SEATTLE, June 12 (UPI) -- A Seattle judge has asked President Obama to investigate the U.S. State Department's role in the Amanda Cox murder case.
King County Superior Court Judge Michael Heavey said diplomats failed to protect the rights of Knox, a Seattle student charged with murdering her roommate in Italy in 2007.
Heavey, who said in his letter he was acting as a private citizen and not an officer of the court, contends the State Department failed to act as Italian police subjected Knox to high-pressure interrogations and failed to provide her with legal counsel.
KOMO-TV in Seattle said Sunday Heavey has made his views known in the Knox case. Knox is from his neighborhood and went to school with his daughter.
He was chastised by the Washington Judicial Conduct Commission for sending letters to Italian officials on court stationary and making public statements that appeared to be intended to influence the case.
