Amanda Knox Verdict Overturned: Knox Acquitted on Murder Conviction

After four years behind bars in Italy, Amanda Knox is a free woman. The Amanda Knox verdict has been overturned by an Italian appeals court, resulting in her release. Knox was acquitted Monday through her recent appeal after originally receiving a guilty verdict and lengthy prison sentence in 2009 for the 2007 killing of Knox’s housemate, Meredith Kercher.

In addition to being acquitted on murder and other serious charges, Amanda Knox was found guilty of defamation against an early suspect in the case, Patrick Lumumba. The defamation charge carries three years and financial ramifications, but Knox has been in an Italian prison for four years. With a credit for time served, the new Amanda Knox verdict means Knox, 24, is expected to be processed out of prison and released almost immediately.

Amanda Knox Verdict: Murder Conviction Overturned On Appeal

Amanda Knox, then 20, was just a fresh-faced college student from Seattle, living abroad in Italy, when she became a household name around the world for her arrest in the murder of her friend and housemate, Meredith Kercher. Kercher, a British college student from England, was found murdered inside her apartment in 2007 in brutal fashion. Within a matter of days, Knox (along with her boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollecito) was arrested, and later tried and convicted, for the killing. Though the only solid evidence in the case appeared to be DNA contributed by a shady drifter named Rudy Guede, also 20 at the time, Italian prosecutors weren’t content. They went after Knox and Sollecito, and achieved a conviction in late 2009.

Now, after four years in prison in Italy, Knox is headed home to her native Seattle, and her ex-boyfriend, Sollecito, is also free. It now seems even the Italian courts agree that Rudy Guede and Rudy Guede alone was responsible for the murder of young Meredith Kercher. However, many who have followed the case, including the victim’s family, feel Knox is guilty. They feel Kercher’s memory has been lost in all this, and that the original verdict was the correct verdict. However, with little evidence against Knox, and plenty against Guede, it isn’t surprising to see it overturned. What do you think of the outcome? Do you believe Amanda Knox had a part in the murder of Meredith Kercher? Do you feel Knox was wrongly convicted in 2009? Let us know in the comments below!

Source:
HLN live televised coverage of Amanda Knox verdict being overturned in Italy – 10/3/2011


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