Going into a case with a pre-conceived conclusion and making the facts fit the conclusion isn't some form of abuse of power? The fact that the murder took place in Knox's apartment in Italy painted a big target on her back by the prosecutor.
Oh, I don't doubt that he abused his power - but I don't think that he intended to "put America on trial", as you put it. Rather, I think that he felt he had a slam-dunk case and pursued it without stopping to consider the oversights in the investigation - and it got out of control when the case started to garner international attention. To this day, there are a lot of inconsistencies in Knox's case, like the footprints in the apartment and the way she and Sollecito knew nothing had been stolen from the apartment before the police arrived, that have been questioned by her defence, but never satisfactorily explained. Had due process been followed, then I suspect that it would be harder for Knox's lawyers to refute the evidence. And there was a lot of slick media management that recast Knox as a greater victim than Kercher.
Anyways even if I suspect Knox might have had something to do with it (I do) that doesn't meet the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt here in 'Merica...... I think it would be awfully hard to get her here in the USA on anything.
The evidence suggests otherwise - Kercher was strangled from behind, and stabbed twice around the base of the skull. She was trained in martial arts, but her hands had no defensive wounds. The suggestion that one person was able to single-handedly overpower her like that is very far-fetched.
If that is indeed true, then you have to take into account how deep were the ligature marks around her neck were, or, quite possibly, any potential fibers that were left behind on those marks. Another factor to consider is whether or not alcohol was in the victim's toxicology report. If it is higher than, roughly .16 (that is twice the legal limit in some states in the US), then it is of little wonder why a drunken woman would be left alone to a home invasion.
Not really ruling out that more than one person had killed her here. The way that I see it, it would have taken three men to have properly restrain and kill her, not two men and one woman as the Italian Police have alleged. By selecting a murder weapon that was commonly used by Knox, the kitchen knife, it made it impossible to discern any other prints besides Knox.
Plus, there has never been a single viable suspect outside the Knox-Sollecito-Guede trifecta. Sure, there was the bartender, Lumumba, that Knox gave up, but he was proven to be innocent. Fifth on the list would be rumours of a man seen washing his bloody hands on a fountain before dawn on the day of the discovery, but his existence has never been substantiated.
That might have what ultimately saved her in the court of public opinion here in the US (as most cases are tried now a days). Had she lost support from average Joes in the US, the open ended question of extradition might have been answered in Italy's favor.
I don't know how she was initially represented in America, but she wasn't a helpless, naïve young woman caught up in a foreign land and bravely resisting an alien criminal justice system. She was cold and distant, more interested in making out with her boyfriend than in showing concern for her murdered flatmate.
