Amanda Knox May be Joined in Jail by Giuliano Mignini, the Prosecutor That Put Her There

By: Carlin DeGuerin Miller
Topics: Daily Blotter

(AP Photo/Stefano Medici)

(Christine Preston)

(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

PERUGIA, Italy (CBS) The chief prosecutor in the Amanda Knox case, Giuliano Mignini, will soon be back in court, but this time he will be on the other side of Italian justice as he faces charges of "abuse of office" and "abetting" in connection with another high profile murder case.

Photo: Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini during a hearing in the Knox murder trial, June 12, 2009.

Mignini was indicted in the summer of 2006 on charges of abusing his office in connection with the still unsolved "Monster of Florence" serial killer case - a decades old string of murders that targeted young lovers on starless summer nights in the hills of Florence. Italian investigators estimate 14 victims were killed by the same person between 1974 and 1985.

Photo: Authors Douglas Preston, left, and Mario Spezi, right, say they were targeted by Mignini for a book they wrote about the "Monster of Florence" serial killer.

Mignini had quietly appeared in court on and off for his own trial since April 2008, while waging a highly publicized prosecution against Knox, an American student, who, with her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, was convicted of murdering Knox' British roommate Meredith Kercher. Knox received 26 years for the crime; Sollecito got 25.

Despite wide approval of the verdict in Italy, the Knox case remains controversial in the United States, where there is a perception that Mignini invented a wild "sex game gone wrong" theory of the crime that wasn't supported by physical evidence.

Photo: Amanda Knox reacts during a court hearing at Perugia, Italy, Nov. 21, 2009.

In Mignini's "abuse of office" case, Florence prosecutors have alleged that Mignini used his office to harass journalists who criticized his investigation of the Florence murders. They allege he illegal wiretapped journalists and opened bogus investigations against them.

Asked about the charges by CBS News producer Doug Longhini, Mignini brushed them off saying that they were politically motivated.

The case against Mignini was concluded Dec. 4. A verdict is expected sometime in January of 2010. The prosecutors have asked for 10 months in prison.

TELEVISION
48 Hours Mystery reported on the Amanda Knox case and the aftermath of the verdict Saturday Dec. 5, at 10 p.m. ET/PT

MORE ON CRIMESIDER
December 7, 2009 - Amanda Knox Update: Hillary Clinton Will Meet With Those "Concerned" About Case
December 4, 2009 - Amanda Knox Verdict: Italian Jury Will Announce Decision at 6 P.M. Eastern
December 3, 2009 - Amanda Knox Pleads With Jury: I'm No "Assassin"
December 1, 2009 - Lawsuits Fly in Amanda Knox Murder Trial
November 24, 2009 - Amanda Knox: Sex-Game Murder Charge is "Pure Fantasy;" Italian Prosecutors Want Life Sentence
November 20, 2009 - Amanda Knox Trial: Convicted Killer Fingers Knox for Meredith Kercher Murder
June 19, 2009 - Knox's Mom Says Daughter, Victim Got Along
June 15, 2009 - "Always A Crescendo:" Amanda Knox Talks About Murder Investigation On Stand
June 12, 2009 - Knox's Alibi: Sex, Drugs And Sleep
June 12, 2009 - Amanda Knox Finally Tells Her Side Of The Story
June 8, 2009 - Amanda Knox Set To Testify In Italian Murder Trial
June 5, 2009 - Victim's Family To Testify In Amanda Knox In Italian Murder Trial

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by dudedudley January 5, 2011 12:30 PM EST: It is on record that the authorities made false statements in court numerous times. This charade should end now!; Reply to this comment


by InjusticeinPerugia March 24, 2010 1:28 AM EDT: There is no credible evidence linking Amanda Knox or Raffaele Sollecito to this crime. Meredith Kercher's death was an act of extreme violence. Evidence of this crime was quickly spread throughout the crime scene. There is no credible evidence that puts Amanda Knox or Raffaele Sollecito in the room at the time of the murder.

There is not one fingerprint, not one footprint, not one shoe print, not one hair, not one fiber, no sweat, no saliva, no blood, and no DNA of any kind that puts Amanda Knox or Raffaele Sollecito in the room at the time of the murder.

Why? The answer is very clear. There was no evidence putting Amanda Knox and Raffaele sollecito in the room at the time of the murder because they were NOT there.

Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito have been wrongly convicted. Please look past the distraction of the media frenzy. Please take the time and discover the truth today. Please visit: http://www.injusticeinperugia.org; Reply to this comment


by Alangar2009 December 18, 2009 9:09 PM EST: Interesting that many peeple are willing to subject two innocent people to torture based on .1 one murder whose culprit has already been arrested and DNA and crime records are proven, 2. two persons with no criminal records, 3. no confirmable DNA evidence-the socalled knofe DNA has been declared insufficient sample size and fudges, 4. so called confessions forced and manipulated to look like that, 5.refusal for verification of DNA, 5. somany hearsays and concoctions based on what one saw in web or heard, 6. the british and some european tabloid, e.g. she said"....happens" interpreted as insensitive, I hope that all these people have some dignity and willingness to question the evidence and find the truth. Prejudice does not help justice. Pray for justice and keep an open mind-it is not Italy, USA or America, but the genocide of two innocents with another sad victim already. Happe Christmas!; Reply to this comment


by hologram5 December 17, 2009 10:41 AM EST: And this d0chebag was still allowed to prosecute the Knox case? Why? In the states, if the guy was even thought to be doing unethical things, he'd be pulled off the case ASAP and replaced. It is fact that the guy mishandled evidence, At least that has been reported.; Reply to this comment


by stillunbanable December 17, 2009 6:34 AM EST: He was indicted in 2006? Then why is he still prosecuting?; Reply to this comment

by voxpopulus December 16, 2009 8:29 PM EST

Incidentally, like the earlier poster, I am AMAZED that you use this photo of Knox that at first glance makes her look like some kind of praying Christian martyr time after time to illustrate the articles about her. Agenda much?

Reply to this comment


by bubbadubba December 16, 2009 8:52 PM EST: What is wrong with the photo.
She is Saint Knox, the patron saint of innocent poor young women who get arrested for something they did not do in foreign countries.
Why on my high resolution monitor I can actually see a halo and angels around her.
I wonder how many miracles she had performed today?


by voxpopulus December 16, 2009 11:09 PM EST: Yeah, I wondered why they hadn't photoshopped a halo in too.


by voxpopulus December 16, 2009 8:24 PM EST: Another day, another lie from the Knox family PR machine.

The ONLY case still open in regard to Mignini is an administrative issue and the result of a fall out with another prosecutor from a different region (Florence). In other words, it's political. Mignini has already been tried and cleared of all charges. The Florentine prosecutor however appealed the verdict, so it continues.

It was not the prosecutor who put Knox in jail. It was, unanimously, the EIGHT members of the jury.; Reply to this comment

by Law_Lord December 16, 2009 5:43 PM EST

It's shameful how Preston & Spezi are trying to promote their BORING book by inserting themselves into the Amanda Knox case.

I can't imagine thwarting justice for poor Meredith Kercher just to sell a few more copies of a poorly written book.

Shame on CBS News for becoming little more than a 'soapbox' for Amanda's million dollar PR team from Seattle.

The death of investigative journalism is nigh.

Reply to this comment


by voxpopulus December 16, 2009 11:37 PM EST: Only to fools.


by GinaDC1 December 17, 2009 10:30 AM EST: I keep seeing the references to the PR team whenever anyone posts anything criticial of this prosectutor. It seems oddly coincidental that your name suggests a connection to someone's legal team. And I don't know anyone who presumes to be a "lord" of anything, though anything's possible in cyberspace...


by effervescent-ollie December 16, 2009 4:40 PM EST: Spezi and Preston got into trouble with the police for meddling in things that were none of their business.

Mr Preston, writing about fictional crime, nevertheless had no idea of real life matters.

After a couple of hours of what was ordinary police questioning involving the prosecutor (the prosecutor because prosecutors lead investigations in Italy, that's the way things work there) Preston seems to have started crying like a man-girl about it. He writes about crime yet hasn't the faintest idea of police matters. Did he expect a couple of Geisha girls and a massage?

I guess Mr Preston thought that moving to Italy, buying a nice little house too, meant that he was then authorised to lay down the law in his new-found homeland and play self-appointed sheriff!

I don't question it, actually I'm convinced that Mr Preston sees himself as self-important. My opinion is that he really thought he could do as he pleased in Italy, that being a fiction writer made him a law unto himself.
My view is that he has been using Meredith Kercher's murder case in order to further his own agenda (agains Mignini) and to sell more books.

It seems Mr Preston has gone out of his way to play-up, forever after acting like a small child with a grievance against father for having been told off.

He seems to be unhappy that he cannot get his own way and has been at war against Mignini, based on what is, to Mr Preston, no more than a personal issue, but what is to Doctor Mignini, a matter of law.

Mignini the guy who deals in real crime, real killers and not with fiction books for profit.; Reply to this comment

by effervescent-ollie December 16, 2009 3:46 PM EST

Dr Giuliano Mignini, public prosecutor in Perugia, Italy, has already been to court, was fully acquitted of all charges, including illegal phone tapping.

Reply to this comment


by GinaDC1 December 16, 2009 4:00 PM EST: No, he wasn't "fully acquitted". He still faces abuse of office and abetting charges. This is a matter of public record.


by Law_Lord December 16, 2009 5:56 PM EST: Mignini was acquitted on the (politically-motivated) charges. The claimant (a rival prosecutor) is now appealing that decision.

It's all just politics.

Alas, Amanda's real problem was NOT the prosecutor, it was the EVIDENCE: Amanda and the 2 boys she set loose on poor Meredith were ALL implicated by their LIES & by their DNA.