@gungasnake,
gungasnake wrote:I don't really know enough about this one to have an opinion on it,
There are so many subplots in the case that it can never be described concisely. But briefly, here is a short rundown:
Kercher was whoring her way through Europe in exchange for free drugs. One of Kercher's clients introduced Guede to Kercher and Amanda. Amanda and Kercher forgot Guede almost immediately, but Guede didn't forget about them.
Later, Guede broke into their apartment. Thankfully Amanda was spending the night at her boyfriend's place. Guede cut Kercher's throat, and raped her as blood was gushing from her neck. Then he took her phones so she could not summon help, and locked her in her room (the lock required a key to unlock it from either side of the door). Kercher slowly drowned in her own blood on the floor of her room while Guede went out dancing at a nightclub.
Amanda's then-boyfriend Raffaele is fairly wealthy. His dead mother left him an inheritance worth a few million dollars. When the Kercher family found out about his wealth, they began a hard push to have everyone ignore Guede, and instead convict Amanda and Raffaele so that they can claim Raffaele's estate as civil damages.
The Kerchers' relentless focus on Amanda and Raffaele has inadvertently earned Guede a series of sentence reductions, reducing his sentence from LIFE to 30 years to 16 years. Guede is now up for "daytime release" (returning to prison every night) sometime this month. He will get full parole (assuming good behavior) in just a couple more years.
I'm sort of torn as to which outcome I'd prefer. Considering what he did to Kercher, letting him lose in a college town filled with young women sounds like just the sort of disaster that Italy deserves to have happen to them.
On the other hand, the Kercher family are pretty vile. If they have to watch Guede become a respected member of the community and live out a happy life, that will be the ultimate in poetic justice. At the moment I prefer this option.
But considering his crime, I expect that Guede is going to be a repeat offender.
gungasnake wrote:but it doesn't sound like the idea of double-jeopardy means anything in Italy.
Italy has no regard for anything resembling justice or science.
However, the double jeopardy issue is a bit complex. All these trials actually count as one big trial.