An American Lion

I don't think it was the weed that made you confused, dear:

American college student Amanda Knox took the stand Friday in an Italian courtroom, defending herself against charges that she took part in the killing of her roommate two years ago, her lawyer said.

Knox, 21, from Seattle, Washington, distanced herself from the confused and conflicting deposition she gave to police just days after her roommate, British student Meredith Kercher, was found dead.

Wearing a white short-sleeve shirt and beige trousers and with her hair in a ponytail, she spoke first in English. She said she was under the influence of marijuana when she spoke to police and did not realize at the time that her police interview was on the record.

She had no attorney during the questioning, Knox said.

The declarations were taken against my will and they were taken in a state of confusion and pressure by the police," Knox testified before a packed courtroom, filled mostly with members of the media.

Kercher's body was found half-naked in her bed Nov. 2, 2007, at the villa she shared with Knox. Prosecutors have said Kercher, 21, died in a "drug-fueled sex game" with Knox and Knox's then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito.

Knox and Sollecito, now 25, are charged with murder and sexual assault.

Someone's got a good lawyer, apparently. What they didn't count on was me, Norman Rogers, expert and professional blogger. I have done some extensive research and, let me tell you, there's very little chance that the weed you were using whilst in Italy was any good. To wit, let us consult the "Grass City" forums on weed in Italy:

Haha you stoner

You left the key letter "e" out of "be"

and:

i dont drink ...only for taste ill have a beer or good vine .. i hate getting drunk .. i hate vomiting and i hate hangovers

plus:

Memorize this sentence, then hope you can tell what they're tryign to say by their reaction.

In English:

Do you know where I can buy marijuana?
In French:

Savez-vous où je peux acheter la marijuana ?

[That will work in France, perhaps, but the subject is Italy, so I doubt it will work. Then there's this gem:

I'd expect mostly hash in that region of europe.

All of the mediteranian countries i know of, hash is very abundant, but herb not so much.

I wouldn't know specifically what to find in Italy though, sorry

and:

when are u going to italy man?

gonna be going there soon myself, leave for switzerland july 17th and then backpacking through europe with the eurail pass with some buddies, france, spain, italy, germany, and the netherlands, gonna be sweet

It all sounds sweet, until someone gets arrested by the carabinieri. My verdict--the chronic available in Italy would be of such low, low quality that there's no way Knox could have been so stoned as to be entirely confused while in police custody. Next time, her lawyers might want to use the "angel dust" defense.

I was working patrol in a high crime area when a call came in about a man screaming outside his home.  Responding officers (including a DT instructor) confronted a nude man in front of the house, punching out porch windows. He was drenched in blood from cutting his arms and hands but kept up his tirade. Another DT instructor and I were called for backup.

When we arrived the subject was at a standoff with the officers, holding a hooked piece of glass in his right hand and threatening to stab any officer who came close. We Maced him with no effect. He just laughed as he cut his left forearm down to the bone in a circle all the way around his arm, nearly amputating it. Bleeding profusely, he then ran into his house and slammed the door.

In my mind that was fine. If he was by himself we could have waited for him to bleed out. But one of the gung ho officers followed him through the door. In a split second, I could see the subject swing his arm with the glass from behind the door. The officer triangulated out to a corner and drew his gun, but he was blinded by blood that covered his face. I didn't know if he'd been slashed or if it was blood from the subject.

I pushed the door hard and pinned the subject behind it. I had my gun in my right hand and my flashlight in my left. As a last ditch effort before shooting through the door I swung my flashlight and luckily connected with the top of the subject's forehead. He dropped the glass.

The four of us (mind you, 3 DT instructors) used every technique we could think of...baton strikes all over his body, joint manipulations, knee strikes to the face, head and body--all with no effect. The subject was like a superhuman Gumby.

At one point we got one handcuff around the arm that was cut all around and when an officer pulled the cuff behind the subject's back the muscle peeled away from the bone like a well-cooked spare rib. That had no effect on the subject, but the officer let go and started to puke.

Finally I got a lateral vascular neck restraint on the subject and rendered him unconscious. We were exhausted and breathing as hard as if we'd just run a marathon. I told the other officers, "If this guy gets back up, shoothim."

To our disbelief the subject came to and stood up with all of us hanging on. Mind you, most of us were in the 5 ft. 10 in. to 6 ft., 200 lb. range, while the subject was about 5 ft. 7 in. and 140 lbs. None of us could believe it! I knew if this guy got away from us someone was going to die.

Once again a plethora of impact techniques the likes of which usually results in death were being delivered.  In the melee we inadvertently moved back onto shattered glass and the subject was frantically trying to reach a piece.

Somehow I was able to apply a reverse lateral vascular restraint as we were both facedown on the glass and again rendered him unconscious. Three of us were then able to handcuff both arms as the other officer continued puking in the doorway.

To get the subject away from all of the glass we dragged him outside and threw him into a snowbank. When our boss arrived there was so much blood at the scene and on us that he called in an officer-involved shooting, assuming that the person lying in the red snowbank was dead.

To my amazement the subject survived. He was high on angel dust at the time.

You look pale. Squeamish, much? That's what our police have to deal with every day in America. If Amanda Knox were being tried here, she would probably be acquitted by now. In Italy? Who knows?

That being said, please don't tell me the Chronic causes that level of confusion. Even a salty dog like me knows that, no matter how much of it is in your system, only a lightweight would sit and giggle through a police interview.