COMMENTARY
Instinctively, it is generally been felt that settlement of an action cures all. Certainly, courts promote settlement (especially nowadays, toward the ever-declining percentage of cases tried). Likewise, case law generally renders settlements — even those verbally agreed upon — as difficult to undo. In fact, one of the critiques of the American legal system is its insistence on and repercussions of finality. This is evident when comparing our appellate process with that of Italy as seen in the Amanda Knox trial; Italy effectively allowed an appellate re-examination of contested evidence with apparently the opportunity to introduce new evidence.
