of an Academy Award for her brilliant acting job for duping almost an entire nation. 

Speaking on ABC's Good Morning America, Knox vowed yesterday to fight her conviction “until the very end” and said she “will never willingly go back to Italy.” And of course a new CNN article paints Knox as a hero, when in fact her statement “fight to the very end” actually means hide in the United States until her final appeal comes back guilty as well, and then continue hiding for the rest of her life (i.e. the very end). 

Knox’s great acting has also been aided by a carefully plotted effort to make her appear compassionate and thoughtful. Knox’s image has gone through a complete overhaul since she has entered the spotlight several years ago. She entered the Good Morning America studio yesterday looking groomed and glamorous, with her new short bob haircut and in studio make-up.  Her interviewer, Robin Roberts, kindly held Knox’s hand and plugged her book, saying readers would “really learn more about Amanda Knox” from her book.  

But everyone who came in contact with Knox just after the murder of Meredith Kercher expressed their certainty that Knox was the killer and that her actions were beyond just her quirky attitude or her “different” way of dealing with tragedy. 

According to one female Italian Prison guard, Angela Antonietti, Amanda Knox “is a brilliant actress; she is the Ice Maiden; she has reinvented herself as a teary American TV star, but she was cold and unemotional when in an Italian jail.” According to Angela, an admitted favorite guard of Knox’s while being held at Capanne prison, near Perugia, “Knox never cried or showed remorse during her time inside.” Continuing, Angela revealed her thoughts that “Underneath the veneers she [Knox] remains the same controlled woman I knew well in Capanne prison. She was so composed, I never saw her suffering.” Ms Antonietti, who worked as a prison warden for 25 years, said she came to dislike Knox immensely during her time at the prison, saying “Her behavior wasn’t human. Even the doctor didn’t understand her.”

Meanwhile, Raffaele Sollecito had left Italy and drove to Austria while an appeals court deliberated his fate. Sollecito’s lawyer, Luca Maori, insisted that his client was in the area of Italy’s northeastern border with Austria on Thursday because that’s where his current girlfriend lives. He said Sollecito went voluntarily to police to surrender his passport and ID papers. However, head of the Udine police squad, Massimiliano Ortolan, said police were tipped off that Sollecito had checked into a hotel in Venzone (Carnia hotel), on the Italian side of the border, and they went to find him there, waking him and his girlfriend up Friday morning and bringing him to the police station in Udine. No arrest warrant had been issued by the Florence court. But the court demanded that Sollecito turn over his passport and ID papers to prevent him from leaving the country.

Alan Dershowitz weighs in on Knox case:

Dershowitz: "Lots of evidence against Knox"