The Most Colorful and Outspoken Utah Lawyer Blasts Italian "Justice" System

So, Amanda Knox is finally vindicated and released from an Italian prison for a murder she could not have committed. Millions of eyes focused on the outcome of this tragic comedy of an Italian opera, mostly curious about the pretty American girl seemingly being mistreated by foreign idiots who don't seem to have a clue about justice.  And you would certainly be correct in that assumption.

Of course, you have the family of the murder victim, some upset because the victim has been "forgotten" in all of this (bullshit number one) and others because "justice" was not served, meaning that they didn't get any more pounds of flesh for their loss (bullshit number two). The reality is quite different, in that a drifter was also convicted and confessed to the murder. Problem is, although it appears he acted alone, Italian police and prosecutors wanting some publicity, self-aggrandizement and feeling the need to play God with people's lives, pressured this guy to also blame the dead girl's roommate, and made up some ridiculous story of kinky sex partying turned bloody.

Somehow, most of us in the good ol' US of A believed she'd be freed by the appellate court, regardless of evidence or legal rationale, because the whole episode had become an embarassment for Italy. None of us could understand how she could be tried at the same time for slander or how a jury could be a combination of citizens and judges, but that's the way they do it over there.

And the way we do it over here is so much better . . . that Florida executed a man despite witnesses recanting testimony and claiming they were threatened by police and prosecutors if they did not falsely testify in the man's orginal trial; that Texas just had to let yet another death-row or life-in-prison inmate out because he was wrongfully convicted years ago; that Utah also has begun, finally, to allow prisoners who can prove their innocence to actually do so, be freed and be compensated for their wrongful incarceration.

The Italians may be deficient in their methods, but much like the economy, homelessness and medical care, we need to improve our situation here at home before we spend too much money and effort overseas. So the Italians eventually got it right, and all is well. Tourists can return to Italy, and to Utah, since all's well that ends well.

Well.