John Hinderaker at Power Line posted an article yesterday about the acquittal of Amanda Knox in an Italian court. As a lawyer, Mr. Hinderaker followed the case closely and in his post he details some of the reasons he felt the innocent verdict was appropriate. I will admit that I had not followed the case very closely, and much of what I read at Power Line was new information to me.

There was no evidence linking Ms. Knox or Raffaele Sollecito to the murder of Meredith Kercher. There was evidence linking Rudy Guede to the rape of Meredith Kercher.

Mr. Hinderaker points out:

The most bizarre aspect of this miscarriage of justice, perhaps, was that Guede’s sentence was reduced to 16 years, while Knox was sentenced to 26 years and Sollecito–the forgotten man of the story, who must wonder more than anyone what he did to be trapped in such a nightmare–got 25 years. How on earth did the prosecution justify this focus on Knox and Sollecito, in preference to the man whose DNA showed that he (and he alone) had raped Kercher? Simple: Knox was a “she devil,” whereas Guede was merely her tool–seriously! The evidence for this claim? There wasn’t any. This kind of fantasy is inconceivable in a modern court.

When you read the details in the Power Line article, you begin to appreciate the justice system in America. The case against Amanda Knox would never have made it through an American court with the evidence the police had–it would have been either thrown out or dismissed as soon as the lack of evidence was apparent. This is the kind of story that makes me truly glad to live in America.