CBA Record April-May 2018

The CBA's April CLE Trip to Rome By Pamela S. Menaker Editorial Board Member

I nternational headlines captured the eyes of the world as people debated the guilt or innocence of a young American student accused of murdering her roommate in Italy. Following years of court proceedings, including two trials, Amanda Knox is now back in the United States, but lawyers and non-lawyers con- tinue to debate her fate. The CBA trip of approximately 90 lawyers and judges to Rome, Italy, in April was no exception. The four-day trip included a CLE pro- gram that revisited the evidence and out- come with Knox’s defense attorney at the offices of one of Italy’s largest independent firms, Tonucci & Partners, overlooking Piazza del Popolo. Carlo Della Vedova of Italy served as 20-year-old Knox’s defense counsel. He explained to the group the twists and turns in the litigation while pointing out the dif- ferences in Italian and American criminal law that led to the young woman’s convic- tion and then later being set free by the Italian Supreme Court in 2015. “No Hol- lywood writer would even think of a story like this,” Della Vedova told the group. Charles Sklarsky of Jenner & Block moderated the discussion, which included a panel of Kristal Rivers of the Circuit Court of Cook County, William B. Raines of the Cook County Circuit Court, and Alexander Guttieres of the International LawOffices of Gutierres &Gutierres and a frequent media commentator on the Knox legal proceedings.

The differences in the American and Italian criminal systems were immediately apparent and must have been confusing for the defendant Knox. The University of Washington student studying abroad faced a week of questioning by police in Perugia after she “confessed” that she was at the scene at the time of the murder. She was not represented by counsel then, contrary to Italian law, nor was an interpreter pro- vided for her. She recanted the “confession” the next day. Italian law allows a suspect to be held in jail for up to one year without being charged. Knox was among three suspects held in custody for eight months while the investigation continued before she was

charged with the two others, including her Italian boyfriend. Ultimately, a known Perugian drug dealer whose DNA was found on the murder victim’s body, cloth- ing and elsewhere at the murder scene was convicted of the murder at a separate trial. He received a 16-year sentence on appeal. Italian juries are not sequestered and are allowed to follow the media and even conduct internet searches. Knox’s first trial was held over a period of months, recon- vening whenever a witness would become available. The jury deliberated more than two months before finding the two guilty. The Italian Supreme Court overruled the appellate court’s reversal of the con- viction, and Knox and her boyfriend were

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