Amanda Knox is the American student recently convicted of murdering her roommate in Italy.  The conviction, many believe was based in large part on her statements and actions to police soon after her arrest.  She was interrogated for roughly 50 hours over 4 days according to her father, an American accountant.  Amanda’s mother recently asserted regrets to the press about not hiring a lawyer prior to any interviews with the police.  The mother has stated publicly she thinks the Italian police botched the investigation and built their case around coerced statements made by Amanda shortly after her detention following the murder.  In hindsight the parents regret not retaining a criminal defense attorney immediately after she was picked up and suspected of the crime.  Amanda related that police interviewers hit her and falsely extracted a confession from her which she later recanted.  She gave statements, according to the police, that later could not be corroborated and were ultimately found to be knowingly false.  Only time will tell whether her conviction will stand in the Courts but one thing is for sure, the police are not interested in guarding the rights of a suspect, only a lawyer will ensure that the authorities do not abuse their power and ensnare an innocent person into a criminal investigation.  After all, it was our forefathers that insisted on including a person’s right to remain silent and retain counsel when accused of a criminal offense, they were indeed wise.