Steve Cameron: Wacky justice in Italy

PERUGIA, Italy -- There are some wonderful things available to Americans traveling, studying or even living outside the country.

Getting arrested isn't one of them.

Granted, being handcuffed and hauled off to jail wouldn't be much fun at home, either. But if you ran afoul of the law in Merced, for instance, at least you'd have the general sense that there's pretty much fair play under our system of justice.

Yes, there are mistakes.

And rich people can afford better lawyers. You can find some flaws anywhere -- especially in a nation of 330 million people and 50 sovereign states.

But in the time I've lived abroad, one thing seems to become clearer and clearer.

If I ever were arrested -- let alone indicted and put on trial -- I'd doggone sure want to be at home. Joke if you'd like, but I'll take my chances on justice in the United States, in the state of California, and in Merced County.

Why?

This week I've been visiting Umbria, one of the most beautiful regions across Italy's entire gorgeous landscape.

Between sips of cappuccino, strolls through lovely piazzas, pleasant exchanges with smiling residents and non-stop music which forms a backdrop for Perugia's hopping nightlife, I keep hearing the same question ...

"What will happen to 'Foxy Knoxy?' "

This woman whose name is on everyone's lips is 22-year-old Amanda Knox, an exchange student from the University of Washington.

Knox came here three years ago to study the Italian language and immerse herself in the local culture. Instead, she's neck-deep in the very serious side of Italian jurisprudence -- facing murder charges in the death of her English roommate and fellow student, Meredith Kercher, on Nov. 1, 2007.

The case, and the publicity it's generated throughout the country -- Italian media came up with the "Foxy Knoxy" nickname because Amanda happens to be attractive -- have become so entangled that the whole thing is a complete circus.

I wasn't present when Kercher was strangled and her throat slit, so obviously can't swear that Knox and Italian co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito are innocent.

There are some indisputable facts surrounding the case, however, which offer lock-solid proof that the Italian court system can be idiotic.

And that description will switch to downright silly if Knox and Sollecito are acquitted, a very real possibility since police concede they botched the collection of evidence, some critical DNA wasn't produced for two months and the prosecuting attorney is about to be indicted for criminal behavior in a previous case.

Oh, and a third person -- Ivory Coast native Rudy Guede -- already has been tried and convicted of the murder. That was pretty much a formality since his blood and fingerprints were all over the body and Kercher's bedroom.

Prosecutors, though, insist that Knox and Sollecito also were involved, that the killing was the result of a sex party gone wrong.

But Knox and Sollecito have been jailed since two days after the murder, and yet the trial is nowhere near finished.

Crazy?

Ah, well, first of all you need to know that Umbria gets quite hot in the summer, so all the judges and court personnel take two months off -- and they don't exactly knock themselves out once things resume, either.

Normally, court is in session only on Fridays and Saturdays -- although the mob of reporters and curiosity seekers flocked back on Monday this week for the formal post-summer resumption of affairs.

And what drama ensued?

The judge ruled that since each side disputes the DNA findings, he has appointed an outside expert to examine that evidence -- a process expected to take about three more months.

Meanwhile, American citizen Amanda Knox sits in Capanne Prison, where she's been reading and making her one 10-minute phone call home per week -- for nearly two years.

One Perugia shopkeeper said she "almost" hoped Knox and Sollecito were guilty, because otherwise Italy's courts would look like a joke.

That's already the case -- no matter what the verdict.

I'm pretty sure that nothing this outrageous could happen in Merced County.

And I'm guessing Amanda Knox would agree.

Steve Cameron is a former sports editor of the Sun-Star. He divides his time between Scotland's Moray Coast and Northern California, and is a Sun-Star contributing columnist.