Mez: SIDEBAR LITIGATIONS (3#) -

Meredith Kercher Murder Case -

When weasel words go wild . . .

Dr Mignini, the chief prosecutor in this case, is reported to be suing the West Seattle Herald for defaming him and has demanded they take down the web page involved.

From the article in question written by Steve Shay:

"Amanda supporters say he is using the high-profile Amanda Knox case to improve his dicey reputation and further his career. They say some in both the American and Italian legal field believe Mignini is mentally unstable."

Editor should delete second sentence from
above captioned excerpt and apologize to Dr Mignini.

Just because you may have a right under American Law to say something (which is debatable), doesn't mean that you should say it or that you must say it. This sentence displays poor editorial judgement and should be deleted.

There are differences in the laws concerning FoE and Defamation among nations, to be sure, including the US, the UK, and Italy. Are some newspapers taking advantage of the gray area where there may be differences? Possibly, they are. But that is not an acceptable defense.

When the police first entered the crime scene in this case, they encountered blood spattered on the walls, something scrawled in blood on a wall or similar surface, and vampire books on the bedside table of the tenant's lover. This is a grotesque situation, but the prosecutor is not responsible for the character of that arena.

Add to this: the prosecutor is a traditional Italian Roman Catholic. This remark can be interpreted as an attack on Mignini for his religious beliefs, which is uncivilized.

Let's settle this and move on.

::Sun:: --- ::Messaggero:: --- ::Herald::

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