Benchslap Italian Style: Amanda Knox Cleared Of Crime In Biting Decision

Italy's highest court clears Amanda Knox of wrongdoing in the murder of Meredith Kercher, and has some harsh words for the lower courts and investigation which led to Knox's original conviction and time behind bars.

The trial had oscillations which were the result of stunning flaws, or amnesia, in the investigation and omissions in the investigative activity… The international spotlight on the case in fact resulted in the investigation undergoing a sudden acceleration, that, in the frantic search for one or more guilty parties to consign to international public opinion, certainly didn’t help the search for substantial truth.

— Court of Cassation, Italy’s highest court, in a 52-page legal motivazioni, published yesterday, detailing the reasons for acquitting Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito of the murder of Meredith Kercher. The pair were cleared by the court in March, and it is not unusual in Italy for the formal decisions to be published months later. I don’t know if there’s a word for it in Italian, but here in America we call this a benchslap pure and simple.

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