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“Either I’m a psychopath in sheep’s clothing, or I am you” (Gittens). Amanda Knox stated in her new documentary. In the court case of Meredith Kercher’s murder, Amanda Knox’s profile developed from a student studying abroad to a cold-blooded killer. Amanda Knox was accused and acquitted of the murder of Kercher. Debate continues about the case, as the evidence from both sides is highly disputable. In the controversial court case of Meredith Kercher, the innocent verdict correctly acquitted Amanda Knox for three reasons: DNA proved unreliable, no witnesses could testify, and investigators mishandled evidence. The assumed murder weapon received improper testing, and DNA found on the knife proved unreliable. No blood was discovered on the knife
The result was negative. There was no blood on the knife” (Truth… Knife). It has been believed that there was blood found on the knife; however, this is a false statement. There was no blood on the knife, which makes committing a crime with it near impossible. The knife was also improperly tested while searching for DNA on the blade. Mark C. Waterbury, Ph.D, stated that no control experiments were performed on the knife before testing, making contamination from the lab very possible (Truth…Knife). The lab that tested the knife handled large amounts of Meredith’s DNA at the time, making cross contamination very possible. When the knife arrived at the lab, the blade did not contain any of Meredith Kercher’s DNA. Patrizia Stefanoni was the scientist that performed these DNA tests, and she used a very new, unproven technique called low copy number DNA profiling, which she was not certified to do. This discredits the reliability of the tests done in Stefanoni’s lab, as she used unproven techniques with improper equipment in an improper laboratory. “Touch” DNA was found on the knife, but no blood was found. According to Elizabeth A. Johnson, Ph.D, if a knife
Antonio Curatolo was the only person that claimed to have seen Amanda and Raffaele near the scene of the murder shortly before. According to the organization Injustice in Perugia, “Curatolo testified nine times that he saw Amanda and Raffaele hanging around outside from 11:30 pm to 12:00 am” (A Witness). This testimony contradicted the timeline that the prosecution attempted to prove. The prosecution called this witness, and it backfired, as Curatolo actually disproved their evidence. This evidence gives the defense, and Amanda Knox, a foothold against the prosecution. Antonio Curatolo was deemed an unreliable witness. Injustice in Perugia claims that Curatolo’s testimony after the conviction confirms what the defense had been trying to say the whole time; that Curatolo was not a reliable witness, and that the prosecution would not be able to base their whole case on this one witness (A Witness). Anthony Curatolo admitted to using heroin on a regular basis, but the court still accepted his testimony. This was the first warning sign of mendacious behavior. Once his testimony was denied, no witnesses put Amanda and Raffaele at the scene of the murder in the prosecution’s time frame. The court did not base its decision on Curatolo’s testimony, but rather on what it wanted to hear. The court rejected nine out of ten statements made by Anthony Curatolo, all nine of which provided an alibi for Amanda and Raffaele. Judge Massei
According to the Innocence Project (2006), “On September 17, 2001, Chad wrote the Innocence Project in New York, which, in 2003, enlisted pro bono counsel from Holland & Knight to file a motion for DNA testing on Tina’s fingernail scrapings.” The state had tested the DNA that was under Tina’s nail from the first case but at that time it was inadequate and could not be tested. It was not until now that we have the technology capable enough to test it. In June 2004, the test came back negative to matching both Jeremey and Chain Heins but did come from an unknown male. The state argued that it was not enough to overturn the conviction so Chad’s attorney asked the state to do some further testing and to compare the DNA from under the fingernails to the hairs that was found on Tina’s body. It was in 2005 that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed that there was a match between the DNA under Tina’s nail and the pubic hair. According to LaForgia (2006), “this particular type of DNA, the report stated, was found in only about 8 percent of Caucasian American men.” During this process there was a new piece of evidence that Chad’s attorney had learned about during the appeals process, a fingerprint. There were some accusations that the prosecutors never disclosed this information about this third fingerprint and if they did it was too late. The jurors did not even know about this fingerprint and if they did this could have changed the whole case. This fingerprint was found on several objects that included the smoke detector, a piece of glass, and the bathroom sink. It was soon discovered that this fingerprint matched with the DNA found on the bedsheets that Tina was on. This was finally enough evidence to help Chad Heins become exonerated in
On the night of November 1st 2007 in Peruglia Italy, Meredith Kercher was murdered by being stabbed in the neck. Kercher’s roommate, Amanda Knox had returned home on the morning of November 2nd, from spending the night with her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito. Later, Knox returned to Sollecito’s apartment and explained that she had observed small speckles of blood in the bathroom, the front door ajar, and Kerchers bedroom door locked. Kercher’s body was found half naked, and under a duvet after police broke down the door to Kercher’s bedroom. Knox was interrogated on multiple times without an attorney present. She was slapped on the back of the head and forced to visualize a probable scenario, of which the police took as an admission of guilt and had her sign a statement to the vision. DNA was retrieved from the crime scene, but only pointed to one suspect, Rudy Guede, who had fled Italy on the night of the murder, arrested in Germany, admitted to being in Kercher’s apartment that night, and was later found guilty. No DNA evidence was recovered to implicate either Knox or Sollecito as to being present at the time of the murder. In 2009 Knox and Sollecito were found guilty and sentenced to 25 and 26 years. In 2011 an appeals judge repealed Knox and Sollecito’s sentence based on no proof of their guilt. Knox returned home in the U.S. In 2013 Italy’s Supreme Court, the Court of Cassation, ordered a retrial. Knox and Sollecito were then found guilty of Meredith Kercher’s death. Italy has since called for the extradition of Amanda Knox, but it is still being appealed.
In this position paper I have chosen Bloodsworth v. State ~ 76 Md.App. 23, 543 A.2d 382 case to discuss on whether or not the forensic evidence that was submitted for this case should have been admissible or not. To understand whether or not the evidence should be admissible or not we first have to know what the case is about.
Even though the prosecution presented evidence to the court, the only clear-cut hard fact the prosecution had against Anthony was that she failed to file a report for her missing daughter Caylee and that when she finally did a month after her daughter had gone missing, she proceeded to lie profusely to the authorities on the events that took place. The prosecution focused highly on the forensic evidence of decay located in the trunk of Casey Anthony’s car. The use of a cadaver dog to search the vehicle led investigators to be able to determine that a decomposing body had been stored in the trunk of the car. The forensics department used an air sampling procedure on the trunk of Casey Anthony’s car, also indicating that human decomposition and traces of chloroform were in-fact present. Multiple witnesses described what they considered to be an overwhelming odor that came from inside the trunk as it where the prosecution believes Caylee’s decomposing body was stowed. Several items of evidence were ruled out to be the source of the odor, as experts were able to rule out the garbage bag and two chlorine containers located in the trunk as the source. The prosecution alleged that Casey Anthony used chloroform to subdue her daughter and then used duct-tape to seal the nose and mouth of Caylee shut, inevitably causing her to suffocate. Based off the
The Anthony family’s home computer hard drive had searches of “chloroform inhalation,” and “home weapons” on it. Both sides vigorously addressed the location and condition of Caylee’s decomposed body, as well as the odor that came from Casey’s trunk. Casey’s parents took the stand to testify and her father denied all sexual abuse allegations. For closing arguments, both sides pointed out the gaps in the other’s story. On July 5, 2011, after just one day of deliberating, the jury found Casey Anthony not guilty of the murder of her daughter, Caylee Anthony. She found guilty of four counts of providing false information to the police. After factoring in time served, Casey had 10 days of jail time left.
When the first responder got to the scene he adimatately meet the 911 caller, who lead him to a car in an apartment parking lot. The car doors were closed and all of the windows were fogged. The police officer used his flashlight to see inside of the car before opening the door. He found a young African American woman who had been shot several times. The officers quickly called for backup, investigators and medical personnel. While awaiting for their arrival he secured the crime scene with caution tape, creating an initial perimeter setup as discussed in lecture two. Once everyone arrived he left it to them to search the car while he talked to the 911 caller, witnesses and others who had information on who had been present in the car. The investigators were able to collect physical evidence of bullets and cartage casings that were found outside the vehicle and inside the vehicle on the floorboard of the driver’s side. The team determined the bullets came from a 40 caliber. Other types of physical evidence that were found on the scene were the bloody clothing on the victim, the victim’s cell phone and fibers in the car from the driver’s side. personnel at the scene crime took several photographs, powered test for finger prints and did a blood spatter analysis. Stewart’s autopsy revealed that she had been shot at close range in the left hand once and in the
Adding to the list of reasons most signs pointed against Ms.Knox during the trial, was the location of the case, Perugia, Italy. In the American judicial system, an unanimous number of the jury makes the decision in a murder trial, while in Italy it only takes a majority of members within the jury to decide the verdict of the case. In Italy, the judge of the case often knows all of the evidence before the defense and defendant. The judge has likely made up his or her mind on how to processed with the case before the commencement of the trial (Hunziker 1). Furthermore, the person set to be in control of the case, Giuliano Mignini, already had a background in illegal activity in the Italian judicial system. In his career, he was deemeed as an “obsessed weirdo” because of his believes of the monster of Florence cereal killer case to be a mesonic conspiracy, his case eventually came to no conclusion. He was also later convicted and suspend for 16 months for the illegal tapping of high officials phones within the case (Edwards 1). From this information it can deduced that Amanda Knox was never given an equitable trial while being prosecuted in the Italian judicial
Summary:In 1997 the body of a 14-year old girl was found in a Racine County(Wisconsin) marsh.Her name was Amber Gail Creek.Racine County identified the suspect as 36-year old James P. Eaton. For seventeen years investigators analyzed all evidence in the death of Amber, but they finally got a break in the case when investigators found fingerprints on the black plastic bag used to suffocate Amber. Investigators were able to track Eaton and pull one of his prints off one of his cigarettes. The fingerprints matched those found on the plastic bag and on the victim’s body.
Sudbury is a known place for 2 local gangs that have been fighting over the land for years now. Police investigating has concluded that the cause of death a major loss of blood. The coroner told police that he would have survived his injury if he had gotten to the hospital in time. He also added a brief profile of the killer; left-handed, caucasian, brown hair, and male. The blade in question is still missing following a police investigation.
Sample from the steering wheel showed a mix DNA sample and Dr Whitaker was unable to exclude the Peter Falconio, Ms Lees or the accused as being one of the main contributors. However, a mix profile found on the gear stick knob would be best explained if there were two sources of DNA. In his assessment of DNA bands, only small amount came from the deceased and the rest were all represented in the profile of the accused. Objection was raised from the defence concerning the evidence from the steering wheels and gear stick knob were contaminated by Dr Whitaker while he was carrying out his testing and was not available for them to conduct an independent test on behalf of the accused. Nevertheless, objection was declined because Dr Whitaker pointed out his methodology didn’t alter or destroy the DNA in anyway. Another issue was brought up regards to the validity and reliability of “Low Copy Number” technique. Senior counsel who appealed for the accused, Dr Katrin Both referred to the above technique as “very dangerous” and “pushing science to its limit” and identified several different areas which concerned her. Plus the fact
Sandy Hearst should not be liable for any damages of the car crash. Sandy wasn't aware Dana Ivy was drunk when she left the party. Sandy put forths many times in her statement that Dana wasn't drunk, just outgoing. As stated in her testimony, Sandy said “ At one point was dancing on a table, but Dana has an outgoing personality” (Sandy Hearst) “ I know Dana wasn't drunk when leaving the party” (Sandy Hearst). Many times in Sandys and Dana's statement, they advise Dana wasn't drunk, the fact that the host plus the person suspected as drunk both advise Dana wasn't drunk refers to being a true statement. This substantiates the fact that Dana was the one who was suspected. Combined this with she knows her own body, indeed this means she wasn't drunk.
Lupton (1999) likens community to a body with tightly controlled boundaries where behaviour is regulated to maintain order, and anomalies or ambiguities and the crossing of boundaries are perceived as “risky”. Lupton also discusses Mary Douglas’ ideas on the social function of individual perceptions of societal dangers. Douglas (1966) maintained that individuals tend to associate societal harms with conduct that transgresses societal norms, and that this tendency promotes certain social structures, both by imbuing a society’s members with aversions to subversive behaviour and by focusing resentment and blame on those who defy such institutions.
It so amusing that a supposedly certified Dr. Jean Emans testified “that an object could touch the hymen on the way to trying to find the anus.” In contrast to that statement, it was reported that the butcher knife was able to pass delicate tissues without any signs of injury. Side note, as a medical doctor reading this testimony, Dr. Jean Emans should have saw the many red flags in this confession. The fact it was a small girl and a butcher knife, it is common sense that there would have been a least small signs of injuries of
Lyle, D.P., M.D. “Chapter 13: Bloodstains: Patterns Tell the Story,” Forensics: A Guide for Writers (Howdunit), Writer’s Digest Books, Cincinnati, OH (2008), pp. 285–302.
A 15 year old girl name Lynda Mann was abducted in Narborough, England. The following day, the police found her body, and learned that she was raped and murdered. Three years later, another young woman had the same thing done to her just like Lynda Mann; she was abducted, raped and murdered. A man named Richard Buckland confessed to the second murder. A DNA analyst performed a method known as genetic fingerprinting. Through this, there was no match to the murder. This meant that Buckland was not guilty of the crime he confessed to.