Unreliable DNA Evidence in Knox-sollecito trial
Posted on | December 13, 2009 | No Comments
The Meredith Kercher trial comes to an end as the sentences are finally read for the accused- Amdna Knox and her Italian lover Raffaele Sollecito in the city of Perugia, Northern Italy. However, the defense still questions the reliability of the DNA forensic evidence brought forward by the prosecution and Knox is supported by many who feel she has been unfairly convicted and butchered by the media.
Amanda Knox, sentenced to 26 years in prison, still declares herself Kercher’s friend, claiming that she would have never hurt her. Raffaele Sollecito, Knox’s boyfriend, was sentenced to 27 years. The two have already spent two years behind bars whilst awaiting their final verdict.
The Italian judiciary system has gone under virulent criticism by factions which support Knox’s innocence and mock the flaws of Italian law. Knox’s family have voiced serious doubts about the way the system operates in Italy and champion Amanda’s innocence. Whatever the case, there will unlikely be any diplomatic clashes over the Kercher case between the US and Italy. Knox and Sollecito will have another appeal without jury followed by a final appeal should they lose the second.
Amanda Knox as Devil
The image created by the media of the American student, Amanda Knox, is of one who was often high on drugs, had divergent sexual habit and was a party girl. She has been portrayed as being the instigator of the sex game in which Kercher unwillingly participated. The Italian media have used dehumanizing terms and have undertook a character defamation and Knox using terms which in America might well have been banned from use in the media under such circumstances.
The Flawed DNA Forensic Investigation
A view still upheld by the defense is that the gathering of DNA samples from the crime scene was flawed. This is an issue that has over-spilled into much of the US where sentiment has built up for Knox and her conviction has caused much outrage. The Italian judiciary system has come under attack by many Americans but many also feel that this is the time for Italy to take proper hold of justice and show that it can punish serious crimes with due punishment.
The evidence was pinned onto the questionable murder weapon which was found in Sollecito’s apartment. The knife had Knox’s DNA on the handle and a very small amount of Kercher’s DNA on the blade. However, the defense notes how the knife was unlikely to have been the one that caused the death of Kercher as the wounds in her neck did not match the size of the blade on the supposed murder weapon.
Furthermore, the defense notes how the traces of blood found on the knife proved to yield too little genetic material to produce conclusive DNA results. In fact, they even claim that the forensic DNA evidence was destroyed whilst being analyzed by the forensic DNA experts.
All innocent?
Rudy Hermann Guede was accused by Knox and Sollecito’s lawyers of acting alone in the murder of Kercher. However, he too claims to be innocent and is appealing the case. Sollecito claimed to have received a call in his flat at 11:00pm but this call was never traced. Knox at first claimed to have been in the flat with Kercher and have witnessed Kercher scream as she was being killed; later she claimed she was not actually in the house with Kercher the night she was murdered and only said she was because she was placed under pressure by the police forces of Perugia.
The case will still cause outrage as campaigns have been launched in Knox’s home town of Washington; people will forever sustain the unreliability of the forensic DNA evidence gathered and put forward as court evidence and criticize the judiciary inconsistencies, if any, of the Italian law.
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Tags: DNA contamination > DNA evidence > dna testing > dna testing laboratory > forensic DNA test
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