Didn’t the first jury find her innocent but they tried her again?
Thanks to Fuzz - I had to look that information up. Yes it is in their constitution “innocent until proven guilty”.
However - I found the following information regarding their system and that trial. The prosecutor and authorities rushed to judgement and also withheld evidence. They released information to the press to paint her in a bad light - jurors are not sequestered.
In the retrial she was found not guilty.
Excerpt:
About 50% of all criminal convictions in Italy are reversed or greatly modified on appeal. Knox and Sollecito join the 4 million Italians since the war who have seen their lives ruined by false criminal charges, only to be proclaimed innocent after many years of agony and imprisonment.
More excerpts:
For a year, Knox and Sollecito were kept in preventive detention – Italy has no bail system – while Mignini, the police, and various forensic experts built the case against them. Crucial evidence that could have exonerated them was lost or mishandled. For example, the hard drive on Sollecito’s computer, which could have shown he was on his computer during the time of the murder, was “fried’’ by investigators as they supposedly tried to copy it.
Salacious, false, and misleading details were leaked to the press, poisoning the atmosphere against Knox and Sollecito. This tactic was particularly effective since jurors in Italy are not sequestered or forbidden from reading and discussing the case while the trial is ongoing. It is a common tactic in Italy, although it is strictly forbidden by the Italian law of segreto istruttorio.
All of this led to the not-surprising conviction of Knox and Sollecito. At the appeal most of the evidence and witnesses were re-examined.
The appeals process in Italy is generally considered to be much fairer than trials of the first degree, and people are not generally considered convicted until they are convicted on appeal. This is why Mignini, even after his conviction for abuse of office, was able to continue prosecuting the case.
While they don’t like others pointing it out, many Italians are well aware that their judicial system is dysfunctional. Silvio Berlusconi is absolutely right when he says the judiciary needs fundamental reform. The Italian judiciary, a holdover to a great extent from the Mussolini era, when Italy was a police state, acts with no checks and balances, in which prosecutors and police wield enormous power.
If you are arrested for a crime and have no alibi, you are in very serious trouble. The de facto burden of proof is on you to prove your innocence, despite lip service in the Italian constitution to the idea of innocent until proven guilty.