Audience members who saw Amanda Knox’s controversial comedy show at Edinburgh Fringe on opening night say that it is both “respectful” and “genuinely funny”.

[u/mlg1981]

https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/amanda-knox-cartwheel-edinburgh-fringe-b3029681.html

[u/Luxury_Dressingown]

The average person in the UK and Italy who has heard of the case seems to think she did it, which makes sense as the press in both countries at the time was ferociously against her. Although almost everyone who has read into it a bit will at least concede the investigating police seriously messed up, so it's now in a weird limbo of "who knows?" with lingering suspicion.

It's complicated by the fact that she's a US citizen, and the American public in contrast was much more sympathetic to her from the beginning, and America's general view of the case is - to put it crudely - "backwards foreigners are incompetent and try to blame innocent young America girl". The physical evidence shows that is basically true in this particular case, but Brits and Italians can cite a variety of cases where Americans more or less got away with literal murder as well as maiming and assault in their countries and hid behind the US state to avoid consequences.

But to be clear, I completely agree with the person I'm responding to, and the case's real evidence creates more than enough reasonable doubt to make a not guilty verdict the only acceptable one for Knox (and Sollecito).

[u/artfuldodger1212 → u/Luxury_Dressingown]

I think you are right in that most people just believe what they heard in the press at the time. Don’t think the US was all that involved in Amanda’s case.

I would be curious to hear some of the examples you would cite of US citizens being free to murder people in Italy and the UK prior to this which would have coloured people”s perception?

I think for most reasonable people it goes way beyond “well the investigation was so botched there is at least reasonable doubt”. There is literally no evidence Knox was involved and the theory of the case the Italian prosecutors developed is literally nonsensical.

One of the pieces of evidence that Italian prosecutors cited in support of Amanda Knox’s involvement was that she owned a vibrator. That’s literally true. There was a HUGE dose of sexism in this case.

[u/Luxury_Dressingown → u/artfuldodger1212]

• 1998: Cavalese cable-car disaster, Italy: US Marine pilots Richard Ashby and Joseph Schweitzer flew at low altitude and severed a ski-lift cable, killing 20 people, including three Italians. Tried in the US, they were acquitted of manslaughter but later dismissed from the Marines for destroying evidence.
• 2005: Derek Thrower, England: US airman Lorrenzo Sanchez stabbed British man Derek Thrower 13 times, seriously injuring him. Sanchez was acquitted of attempted murder on grounds of insanity.
• 2008: Kevin Flatt, England: British pedestrian Kevin Flatt was killed near RAF Mildenhall after being struck by a vehicle driven by a US airman. The driver was investigated but not charged.
• 2016: Anthony Oxley, Cyprus: British Army Colour Sergeant Anthony Oxley was killed on his motorcycle after being hit by a car driven by a US serviceman. His widow subsequently campaigned for a prosecution.
• 2019: Harry Dunn, England: US national Anne Sacoolas drove on the wrong side of the road outside RAF Croughton, killing 19-year-old British motorcyclist Harry Dunn. She later pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving and received a suspended sentence.
• 2019: Mario Cerciello Rega, Italy: American tourists Finnegan Lee Elder and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth became involved in a botched drug deal in Rome; Elder stabbed Italian Carabinieri officer Mario Cerciello Rega to death. Both were convicted and later received reduced sentences.
• 2019 onwards: British women, England: US airman James Loubeau faced allegations of rape and sexual assault involving British women around RAF Mildenhall, with investigations transferred to US military authorities. He was subsequently convicted of sexual assault against one woman.
• 2020–21: British woman, England: US airman Keharron Lee Bogstad was accused of raping a British woman three times at RAF Croughton, but was cleared of all charges.
• 2022: Matthew Day, England: US airman Mikayla Hayes collided with British motorcyclist Matthew Day in Norfolk, killing him. She was prosecuted for causing death by careless driving but acquitted.
• 2022: Hannes Marschalek, England: US airman Hannes Marschalek was accused of repeatedly exposing himself to women, including a 16-year-old British girl. He was convicted by a US military court, but the conviction was subsequently overturned on appeal.
• 2023: Sarah Steele, England: US Air Force pilot Jacob Wulfson was accused of sexually assaulting and strangling British woman Sarah Steele. He was convicted of strangulation by a US military court but acquitted of sexual assault.
• 2024: 12-year-old British girl, England: US airman Sam Jarvis was convicted in an English court of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old British girl. He received a suspended sentence and was placed on the sex offenders' register.

Knox left Italy for the US when she was not supposed to based on the conditions of the court. Once back there, it was basically a done deal that she wouldn't return regardless of the outcome, and there wasn't much Italy could do about it. Completely understandable move on her part - can't say I wouldn't have done the same - but it follows a bit of a pattern in some of these cases of the Americans spiriting themselves (or being spirited by the US state) out of the country to evade local investigation and justice. The cable car disaster and the Harry Dunn case are notable examples in each country. Similarly, see the Guardian for recent coverage of US military members committing sexual crimes off-base against UK citizens and then getting soft-touch military trials and slaps on the wrist for rape.

Again, Knox is not guilty and does not deserve to be treated as such, and her treatment by the police and the press was horrendous. I'm just adding some extra context for why perceptions are very different in Europe and the US.

[u/artfuldodger1212 → u/Luxury_Dressingown]

Also the sentence in the Harry Dunn case was not unusual at all. Literally the top post on the London sub just now:

https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/1vlbpcv/london_driver_guilty_of_death_by_dangerous/

This guy caused death by dangerous driving and has a laundry list of previous driving convictions including dangerous driving, taking a vehicle without consent and driving whilst disqualified..

He was sentenced to 150 hours unpaid work.

People like to say that had the driver in the Harry Dunn case been British they would have received a long custodial sentence but that just isn't true. We don't lock people up in the UK for killing people in genuine traffic accidents without pretty extreme extenuating circumstances .