Quote · The Megyn Kelly Show
Amanda Knox and John Ramsey - Megyn Kelly's "Double Feature" of Fascinating Interviews
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Enter Prosecutor Mignini: Tunnel Vision From Day One
At 23:39 · chapter starts 16:28
Kelly details Mignini's troubled history before he ever met Knox: a prior high-profile case involving the 'Monster of Florence' in which he made some 10 to 20 arrests all ultimately thrown out, followed by his own censure by Italian courts. More staggeringly, he was on trial for abuse of office at the same time he was prosecuting Knox. Knox explains a crucial structural difference between Italian and American justice: in Italy, prosecutors head the investigation from the very beginning, blurring the line between truth-seeking and conviction-seeking. Once Mignini decided Knox knew something she wasn't telling, every subsequent fact was filtered through that lens. Knox argues this is confirmation bias at its most institutionalized — and says that anyone wielding the power to take away a citizen's freedom must constantly self-audit to follow evidence rather than build a case.
Rudy Guede's fingerprints were in Meredith Kercher's blood, his DNA was found in her body, and he fled to Germany immediately after the murder. Knox points out that fleeing a country is the one behavior virtually everyone agrees signals guilt.
Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini was himself on trial for abuse of office at the same time he was prosecuting Amanda Knox for Meredith Kercher's murder.