Update: Amanda Knox Books "GMA" Interview following Guilty Verdict

[JamesG]

Amanda Knox Verdict: Murder Conviction Overturned
AP / The Huffington Post
10/3/11


An Italian court has overturned the conviction of 24-year-old American Amanda Knox. Knox was found not guilty of killing her British roommate, 21-year-old Meredith Kercher, in 2007, and will be freed from jail.

Knox collapsed in tears after the verdict overturning her 2009 conviction was read out.

Her co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito, also was cleared of the murder.



The Kercher family looked on grimly and a bit dazed as the verdict was read out by the judge after 11 hours of deliberations by the eight-member jury.

Outside the courthouse, some of the hundreds of observers shouted "Shame, shame!"





Yet inside the frescoed courtroom, Knox's parents, who have regularly traveled from their home in Seattle to Perugia to visit the 24-year-old over the past four years, hugged their lawyers and cried with joy.

"We've been waiting for this for four years," said one of Sollecito's lawyers, Giulia Bongiorno.

The judge upheld Knox's conviction on a charge of slander for accusing bar owner Diya "Patrick" Lumumba of carrying out the killing. He set the sentence at three years, meaning for time served.

Knox has been in prison since Nov. 6, 2007.





Prosecutors can appeal the acquittal to Italy's highest court. There was no word late Monday if they planned to do so.

In Seattle, about a dozen Knox supporters were overjoyed that she has been cleared of the murder conviction.

"She's free!" and "We did it!" they shouted at a hotel where they watched the court proceedings on TV.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/1..._lnk3%7C101043

[shotzette]

3 years for slander? The Italian justice system is ridiculous. Sadly, due to the authorities' tainted evidence, the crime will never be fully resolved.

[robyrob]

the slander charge is ridiculous - they coerced her into signing that statement that her boss did it with the promise that it would mean that she wouldn't be charged, but when it turned out that he had an airtight alibi they of course couldn't charge him and went after Amanda instead.

Rudy Guede acted alone when he killed Meredith Kercher - he has changed his story so many times it is ridiculous; none of their friends had ever even seen him before that day, and no one knew of any reason why he would even be in their apartment, it was his bloody hand print found on the pillow under Meredith's body, and he was the one that mentioned the exact amount of money stolen from her room - before it was ever revealed by the police that anthing had been stolen. Amanda Knox had plenty of money, he was going to be evicted by his landlord the next day if he couldn't pay his rent, which he did somehow come up with that day.

[sunshinefizzy]

Good! I never believed she was guilty.

[JamesG]

Amanda Knox Case: Italy's Highest Court Overturns Acquittal, Orders New Trial
03/26/2013


Italy's highest criminal court overturned the acquittal of Amanda Knox in the 2007 murder of her British roommate and ordered a retrial, The Associated Press reported.

The Court of Cassation ruled Tuesday that an appeals court in Florence must re-hear the case against Knox and her Italian-ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the slaying of British exchange student Meredith Kercher.



Kercher, 21, was killed in the home she shared with Knox and other roommates in Perugia, Italy. Kercher was found half-naked, with her throat slashed. Several of her belongings, including cash, credit cards and phones, were missing.

Prosecutors alleged Kercher was killed by Knox, Sollecito and an Ivory Coast man named Rudy Guede. Guede admitted having sexual relations with Kercher but denied killing her, CNN reported. He was later convicted in a separate trial and is currently serving a 16-year sentence.

The case became a worldwide sensation that divided public opinion.







Knox, then 20, and Sollecito, then 24, were initially convicted of sexual assault, murder and simulating a burglary, and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Knox received an extra year for calumny for falsely accusing another man of killing Kercher.

The conviction was overturned on appeal in 2011 and both Knox and Sollecito were released from prison.



At the time of this writing, Knox is a student at the University of Washington in Seattle. Waiting To Be Heard, Knox's book about the case, is due to be published on April 30.

Sollecito lives in Verona, Italy, where he is studying computer engineering.

It is not known if Knox will return to Italy voluntarily or be extradited to face the new proceedings. If she fails to appear, the case could proceed without her, The New York Times reported.



Knox released a statement after the ruling was issued on Tuesday, saying it was "painful to receive the news," Reuters reported.

"No matter what happens, my family and I will face this continuing legal battle as we always have, confident in the truth and with our heads held high in the face of wrongful accusations and unreasonable adversity," Knox stated.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0..._2953655.html?

[*ROGER*]

Originally Posted by shotzette

3 years for slander? The Italian justice system is ridiculous. Sadly, due to the authorities' tainted evidence, the crime will never be fully resolved.

I thought Merideth Kercher's real killer was proven to be some guy named Rudy Geude.

[robyrob]

Originally Posted by *ROGER*

I thought Merideth Kercher's real killer was proven to be some guy named Rudy Geude.

only by all of the physical evidence, DNA, motive, logic and common sense - but unfortunately that isn't enough for the Italian prosecutor's office.

[*ROGER*]

Originally Posted by robyrob

only by all of the physical evidence, DNA, motive, logic and common sense - but unfortunately that isn't enough for the Italian prosecutor's office.

Well, Rudy Geude was successfully tried and convicted. Guede found Kercher's body in the house she shared with Knox (even though he didn't live there). His fingerprints were found at the scene. He admitted being there prior to the killing (and using the toilet). And one of his palm prints was found in a blood stain underneath Kercher's body.

I think Knox was completely innocent of the crime; and that none of the evidence — blood, DNA, or witnesses — ever really pointed to Knox.

[JamesG]

Amanda Knox Retrial Date Set for September 30 after Acquittal Overturned by Italian Court
07/09/13
AP


A Florence appeals court has set Sept. 30 as the start date for the retrial of American student Amanda Knox in the 2007 death of her British roommate.

In March, Italy's highest court overturned Knox's acquittal, faulting the lower court for "deficiencies, contradictions and illogical" conclusions in freeing Knox and her onetime boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. It ordered a new appeals court to consider all the evidence to determine if they helped kill Meredith Kercher.

Kercher family attorney Francesco Maresca said Tuesday the Florence court would begin hearings on Sept. 30. Knox, who returned to her hometown of Seattle after her 2011 acquittal, is not expected to attend.

Kercher's body was found in her bedroom of the house she shared with Knox in Perugia. Her throat had been slashed.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3567716.html

[JamesG]

Amanda Knox Says "Everything Is At Stake" in Retrial on "Today" Show
09/20/13
AP


American student Amanda Knox on Friday defended her decision not to return to Italy for a new appeals trial over the 2007 killing of her British roommate, even as she acknowledged that "everything is at stake," insisting she is innocent.

"I was already imprisoned as innocent person in Italy, and I can't reconcile the choice to go back with that experience," Knox said in an interview with Matt Lauer on NBC's "Today" show.

"I just can't relive that."



Lauer asked Knox if she worried that she was handing prosecutors an admission of guilt by not attending the trial.

The Seattle native replied, "I look at it of an admission of innocence, to be quite honest."



Knox said there was no trace of her in the room where her roommate, Meredith Kercher, was found killed when both were exchange students studying in Perugia, Italy. Kercher's throat had been slashed.

"It's impossible for me to have participated in this crime if there's no trace of me," Knox said.

She said school and finances also were keeping her from attending the trial, which is scheduled to begin in Florence on Sept. 30.







In March, Italy's supreme court ordered a new trial for Knox and her former Italian boyfriend. An appeals court in 2011 had acquitted both, overturning convictions by a lower court. Italian law cannot compel Knox to return for the new legal proceeding.

Knox said Friday that she still had faith in the Italian legal system.

"I believe that people who really care about justice and look at this without prejudice will come to same conclusion," she said.



Still, she acknowledged that the prospect of returning to prison haunted her.

"I thought about what it would be like to live my entire life in prison and to lose everything, to lose what I've been able to come back to and rebuild," she said. "I think about it all the time. It's so scary. Everything is at stake."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0..._3961620.html?

[Vahan]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...er-weapon.html

American student Amanda Knox, who is facing a retrial in Italy in the murder of her roommate, received some good news this week when forensic experts revealed that there were no traces of the victim’s DNA on the alleged murder weapon.

On Friday, experts began tests on a kitchen knife that the Italian prosecutors claimed was used to murder British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia in 2007.

Two years ago, Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were cleared of all charges in connection to Kercher’s murder after they had served four years in prison for the crime.

In March, Italy's highest court ordered the new trial for the pair, overturning their acquittals.

The 26-year-old Knox, who has been attending college in Seattle since her return to the U.S., announced that she will not go to Italy to face another trial.

This latest revelation that skin cells found on the knife are not those of Kercher could refute the prosecution’s claim that Knox used the large piece of cutlery to kill the British national.

Following Kercher’s slaying in 2007, Perugia police seized the sizable kitchen knife from Sollecito’s apartment, where Knox allegedly had used it for cooking, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

DNA testing performed this week have shown that skin cells found between the handle and the blade are those of Knox, not Kercher.

The fact that Kercher's blood was not found on the blade could possibly spell a second acquittal for Knox when the retrial comes to a close November 26.

Knox’s attorney Ted Simon told ABC News Friday that he was satisfied with this turn of events in Italy.
Meanwhile, Sollecito's attorney, Luca Maori, said that all evidence points to the fact that contrary to the prosecutors’ version of events, the knife that has become the centerpiece of the case against his client and Knox was not the murder weapon after all.

The forensic experts will officially unveil the results of the DNA tests during a court hearing November 6.

The appellate court hearing the new case could declare Knox's in contempt of court for failing to return to Italy for the trial, but that carries no additional penalties.

'We refute the idea that because Amanda is not coming, that Amanda is guilty, that Amanda is using a strategy.

'Amanda always said she was a friend of Meredith's, Amanda has always respected the Italian justice system,' Knox's lawyer Luciano Ghirga said before the trial opened.

Knox and Sollecito, now 29, were convicted and later acquitted in Ms Kercher's death.

Knox served four years of a 26-year sentence, including three years on a slander conviction for falsely accusing a Perugia bar owner in the murder, before leaving Italy a free woman after her 2011 acquittal.

The bar owner wrongly accused of killing Meredith Kercher today insisted that Amanda Knox is guilty of the British student's murder.

Patrick Lumumba, who Knox initially suggested might be responsible for killing Meredith, told the hearing that he had suffered from the false allegation, which saw Knox convicted of slander.

'I say the same thing I said six years ago,' he said. 'I think she is guilty, and that is why she slandered me.'

Francesco Maresca, representing the Kercher family, said that the victim's relatives believed Knox was present at the scene of Meredith's death in the flat the two students shared in Perugia.

'I think she is talking too much, sincerely, and this attitude of continuous playing the victim is inappropriate,' he added.

Knox and her one-time lover Sollecito served four years in jail for the murder of Meredith, who was found semi-naked with her throat slit in the flat she shared with Knox.

Both were freed on appeal in 2011 but in March this year Italy’s highest court sensationally ordered them to face retrial.

In June judges published the reasons for that decision, saying the ruling by the appeal court that freed them was full of ‘deficiencies contradictions and illogical conclusions’.

Knox has said that her decision not to attend the re-trial was ‘common sense’.

‘I was imprisoned as an innocent person and I just can’t re-live that,’ said told NBC television.

In a memoir released earlier this year, Knox sought to portray herself as a naive young woman railroaded by a foreign justice system and not a callous sexual deviant as she was painted in many reports after her initial conviction.

Knox is not obliged to attend the retrial and can be represented by her lawyers.

If found guilty, she would be able to appeal again, but Italy could apply for her extradition if that failed

[Steve_uk]

Originally Posted by robyrob

the slander charge is ridiculous - they coerced her into signing that statement that her boss did it with the promise that it would mean that she wouldn't be charged, but when it turned out that he had an airtight alibi they of course couldn't charge him and went after Amanda instead.

Rudy Guede acted alone when he killed Meredith Kercher - he has changed his story so many times it is ridiculous; none of their friends had ever even seen him before that day, and no one knew of any reason why he would even be in their apartment, it was his bloody hand print found on the pillow under Meredith's body, and he was the one that mentioned the exact amount of money stolen from her room - before it was ever revealed by the police that anthing had been stolen. Amanda Knox had plenty of money, he was going to be evicted by his landlord the next day if he couldn't pay his rent, which he did somehow come up with that day.

Your post is full of misconceptions,half-truths and falsehoods,and I hope that you will allow me to unravel a little of the maze which is the Meredith Kercher case.Firstly there is no doubt that Rudy Guede was involved in Meredith's murder and the Police made mistakes in not apprehending this man earlier whose modus vivendi was burglary with knife in hand. However it's unclear as to whether he acted alone or with accomplices as there were no defensive wounds to the victim's hands or body,suggesting that she may well have been held down whereupon forty-seven wounds were inflicted,including three to the neck. Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito lied or changed statements as to their whereabouts during the critical hours,they were outside the house as Police arrived on the morning of November 2 2007 with the suspicion that they had cleaned the house with bleach (with the exception of Meredith's room),and Amanda had taken a shower in the bathroom where her blood was found mixed with Meredith's on a faucet. Contrary to your assertion that the persons in the crime had never previously met they had socialized on the ground floor of the building, home to four Italian male students where Rudy and the others had smoked hashish.

It may well be that an Italian Policewoman had struck Amanda twice on the head,though this is denied,and I'm quite sure Amanda at that stage realized this was no longer some kind of game but hard reality. When Amanda made up the story of her hearing Meredith scream and covering her ears she had been warned that she was no longer a witness in this process but a suspect and her statement could be used in a court of law,yet Miss Knox proceeded to sign that statement. As one member has commented,we may never know for sure what happened that November night six years ago,but the Italian authorities along with other judiciaries do not bring a case to trial unless there is a fair chance of a conviction.

[Nighthawk76]

I read Amanda's book earlier this year and I feel she was a victim of the Italian police. This latest trial is just another attempt of the authorities to save face. I really wish they would leave poor Amanda alone.

[Steve_uk]

Originally Posted by Shine

I read Amanda's book earlier this year and I feel she was a victim of the Italian police. This latest trial is just another attempt of the authorities to save face. I really wish they would leave poor Amanda alone.

Any remuneration gained by Amanda Knox from the sale of her memoirs,media interviews or other outlets is blood money and I would urge the American public not to fall into this trap but to educate themselves on the case by all other means.http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...redith+kercher

[shotzette]

Originally Posted by Shine

I read Amanda's book earlier this year and I feel she was a victim of the Italian police. This latest trial is just another attempt of the authorities to save face. I really wish they would leave poor Amanda alone.

I agree. The Italian judicial system is a joke and has been regarded as such for quite some time. She'd be crazy to go back and subject herself to that insanity a second time.