Monday, November 7, 2016

Ashley Olsen trial update The Florentine publishes this statement released by Olsen family attorney

Ashley Olsen trial update The Florentine publishes this statement released by Olsen family attorney Editorial Staff APRIL 28, 2016 - 14:32 The Florentine publishes this statement released by the Olsen family attorney Avv. Michele Capecchi: Tomorrow (April 29, 2016) at the courthouse of Florence the lawyers who defend and represent Mr. Cheik Diaw, the suspected killer of Ashley Olsen, will discuss an appeal before a closed chamber of council to request, for the second time in a month, their client to be released from jail (probably requesting home detention) while the investigation is still ongoing. Ashley Olsen, a 35-year-old American woman, was found dead in her Oltrarno apartment, on January 8, 2016. Ashley Olsen, a 35-year-old American woman, was found dead in her Oltrarno apartment, on January 8, 2016. This is the Tribunale del Riesame, which is a special procedure where the judges will not decide if he is guilty or not but whether to maintain his arrest and imprisonment before and during the trial, which is expected to begin in the next few months. From a judiciary point of view, the hearing will still be important because the judges, in order to confirm the measure of the arrest (during the investigation), will have to explain why they believe that it is better to keep Mr. Diaw in jail, and maybe produce new evidence that the police has already collected against the prosecuted. Something similar happened last month (see here), when Mr. Diaw's lawyers submitted the same request, asking to convert imprisonment into home detention/electronic monitoring). In that instance, the Olsen family lawyer, Avv. Michele Capecchi, submitted a memorandum to the court with several arguments against their request, as too did the public prosecutor. In the end, the judge dismissed the request by Mr. Diaw’s lawyers, arguing that Mr. Diaw’s “confession” was full of inconsistencies and there were risks that would be involved in releasing him (including the risk of committing other crimes of the same type). These are the words of the Judge who decided to keep Mr. Diaw in prison approximately a month ago. "A carico di Cheik Diaw pesano un quadro indiziario 'grave e univoco' e un concreto pericolo di fuga, dovuto soprattutto alla sua situazione di immigrato irregolare, privo di permesso di soggiorno, di un lavoro regolare e, spiega sempre il giudice, 'dedito all'uso di sostanze stupefacenti. Del suo comportamento dopo l'omicidio, colpisce la mancanza di una presa di coscienza di quanto commesso e "l'assenza di pentimento". [Serious and univocal evidence weigh on Mr. Cheik Diaw and there is a tangible danger of flight, due in particular to his situation as an illegal immigrant, with no permit to stay, no regular work and, as the judge also commented, 'a regular drug user'. His behaviour following the murder demonstrated a lack of conscience for his actions and a ' lack of remorse'.] Tomorrow's decision, in this case, will be even more important: if Mr. Diaw is released the news will have considerable media resonance (the international press and those following the case will wonder how it is possible that in Italy an illegal immigrant, with no documents, no visa, and someone who has confessed to some degree can be set free before the beginning of his trial); if the request is refused, it will be important to read the judge's reasoning, since it may reveal new aspects of the investigation that the public prosecutor might choose to use in the actual trial. source

Amanda Knox’s strength to deal with social-media specters

Amanda Knox definitely did not dress up for Halloween as Amanda Knox. The website hiphalloweenideas.com once cheekily suggested that costume is Land’s End catalog chic, with a “How to learn Italian” book in the pocket. Add a few cartwheels. That costume idea was a thing back in 2011. Knox had returned home to Seattle after spending four years in Italian prison for a murder conviction of her roommate, Meredith Kercher. Tuesday is the ninth anniversary of Kercher’s death. This Halloween, Knox dressed up as fictional superhero Jessica Jones. The choice reflects her vindication as perhaps America’s most famous exoneree. Italy’s Supreme Court declared her definitely innocent, citing “stunning flaws” in the investigation. She’s innocent, and if you don’t believe her, talk to Jessica Jones. But Knox is still making the transition from social-media meme to spokeswoman for innocence cases. She is back in the news because of the new Netflix documentary, titled “Amanda Knox,” which shows how the case fell apart, through interviews with Knox, her prosecutor and a sleazy British tabloid journalist who played co-conspirator to the rush to justice. “I was at peace with the idea that people would never treat me as a human, and that was one of the main motivations I’ve had to bring attention to other exoneree stories,” Knox said when we met at a Capitol Hill coffee shop last week. “It’s not as simple as treating me like a little doppelgänger cultural reference point that you can just throw and project anything you want onto. It’s more difficult when you’re right in front of me, and I’m clearly not that.” In person, she comes across as thoughtful and still wounded. Now 29, Knox has graduated from the University of Washington, works as a freelance writer and lives in Seattle’s Central District with her cats and her writer boyfriend. Her previous engagement to a childhood friend ended last year. She says she is occasionally recognized in Seattle and is usually greeted warmly. After mostly hiding for years, Knox will speak to just about anyone who invites her, from high-school classes to conferences of exonerees. She is pitching a documentary series to TV networks about innocence cases. There’s certainly no shortage of stories: a study led by University of Michigan law professor Sam Gross estimates that 4 percent of death-row inmates are innocent. Knox said the documentary proposal is intended to be “not a who-done-it, but a how-done-it.” “I want to make sure I’m not exploited and the people I talk about are not exploited,” she said. “I never want to be part of the kind of journalism I went through, honestly.” Knox’s persistent detractors point to the false confession she gave under interrogation in Italy, wrongfully implicating her former boss. But that’s also a common theme among exonerees: More than 25 percent of people later found innocent gave a wrongful confession. Knox was convicted of slandering her ex-boss, and that still stands. She is appealing the conviction to the European Court of Human Rights. She is alleging she was hit by her interrogators and denied an interpreter. In her new role as champion for exonerees, Knox has an antidote for false confessions: Videotape all interrogations. “Instead of calling it a false confession, they should be called a false admission,” said Knox. “It’s all authored by them (police).” That statement will probably prompt a fresh round of attacks on social media. The Twitter hashtag #amandaknox has vile troll fodder. On her personal blog, Knox shows a chillingly detailed torture threat she received last year. Knox has an antidote for that problem, too. “The automatic assumption is you should be defensive, because obviously people are attacking you in a way that is insane and unwarranted and out of context,” she said. “But the first step toward defending yourself is being vulnerable, and engaging the person who is pointing the finger at you with compassion. Not all trolls are going to be human with you. But the only thing you can do is sit there across from someone and acknowledge that you are a human being, and you aren’t just confined to their definition of you.” That sounds like a task that would require Jessica Jones’s superhuman strength. But when your name was reduced to a Halloween costume, you’ve got to give it a try. source Jonathan Martin's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. His email address is jmartin@seattletimes.com

Amanda Knox’s strength to deal with social-media specters

Amanda Knox definitely did not dress up for Halloween as Amanda Knox. The website hiphalloweenideas.com once cheekily suggested that costume is Land’s End catalog chic, with a “How to learn Italian” book in the pocket. Add a few cartwheels. That costume idea was a thing back in 2011. Knox had returned home to Seattle after spending four years in Italian prison for a murder conviction of her roommate, Meredith Kercher. Tuesday is the ninth anniversary of Kercher’s death. This Halloween, Knox dressed up as fictional superhero Jessica Jones. The choice reflects her vindication as perhaps America’s most famous exoneree. Italy’s Supreme Court declared her definitely innocent, citing “stunning flaws” in the investigation. She’s innocent, and if you don’t believe her, talk to Jessica Jones. But Knox is still making the transition from social-media meme to spokeswoman for innocence cases. She is back in the news because of the new Netflix documentary, titled “Amanda Knox,” which shows how the case fell apart, through interviews with Knox, her prosecutor and a sleazy British tabloid journalist who played co-conspirator to the rush to justice. “I was at peace with the idea that people would never treat me as a human, and that was one of the main motivations I’ve had to bring attention to other exoneree stories,” Knox said when we met at a Capitol Hill coffee shop last week. “It’s not as simple as treating me like a little doppelgänger cultural reference point that you can just throw and project anything you want onto. It’s more difficult when you’re right in front of me, and I’m clearly not that.” In person, she comes across as thoughtful and still wounded. Now 29, Knox has graduated from the University of Washington, works as a freelance writer and lives in Seattle’s Central District with her cats and her writer boyfriend. Her previous engagement to a childhood friend ended last year. She says she is occasionally recognized in Seattle and is usually greeted warmly. After mostly hiding for years, Knox will speak to just about anyone who invites her, from high-school classes to conferences of exonerees. She is pitching a documentary series to TV networks about innocence cases. There’s certainly no shortage of stories: a study led by University of Michigan law professor Sam Gross estimates that 4 percent of death-row inmates are innocent. Knox said the documentary proposal is intended to be “not a who-done-it, but a how-done-it.” “I want to make sure I’m not exploited and the people I talk about are not exploited,” she said. “I never want to be part of the kind of journalism I went through, honestly.” Knox’s persistent detractors point to the false confession she gave under interrogation in Italy, wrongfully implicating her former boss. But that’s also a common theme among exonerees: More than 25 percent of people later found innocent gave a wrongful confession. Knox was convicted of slandering her ex-boss, and that still stands. She is appealing the conviction to the European Court of Human Rights. She is alleging she was hit by her interrogators and denied an interpreter. In her new role as champion for exonerees, Knox has an antidote for false confessions: Videotape all interrogations. “Instead of calling it a false confession, they should be called a false admission,” said Knox. “It’s all authored by them (police).” That statement will probably prompt a fresh round of attacks on social media. The Twitter hashtag #amandaknox has vile troll fodder. On her personal blog, Knox shows a chillingly detailed torture threat she received last year. Knox has an antidote for that problem, too. “The automatic assumption is you should be defensive, because obviously people are attacking you in a way that is insane and unwarranted and out of context,” she said. “But the first step toward defending yourself is being vulnerable, and engaging the person who is pointing the finger at you with compassion. Not all trolls are going to be human with you. But the only thing you can do is sit there across from someone and acknowledge that you are a human being, and you aren’t just confined to their definition of you.” That sounds like a task that would require Jessica Jones’s superhuman strength. But when your name was reduced to a Halloween costume, you’ve got to give it a try. source Jonathan Martin's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. His email address is jmartin@seattletimes.com