It began today and there’s a worldwide frenzy to see a conviction. Or is it a re-conviction?
Based upon what’s on the internet, at least, those agitating for a conviction far outnumber, out-emote and out-shout anyone else with a different point of view. This site, for example, has had more than 21 million views and is as prolific as it is overwrought.
You have to hand it to the Italian system: it really gins up the partisans. You get one verdict that goes hard one way and an appeals verdict that goes just as hard the other way, setting up the last part of the hat-trick where people really pony up their dough.
There’s something very sad about these high profile cases, no matter how they turn out. The first in modern times, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping case, was a terribly sad story.
Much of the public reaction does not inspire confidence in the rationality of most people. Beyond that, I don’t think I’ll ever understand the fevered desire to see someone punished over something that has nothing to do with you. It is the strangest thing.
In any case, this is interesting. I don’t think that’s a bad focus at all for the Italian court. It probably is the decisive piece of evidence, inasmuch as it’s impossible for me to think of an innocent reason Meredith Kercher’s DNA would be on that knife blade; on the other hand, if it isn’t Meredith Kercher’s DNA, or if it can’t be known whose DNA it is, then I don’t see any other evidence that reliably points to guilt.
So to that extent, it seems to me the Italian court is looking exactly where they should be looking, sorting through all the noise. Encouraging, really.
Lawyers on Strike 