Meredith Kercher case

[Derrick]

LCN DNA used to convict

See here

http://www.sciencespheres.com/2010/03/canary-in-lcn-dna-mine-part-i.html

The co-developer of LCN Peter Gill is quoted from:

http://www.denverda.org/DNA_Document...0Profiling.pdf

“Interpretation of DNA profiles is assisted by the use of systems that are not too sensitive. This is important because the scientist often needs to associate the presence of a bloodstain (or other evidence) with the DNA profile itself.”

(my bold)

But the authors warning is also worth mentioning.

Now let’s think about what all this means for civil liberties. How would you like to live in a world in which any person can be convicted of any crime, anywhere, any time, on the basis of unassailable, “scientific” evidence? The evidence will be unassailable, because there will be nothing left of it by the time the analysis is through. They will be able to swab an object at a crime scene, LCN DNA profile it, and present it in court with no risk of contradiction. It will be their word against yours, and they will have a bunch of apparent, “scientific proof” backing them up. This is a recipe for a police state.

The conclusion from Dr Gills paper ends with this paragraph:

Effectively, the strength of the LCN DNA evidence
is decreased compared to conventional DNA
analysis. This inevitably arises from uncertainties relating
to the method of transfer of DNA to a surface
and uncertainties relating to when the DNA was
transferred. It is emphasized that the relevance of the
DNA evidence in a case can only be assessed by a
concurrent consideration of all the non-DNA evidence.
Research is currently being undertaken to devise
a probabilistic Bayesian method that encapsulates
the DNA and non-DNA evidence.

Dr Gill has so far failed to accomplish his final Bayesian aim, some 10 years after his paper was published.
It is not surprising. Have you ever tried to impose some kind of probability on football results to win the pools. It dosen't work does it?

The cases in the UK of Templeton Woods (2007), Hoey (2007) and Reed/Caddy (2008/9) have reduced LCN to a laughing stock around the world.

Hopefully the Knox case will drive the final nail in its coffin.

The FSS (inventors of LCN) in the UK is on the point of financial bankruptcy and may well be wound up in early 2011.

Derrick

[Fleetwood Mac]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12025862

If memory serves.....at the time of the conviction it was generally felt here that there wasn't sufficient evidence to convict Knox. In fact.....a couple of high ranking lawyers claimed that not only would she not have been convicted in a British court of law...the case wouldn't have made it as far as the court.

[babybird67]

new developments?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12025862

[caz]

Trouble is, Archy, this Aviello character doesn't exactly scream "reliable witness", does he? If he didn't latch onto this high profile case for all the right reasons, he could well do more harm than good to Sollecito and Knox. For starters he seems to be claiming that Guede was innocent too.

But no doubt if someone does search for the keys and murder weapon where Aviello claims his brother buried them, and they are not there, it will indeed be claimed by conspiracy theorists that the evidence must already have been dug up and whisked away. They won't entertain the possibility that Aviello made up a sensational story for personal reasons.

Love,

Caz
X

[Archaic]

Here's another article about the Italian man who claims his brother killed Meredith.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-11/amanda-knox-case-breakthrough-barbie-latza-nadeau-on-new-evidence/

According to this article, the defense is afraid to go dig up the purported keys & murder weapon in case they somehow violate procedure by doing so on their own, but if this story is true I think they should hurry up and look before somebody else digs up any potential evidence and makes it conveniently "disappear". After all, if it's true it would be a huge embarrassment to the government.

Best regards,
Archaic

[Archaic]

Italian Man Says His Brother Murdered Meredith

A man in jail in Italy has claimed that his brother killed Meredith Kercher, Amanda Knox is innocent, and he knows where the murder weapon is buried. He said he has tried to notify the Italian authorities many times but they ignored him.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/06/11/amanda.knox/index.html?iref=NS1

Best regards,
Archaic

[snoo]

The Knox family and supporters made their case on Oprah today and segments are, I think, available for a while on the show's site:

http://www.oprah.com/showinfo/The-Family-of-Amanda-Knox-Speaks-Out

[scarletpimpernel]

I know who the accused are. And now we know a bit more about the (lack of) ethics and reliability of the person making the accusation. Whether it will have any significant impact on the upcoming appeals isn't clear at this point.

John,

It won't have any impact whatsoever. Migini is not making the accusation John, the incriminating evidence is. He is paid as a lawyer to do his work and there are court observers, who report how each trial is being conducted. This one was deemed a good one and no anomalies were found.

[caz]

Well John, let's hope that this time it's decided on the quality of the evidence presented (or lack thereof) and not on the personality and character of anyone involved - in any capacity.

Love,

Caz
X

[John Hacker]

Malkmus, John

The thing is, that is not Migini who was on trial for Meredith Kercher's murder.

So the article is totally irrelevant. It will be different lawyers for the appeal I hope you can keep focussed on who the accused are.

I know who the accused are. And now we know a bit more about the (lack of) ethics and reliability of the person making the accusation. Whether it will have any significant impact on the upcoming appeals isn't clear at this point.

[caz]

Hi All,

I saw another documentary on this case since my last visit. It was pro-Knox (I'm not sure how else to put it, but I don't mean to cause offence to anyone) and the makers went carefully through all the arguments for the forensic evidence against her and Sollecito being unreliable or non-existent. They did a fair and reasonable job of it and I certainly await the appeals with interest.

Two things stood out, however, that I found quite surprising. One of Knox's best friends from Seattle, who went to Perugia to support her during the trial, said directly to camera at one point that she did not believe Knox had it in her to kill anyone. But in the same sentence she volunteered the observation that her friend was "not normal", which might have been better left unsaid.

The other thing that struck me was when Knox herself was asked in court to explain why she had claimed to hear screams coming from her housemate's room as her boss from the bar was murdering her. This was the point when I was fully expecting her to break down and say something along the lines of: "They had been questioning me non-stop for hours and hours, accusing me of lying and threatening me with years in prison if I didn't tell them who could have killed her. I was exhausted and very frightened and then they started hitting me and I just didn't know what else to do to make it stop".

But no. She remained calm but defensive, and said that they went on and on about her having arranged to meet someone that night, despite her denials, until she finally agreed that she must have done so because "I got confused". It was all a bit lame and sounded rather unconvincing as an explanation, and she hadn't even addressed hearing the screams or identifying an innocent man as the killer. More surprisingly, she gave no indication that the police had used force, or excessive pressure, to get false admissions from her. She had simply "got confused" under their robust questioning and come out with things that were not true. I wanted to shout at the screen: "This was your chance - and you blew it. Why didn't you SAY that they beat the crap out of you until you told them whatever they wanted to hear? Why couldn't you pluck up the courage when it mattered most?"

Love,

Caz
X

[scarletpimpernel]

Malkmus, John

The thing is, that is not Migini who was on trial for Meredith Kercher's murder.

So the article is totally irrelevant. It will be different lawyers for the appeal I hope you can keep focussed on who the accused are.

[John Hacker]

Unsuprisingly Migini was found guilty of abuse of office and illegal wire tapping due to his behavior in the "Monster of Florence" case.

Whether this will have any affect on the Knox/Sollecito convictions has yet to be seen, but it does cast Migini in a pretty bad light and given his behavior on the Kercher case he was already looking pretty bad.

[scarletpimpernel]

Darkness Descending

This is the title of a new book written by two British journalists Paul Russell, Graham Johnson and Luciano Garafano. It contains the full inside story of the crime. The book tells everything in minute detail about how the body was found and everything else like every blade of each grass. I do recommend this book.

[Malkmus]

Interesting article focusing on Mignini as the centerpiece of Amanda Knox's upcoming appeal:

http://www.examiner.com/x-32288-Spokane-Elections-2010-Examiner~y2010m1d2-Questions-mount-as-to-Prosecutor-Migninis-tactics-may-taint-Knox-result