Amanda Knox Case: Italian Court Overturns Murder Conviction

WWW.NBCNEWS.COM ^ | 3/27/2015

[CaptainK]

The highest court in Italy on Friday has overturned the murder convictions of Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend in the sensational 2007 stabbing death of her British roommate.

The ruling was the latest turn in an odyssey of international justice for Knox, who spent four years in an Italian jail after the killing. She has returned to the United States and vowed not to return to Italy.

She and the ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted in 2009, then acquitted and freed in 2011. An appeals court overturned the acquittals and ordered a new trial, and they were convicted again last year. Knox was sentenced in absentia to 25 years in prison. Sollecito was sentenced to 28 1/2 years.

Knox and Sollecito were arrested after the roommate, Meredith Kercher, was found dead in a pool of blood in their apartment in the university town of Perugia, as many as 40 knife wounds over her half-naked body.

Prosecutors argued that Kercher was killed as part of a sex game. Knox and Sollecito said they were alone together on the night in question, watching a movie, smoking pot and having sex.

[dfwgator]

Proof?

[caww]

This was the nutcase prosecutor determined to keep this thing going....and he is nuts!....he's been 'convicted' of abuse of office and bugging the phones of journalists before he even took the case...and the lead investigator was also convicted . So it was corrupted from the get go.

[MeganC]

Can Amanda be prosecuted again? Seems to me in Italy the prosecution can press the charges all over again as many times as they want.

[Sacajaweau]

I agree..

[nickcarraway]

Did you think O.J. was guilty?

[Sacajaweau]

I hope every legal beagle who put her through this gets fleas....and you know where....and I hope they breed uncontrollably.

[AnAmericanAbroad]

I don’t think so; this decision came from the Court of Cassation, which is the highest court of appeal in the land. When they say it’s game over....it’s game over.

[CedarDave]

It's been a couple of years, but I spent some time reviewing in depth news articles of her arrest and trial, and was convinced she was innocent. When the original conviction was overturned, I thought that was the end of it. Yet she was tried and convicted again, and again it has been overturned. Hopefully it's the last time.

This sounds like it's the best of the many books that have been written about the story. The prosecution was so corrupt and the Italian system so set up toward guilty until proven innocent, it's a wonder that they didn't convict her again.

Murder in Italy: The Shocking Slaying of a British Student, the Accused American Girl, and an International Scandal

[DAC21]

Maybe not guilty, but VERY creepy girl non the less.

[Pearls Before Swine]

Therefore, in protest of the horrible Italian legal system, I will refrain from buying Ferraris, Lamboghinis, Maseratis, Alfas, Fiats, etc.

No Jeeps?

[Kenny Bunk]

OJ might be guilty, Amanda might be innocent. In both cases, the reason they were not ultimately convicted was police misconduct, alleged in OJ's case and real in Amanda's. What they both also have in common is that neither has told us, or the authorities, all that they know about the crimes with which they were charged.

Barring future confessions, we are never going to know all that they know.

[MeganC]

An old joke I thought you’d enjoy:

Q. What’s the difference between a lira and a dollar?

A. About a dollar!

[nickcarraway]

That is not true. People don't understand the Italian legal system. Defendants are guaranteed three levels of trials. So, just because you are convicted at the first level, does not mean you are ultimately guilty. In U.S. parlance, jeopardy doesn't attach after the first two levels no matter what happens. It is extremely slow moving, though.

[dfwgator]

I thought he was, but I accepted the verdict.

[FredZarguna]

Please do enlighten us on the nature of police misconduct in OJ’s case. I’m just dying to hear it.

[FredZarguna]

Wow. All the way down to post #20 before somebody reasonable shows up. Discouraging, really.

[FredZarguna]

Are you of the opinion that she did not repeatedly lie? Because those are facts which are not in dispute. AT. ALL.

[Boogieman]

This week. Next week, they’ll probably change their minds again.

[FredZarguna]

There’s a difference between accepting a legal verdict of “not guilty” and proclaiming OJ’s innocence. This verdict is probably correct. She’s also guilty as hell.

[dfwgator]

My understanding is that’s it. It’s over.