Amanda Knox murder conviction overturned by Italy high court

[Lite Beer]

Amanda Knox murder conviction overturned by Italy high court
COLLEEN BARRY, Associated Press
FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Italy's highest court on Friday overturned the murder conviction against Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend in the 2007 slaying of Knox's roommate, bringing to a definitive end the high-profile case that captivated trial-watchers on both sides of the Atlantic.

"Finished!" Knox's lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova exulted after the decision was read out late Friday. "It couldn't be better than this."

In a rare decision, the supreme Court of Cassation overturned last year's convictions by a Florence appeals court and declined to order another trial. The judges declared that the two did not commit the crime, a stronger exoneration than merely finding that there wasn't enough evidence to convict.

In a statement issued from her home in Seattle, Knox said she was "relieved and grateful" for the decision.

"The knowledge of my innocence has given me strength in the darkest times of this ordeal," she said, thanking her supporters for believing in her.

Experts have said such a complete exoneration is unusual for the high court, which could have upheld the conviction or ordered a new trial as it did in 2013 when the case first came up to its review on appeal.

The justices' reasoning will be released within 90 days.

The decision ends the long legal battle waged by Knox and Italian co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito to clear their names in the death of British student Meredith Kercher, after they spent nearly four years in prison immediately after the murder only to be freed when they were first acquitted in 2011.

The case aroused strong interest in three countries for its explosive mix of young love, murder and flip-flop decisions by Italian courts.

Across the Atlantic, a spontaneous shout of joy erupted from inside the Seattle home of Knox's mother as the verdict was announced. Several relatives and supporters filtered into the back yard, where they hugged and cheered.

Dalla Vedova said he called Knox to tell her the news, but said she couldn't speak through her tears.

"She was crying because she was so happy," he said.

Kercher, 21, was found dead Nov. 2, 2007, in the apartment that she shared with Knox and two other students. Her throat was slashed and she had been sexually assaulted.

The Kercher family attorney, Francesco Maresca, was clearly disappointed by the decision.

"I think that it's a defeat for the Italian justice system," he said.

Kercher's mother, Arline Kercher, told Britain's Press Association news agency that she was "a bit surprised and very shocked."

"They have been convicted twice so it is a bit odd that it should change now," she said.

Knox and Sollecito were arrested a few days later after Kercher's death. Eventually another man, Rudy Guede from Ivory Coast, was arrested, tried and convicted of the murder in a separate trial and is serving a 16-year sentence.

The couple maintained their innocence, insisting that they had spent the evening together at Sollecito's place watching a movie, smoking marijuana and making love.

Knox and Sollecito were initially convicted by a Perugia court in 2009, then acquitted and freed in 2011, and then convicted again in 2014 in Florence after the Cassation court overturned the acquittals and ordered a new appeals trial.

That Florence appeals conviction was overturned Friday.

Knox had been convicted of slander for having falsely accused a Congolese man of the murder. That conviction was upheld by the high court Friday, but Knox has already served the three-year sentence in prison.

Sollecito's lawyer, Luca Maori, called the young man with the good news from the steps of the courthouse.

"You have your whole life ahead of you now, Raf" he told Sollecito.

Speaking to reporters, he added: "He almost couldn't speak. Eight years of nightmare over."

___

AP television producer Paolo Santalucia contributed.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-03-28

[rotary]

Does anybody really believe she is not guilty?

[Credo]

Apparently Italy's highest court does:

The judges declared that the two did not commit the crime, a stronger exoneration than merely finding that there wasn't enough evidence to convict.

[Johpa]

Does anybody really believe she is not guilty?

Yes, I never thought she was capable of murder. Making bad decisions, yes, but of course, just like the rest of us at that age. But absolutely nothing in her demeanor suggested she was capable of murdering someone. Nor was there much evidence to convict her of the murder. The trial was a travesty of justice, something I think the Italian Supreme Court clearly recognized.

[Ulysses G.]

I'm not sure one way or the other, but I have met and talked to a number of murderers when I tutored at a local jail back home. It is pretty much impossible to judge their guilt by their demeanor. They often seem quite normal. I do agree that Amanda Knox does not seem the type though.

[JingerBen]

Does the black dude get a retrial too?

[alex8912]

I do not think she is guilty.

[neverdie]

Lots of guilty people walk from court with not guilty results. Not guilty doesn't necessarily mean they didn't do it but rather that the prosecution case failed to prove it beyond reasonable doubt.

Having said sll of that I have no idea if she's guilty or not ?

[2fishin2]

Italy had 3 chances to get it right (whatever that actually) and 2 out of 3 was not guilty.

[chuckd]

The Court probably let her go because she is so "cute".

[Publicus]

It's my casual observation from afar but nonetheless as an expat too that it is difficult to believe she's a murderer, especially such a grizzly one. It's really that I don't know if she fits any profile of a murderer and just about every kind of murder or crime has an empirical profile of a pretty typical perp.

There is a murderer(s) in this and the black guy is in prison, so it might well serve justice and the much aggrieved Kercher family if that were reviewed inside and outside the justice system to get a better handle on him in relation to the crime. If the black guy is guilty then I'd like some level of comfort that the black guy isn't being railroaded. Italy is not the United States and its history of black justice literally and figuratively but that is only somewhat of a mitigating factor.

While the Italian high court is convincing it its judgement, I still don't feel a finality in this so I'd like to know more about the black guy.

[j7general]

Does the black dude get a retrial too?

Huh?---which one Jinger. There are so many!

[j7general]

It's my casual observation from afar but nonetheless as an expat too that it is difficult to believe she's a murderer, especially such a grizzly one. It's really that I don't know if she fits any profile of a murderer and just about every kind of murder or crime has an empirical profile of a pretty typical perp.

There is a murderer(s) in this and the black guy is in prison, so it might well serve justice and the much aggrieved Kercher family if that were reviewed inside and outside the justice system to get a better handle on him in relation to the crime. If the black guy is guilty then I'd like some level of comfort that the black guy isn't being railroaded. Italy is not the United States and its history of black justice literally and figuratively but that is only somewhat of a mitigating factor.

While the Italian high court is convincing it its judgement, I still don't feel a finality in this so I'd like to know more about the black guy.

He was acquitted and sent back to wherever he belonged----France!

[NeverSure]

This is amazing to me. I'm used to a system where if once acquitted by a jury a person can't be tried again nor can the prosecution appeal. Only the defense can appeal. There can be another trial only if the person is found guilty.

It's called a prohibition against double jeopardy and it's etched in stone. This back and forth for eight years is a nightmare.

[HerbalEd]

Does anybody really believe she is not guilty?

How could you possibly know either way? You can't?

[Tywais]

I didn't realize they made a movie already based on the story. The Face of an Angel (2014)

[chuckd]

It's my casual observation from afar but nonetheless as an expat too that it is difficult to believe she's a murderer, especially such a grizzly one. It's really that I don't know if she fits any profile of a murderer and just about every kind of murder or crime has an empirical profile of a pretty typical perp.

There is a murderer(s) in this and the black guy is in prison, so it might well serve justice and the much aggrieved Kercher family if that were reviewed inside and outside the justice system to get a better handle on him in relation to the crime. If the black guy is guilty then I'd like some level of comfort that the black guy isn't being railroaded. Italy is not the United States and its history of black justice literally and figuratively but that is only somewhat of a mitigating factor.

While the Italian high court is convincing it its judgement, I still don't feel a finality in this so I'd like to know more about the black guy.

The "black guy's" name is Rudy Guede.

Google is your friend.

[chuckd]

It's my casual observation from afar but nonetheless as an expat too that it is difficult to believe she's a murderer, especially such a grizzly one. It's really that I don't know if she fits any profile of a murderer and just about every kind of murder or crime has an empirical profile of a pretty typical perp.

There is a murderer(s) in this and the black guy is in prison, so it might well serve justice and the much aggrieved Kercher family if that were reviewed inside and outside the justice system to get a better handle on him in relation to the crime. If the black guy is guilty then I'd like some level of comfort that the black guy isn't being railroaded. Italy is not the United States and its history of black justice literally and figuratively but that is only somewhat of a mitigating factor.

While the Italian high court is convincing it its judgement, I still don't feel a finality in this so I'd like to know more about the black guy.

He was acquitted and sent back to wherever he belonged----France!

Actually Rudy Guede was convicted and sentenced to 30 years, which was later reduced to 16 years.

He is from the Ivory Coast but was raised in Italy.

[NeverSure]

That system of back and forth is BS.

[zaphod reborn]

I think the Italian courts properly convicted Rudy Guede. He had a history of criminal burglaries, one of which he committed while carrying a jackknife, and another at a nursery while carrying an 11" knife just days before Kercher's murder. He fled to Germany shortly after Kercher's murder. His fingerprints were found at the murder scene. Kercher died of multiple stab wounds from a knife.

Amanda Knox seems like she was involved in a cover-up of the murder. She provided testimony in support of Guede's claim that someone had broken into the flat and killed Kercher. Knox probably has done enough time in prison, and gone through enough emotional turmoil, that no further punishment is necessary.

[sommsomm]

So after being wrongfully imprisoned for 4 years they will both be due a large compensatory award, will they not?

[wandasloan]

It's my casual observation from afar but nonetheless as an expat too that it is difficult to believe she's a murderer, especially such a grizzly one.

Finally, an opinion that bears looking into.

[Publicus]

That system of back and forth is BS.

zzzzz zz3.jpg

It could seem the major problem at the original trial court was that parts of her arrive before the rest does. With the nick media assigned to her of "Foxy Knoxy" the trial court may have had some standout impression or notions that may have influenced their thinking, thoughts, deliberations.

[Pete Beale]

Why would somebody accuse a totally innocent person of committing the murder as Knox did with a local bar owner ? She's guilty of something whether that be just trying to get the real murderer off and deserves all the grief she's gone through.

[Jingthing]

I'm glad it's over.
The U.S. wouldn't have ever sent her back, so that's the real story here. Italian - USA relations not harmed.

I find Knox unlikable for some reason and I think that's been a big part of her problem ... guilty or not, which I have no opinion about.

[Tywais]

An interesting read here - http://www.injusticeinperugia.org/myths.html

And here - http://inpublicsafety.com/2014/02/veteran-forensic-scientist-examines-negligence-in-the-collection-of-evidence-against-amanda-knox/

[Srikcir]

Does the black dude get a retrial too?

When you plead guilty, you give up your rights as a defendent.

[JetsetBkk]

Lots of guilty people walk from court with not guilty results. Not guilty doesn't necessarily mean they didn't do it but rather that the prosecution case failed to prove it beyond reasonable doubt.

Having said sll of that I have no idea if she's guilty or not ?

Yes, but in this case they were not found "not guilty":

The judges declared that the two did not commit the crime, a stronger exoneration than merely finding that there wasn't enough evidence to convict.

[cookee68]

Does the black dude get a retrial

Obviously not, He was more screwed with the evidence than any one else, and could not get away from that evidence

[Jingthing]

After what she's been through I wonder if she gets panic attacks when she smells a pizza.

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