Amanda Knox “Jesuit-Educated,”

The Knox Trial, Continued

Amanda Knox took the witness stand Friday in the trial in which she is accused of killing her roommate in Perugia, Italy, Meredith Kercher. After nearly a year and half of being painted as a wild party girl, it will be intriguing to see how the European press treats her first appearances in court. Judging by the comments posted in response to my piece on the case, many people have a very harsh view of her, and there’s a racial component, which I’m not sure I understand.

“This is their O.J. Simpson trial — it’s that big,” said Paul Ciolino told me Friday, a private investigator, who counsels for the Innocence Project, a group advocating on behalf of those they believe are wrongfully convicted. Ciolino was also an investigator for CBS, and called this case “the railroad job from hell.” He said he’s been subject to all manner of abuse from people who think he’s wrong. I wish people would try to look at the evidence in this case, but that’s what happens when tabloid journalism meets the judicial system.

Many readers said I was raising questions about the prosecution because Knox is blue-eyed and pretty. I never mentioned her looks, except to say the tabloids call her “Angel Face” and seem fascinated with her looks. People took me to task for mentioning that she was “Jesuit-educated,” Seattle Preparatory School as if that gives her a pass. It does not, of course. But the tabloid image of her as a promiscuous party girl seems to cry out for some balance — hence the “Jesuit-educated.” Her family is not rich. Parents are divorced. The mother was a teacher. The father works on the financial side at Macy’s.

Link (here) to the full op-ed piece.