[Kaligula]

The fact that Raffale-Amanda "relationship" did not survive the crime and the trial essentially excludes any kind of emotional reasons for Raffale to stand for Amanda. That leaves as his motif either blackmail by Amanda (or X), or the fact that he was a murderer, together with Amanda, and, possibly, X. But Raffale looks a kind of helpless to me in this story: like he has to go with whatever Amanda claims. A hapless, sacrificial lamb. Contrast that with Guede who behaves in much more active way. Also, Guede's testimony is pretty detailed (even this writing in blood), which makes it essentially credible. The fact that his is a different picture than given by Amanda & Raffale means that he is not being blackmailed, ergo, at least he is not a murderer. The fact that he wants a new trial is also a point for him; you take such a risk essentially only for acquittal (his acquittal in this case). In a psychological sense there is a bigger difference between "guilty" and "not guilty" than between 16 and 20 years of prison. This is a matter of your integrity. To understand that you really have to go through a trial, knowing that you have not done what you are being accused of.

From the reported fact that the prosecution tried to break Amanda, we can assume that the prosecutor also thought that (1) the current story is an incomplete story, (2) Amanda is a mastermind of this story. So he tried to make her talk. And nothing. And nothing even after Amanda's years in prison. No wonder Italians have given up. She seems to be stone-cold like mafiosi. A witch, in fact.

But remember, as a prosecutor you go on a trial with a story that is the most credible in the light of presented evidence, not with what you think that did, in fact, happen.