Amanda Knox-Case Scientists to Trash DNA Evidence While Prosecution Trashes Them
In a small courtroom in Perugia, Italy, today, two forensic scientists are expected to swear in and explain how facts prove that the DNA work of another scientist--work that led to the murder convictions of Seattle exchange student Amanda Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito--is absolute horseshit.
First, however, the scientist whose work is being trashed and the prosecutors who want to keep the defendants in prison have something to say.
The forensic experts slated to testify today are Stefano Conti and Carla Vecchiotti, professors at Rome's La Spienza University. They were appointed by a judge who's overseeing Knox's and Sollecito's appeals trial.
The scientist who conducted the initial forensics tests that showed DNA evidence linking both Knox and Sollecito to the murder of British exchange student Meredith Kercher is Patrizia Stefanoni, an expert with the police agency that investigated the case.
Recently, Condi and Vecchiotti published a report that trashed Stefanoni's work. These scientists retested evidence in the case--Kercher's bra clasp, a kitchen knife found in Sollecito's apartment--and found that the genetic material on both objects was either too small or too contaminated to test.
Knox case DNA tester Patrizia Stefanoni is horrible at her job, according to a new report.
The report also found that Stefanoni ignored international DNA protocols and made a ridiculous number of rookie errors in her tests.
It's this report that Condi and Vecchiotti will testify to in court today and possibly all week long.
Meanwhile, The Guardian reports that Stefanoni has already signaled that she may be planning to sue the dissenting scientists over their rude insistence in following "protocols."
"I am angry about the false statements in this report and ready to come to court to highlight the past record of these experts," [Stefanoni] told the Observer. "I am also looking into taking legal action against them. What international DNA protocols are they talking about? The Italian police is a member of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI), while they are not."
If that's not enough, prosecutors are expected to attack Condi and Vecchiotti as being "planted" by Knox's defense team and fed information from them.
This tactic may raise the great ire of Judge Pratillo Hellman, since he personally appointed the scientists.
At any rate, it's do-or-die time in the Knox trial this week. Expect fireworks daily.
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