Italy's Top Court Slams Acquittal of Amanda Knox

Italy's highest court today spelled out why it thinks Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito should be retried for the murder of Meredith Kercher. The Court of Cessation blasted the logic behind their acquittals as "absolutely inadequate" and marred by "shortcomings, contradictions, and inconsistencies." Among the specifics, as reported by Reuters, the AP, and the Guardian:

• Knox's false accusation: Knox initially told police that local bar owner Diya "Patrick" Lumumba was the killer, though police later determined he was innocent. "Even though she was young, Knox was a mature girl with an adequate level of culture, born and raised in a country whose laws don't permit one to gratuitously accuse someone else just to get out of an embarrassing situation," the high court wrote. It felt the appellate court gave this too little attention. (Knox has said police coerced her.)
• Written statement: Knox's statement to police states that she vaguely remembers being in the kitchen and trying to cover her ears to avoid Kercher's screams. The high court considers that another piece of undervalued evidence.

• Sex game: The high court resurrected the theory that Kercher was killed during an "erotic game" that spun out of control. It wants the new trial to more carefully examine the theory, along with the notion that Rudy Guede—the only person still jailed for the slaying—didn't act alone. Fine, says Sollecito's attorney. "If there was an erotic game then there needs to be a search for the other people involved, who are certainly not Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox."
• Big picture: The high court "said the judges in the appeals case had underestimated the evidence against the two accused, assessing clues one by one and not stepping back to view the big picture," says Reuters.

(More Amanda Knox stories.)