Saturday, February 1, 2014

Amanda Knox; Aftermath 3: Matt Ford explores whether she will be sent back to Italy - and speculates about "the most likely scenario." The Atlantic; (Daily Mail speculates U.S. State Department will not send her back to Italy because of the manner in which she was treated by Italian police during their investigation - and because she did not receive a fair trial);


POST: "Will Amanda Knox be sent back to Italy?" by Matt Ford, published by the Atlantic on January 21, 2014;


SUB-HEADING:  "How the former exchange student could still wriggle out of her 28-year Italian jail sentence."

GIST: "Now Knox’s acquittal has been overturned on appeal in the Italian Court of Cassation, raising the possibility that she could be extradited back to Italy to serve another jail term.If the Italian government requests her extradition—the Italian Supreme Court will likely address the case first— legal commentators see some paths to lawfully block it. Legal scholar Alan Dershowitz observed that double jeopardy might not affect Knox because the newest verdict is simply a reversal of her original acquittal, not a new verdict from a second trial – but a sympathetic federal judge might disagree and block on those grounds nonetheless. (Unlike Italy, acquittals cannot be appealed or overturned by higher courts in the U.S. justice system.) Slate’s Justin Peters hypothesized that the U.S. could use Article X of its extradition treaty with Italy, which requires the requesting nation to prove “a reasonable basis to believe that the person sought committed the offense for which extradition is requested,” to block her extradition.There are more drastic options the U.S. government could take to protect Knox, though..........Peters also noted that the Italian government could simply not ask the U.S. government to extradite Knox, which he foresees as the most likely scenario. It wouldn’t be the first time: Italian government officials have repeatedly demurred on requesting extradition for 23 Americans convicted in Italian courts for their involvement in the CIA-orchestrated rendition of Egyptian terror suspect Abu Omar in 2003. But even if Italy does request Knox’s extradition, Kerry can still simply refuse regardless of whether there are legal problems, says Ku. “It would be a real diplomatic blow, and a bad policy decision in my view, but neither illegal nor unconstitutional.”"

The entire post can be found at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/01/will-amanda-knox-be-sent-back-to-italy/283508/

See also: Daily Mail story speculating that any extradition attempts will be doomed to fail because of the manner in she was treated by Italian police - and because she did not receive a fair trial: "Once the murder sentence is confirmed by the Supreme Court, Italy can apply for Knox's extradition and arrest. But despite expected Italian efforts, experts say the US State Department will never send Knox back to a country where she was allegedly beaten by police and interrogated for hours without a lawyer or translator.  Thanks to a powerful public relations campaign, and a prison memoir, Knox has successfully won over millions in the US to her cause counting Donald Trump among her supporters. Even early on senators petitioned Hilary Clinton on her behalf, claiming it was 'an anti-American trial'. And US State Department sources now reveal the 26-year-old has little to fear as she will be protected by the strength of public opinion in America. The Rome-based source confided: ‘We will never send her back to Italy. It’s obvious she hasn’t had a fair trial.’"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2549764/Amanda-Knox-extradition-attempts-doomed-fail-say-diplomats.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
 
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