Amanda knox faces retrial (1 Viewer)

[blacklotus]

Amanda Knox has been ordered to stand trial for a second time over the death of British student Meredith Kercher in Italy in 2007.
Knox, 25, and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were previously convicted of killing the 21 year old and spent four years in jail before they were both acquitted and freed on appeal in 2011.
However, Italy's highest court, the Court of Cassation in Rome, overturned the acquittal on Tuesday and a judge ordered a new trial for the pair.
In arguments heard at the court on Monday, the day before the ruling, prosecutors urged the judges overseeing the case to "make sure the final curtain does not drop on this shocking and dire crime".
Knox, who was initially sentenced to 26 years in prison for Kercher's murder, returned to her native Seattle, Washington after being freed from jail 18 months ago, and she will not be required to return to Italy to take part in her second court case as Italian law states defendants can be tried in absentia.
If found guilty, she could face extradition from the U.S.
Knox says of the retrial, "I believe that any questions as to my innocence must be examined by an objective investigation and a capable prosecution.
"The prosecution responsible for the many discrepancies in their work must be made to answer for them, for Raffaele's sake, my sake, and most especially for the sake of Meredith's family. Our hearts go out to them.
"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."
Francesco Maresca, a lawyer representing Kercher's relatives, adds, "I am happy the Supreme court has seen the faults in the acquittal and I trust the next trial will be fair and balanced."
Knox's story was played out on the small screen in a TV movie starring Hayden Panettiere, who recently apologised to Kercher's family for portraying her accused killer in the TV drama.
Knox has written a book about her experiences and it is due for release next month.

 

[Ivan Drago]

I know nothing about this trial other than Knox's behavior was a little strange at times and seemed inconsistent with someone that had just murdered somebody.

 

[blacklotus]

I know nothing about this trial other than Knox's behavior was a little strange at times and seemed inconsistent with someone that had just murdered somebody.

thats about as much as me then!! all the cops etc have said that all along too, about their behaviour. they were snogging at the crime scene and alsorts! they have annuled the acquittal as the forensics made too many mistakes and found loads more dna etc from them months after. her book deal is worth £2.5 million! he has done one for mega money too.

 

[Psycho-killer]

I thought she was found innocent?

 

[blacklotus]

I thought she was found innocent?

yeah she was, shes been out of prison for a while now

Why did the court order a retrial?
The Supreme Court in Rome, also known as the Court of Cassation, felt that the grounds for their acquittal were shaky. The exact reasons for their decision, and the points of law that they have called into question, will not be known until the judges release their full ruling, which could take several weeks. In launching their challenge to the acquittals last year, prosecutors said the decision to free Miss Knox and her ex-boyfriend was "contradictory and illogical".
What happens next?
There will be a retrial. Instead of being held in Perugia in Umbria, as the original trial and subsequent appeal trial were, it will be heard by an appeals court in Florence in neighbouring Tuscany. It is likely to start in 2014.
So is Knox guilty again?
The Supreme Court ruling annuls the appeal which acquitted Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, leaving their initial conviction for murder standing. But that does not mean they are considered guilty of the murder under Italian law. They can only be considered guilty after all three levels of justice have run their course. So just as they were not considered definitively guilty after the first sentence, nor can they be considered definitively guilty now.
Where are Knox and Sollecito now?
Miss Knox has been living in Seattle and working on a book about her experiences. The eagerly anticipated memoir, called “Waiting to be Heard”, is due to be published on April 30 and will coincide with her first television interview, with the ABC network in the US.
Mr Sollecito, a graduate of computer studies, lives in Verona in northern Italy, where he is studying the use of robotic instruments in surgery.
The third person accused of the crime, Rudy Guede, who was born in Ivory Coast but adopted by an Italian family, is serving a 16-year sentence having undergone a separate trial. Prosecutors insist that he was not the only person involved in the crime.
Will Amanda Knox have to come back to Italy?
It is considered extremely unlikely that she would willingly return to Italy for the retrial. Italian law cannot compel her to return from the United States. The appeals court in Florence could declare her in contempt of court but that carries no additional penalties. It is unclear what would happen if she was convicted in the retrial. "If the court orders another trial, if she is convicted at that trial and if the conviction is upheld by the highest court, then Italy could seek her extradition," Carlo Dalla Vedova, one of her lawyers, said. It would then be up to the US authorities to decide whether to accede to the request.
Why were Knox and Sollecito acquitted in the first place?
The appeals court in Perugia, which quashed their convictions and jail sentences in 2011, criticised many key aspects of the original police investigation and the prosecution’s case. In particular, they said prosecutors had failed to establish a convincing motive for the killing and that DNA evidence relating to two key bits of evidence – a strap from Miss Kercher’s bra and the alleged murder weapon, a kitchen knife – were inconclusive.
However, the court left many questions about the murder unanswered when it refused to rule on whether the crime was committed by a lone killer or more than one person.
In a 144-page document explaining its ruling, the appeals court in Perugia said that “it is not this court’s role to suggest how the crime actually unfolded – nor whether there was one perpetrator or more than one, or on whether other scenarios were overlooked (by investigators).”

 

[b2ux]

shes good dono why there doing this but ok she was found to be innocent so why a retrial because someone thought maybe they could get more from the rich american maybe ? no new evidence was presented so wtf is up are they catching to much flak from the family of the dead guy dono. lets see in a couple days how this is going to play out and the real reasons for the retrial....

 

[Mickey]

I don't believe that she'll be extradited back to Italy. The only way U.S. authorities would allow her to be extradited is if there was new evidence that proves she's guilty. I don't think Foxy Knoxy has anything to worry about.

 

[beaverbreath]

She's smokin hot, so she's gotta be innocent, right?

 

[D.N.R.]

From everything I have read about this case I do not believe she is guilty. Being tried up to 3 times for the same crime is fucking crazy.

 

[D.N.R.]

She has finally been exonerated.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/27/europe/amanda-knox/

Rome (CNN)A tearful Amanda Knox said she is glad to have her life back after an eight-year legal drama that gripped the United States, Britain and Italy.

Knox made a brief statement after Italy's Supreme Court overturned her murder conviction late Friday.

She was prosecuted after the semi-naked body of British student Meredith Kercher, 21, her throat slashed, was found in November 2007 in the apartment the two women shared.

Raffaele Sollecito, Knox's Italian boyfriend, was convicted as well. He was cleared along with Knox on Friday night.

"She was my friend ... she deserved so much better," Knox said of Kercher.

Knox had been facing 28½ years in prison. Now she can seek a normal life.

She was in the United States when the decision was announced in Rome and issued a statement, saying she was "relieved and grateful."

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"The knowledge of my innocence has given me strength in the darkest times of this ordeal," the statement said. "And throughout this ordeal, I have received invaluable support from family, friends and strangers. To them, I say: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your kindness has sustained me. I only wish that I could thank each and every one of you in person."

Knox's family said in their own statement: "We want to express our profound gratitude to all of those who have supported Amanda and our family. Countless people -- from world-renowned DNA experts to former FBI agents to everyday citizens committed to justice -- have spoken about her innocence. We are thrilled with and grateful for today's decision from the Supreme Court of Italy. And we are grateful beyond measure for all that so many of you have done for her."

Prosecutors in the university town of Perugia said Knox directed Sollecito and another man infatuated with her, Rudy Guede, to hold Kercher down as Knox played with a knife before slashing her throat.

Both Sollecito and Knox were convicted in 2009 and sentenced to lengthy jail terms. Guede, a drifter originally from the Ivory Coast, was tried separately and is serving a 16-year sentence.

Sollecito and Knox spent about four years in Italian prisons. After the evidence was re-examined, an appeals court quashed the two students' convictions in October 2011, citing a lack of evidence against them, and both were set free.

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Two years later, they were retried and their acquittals overturned. Knox was sentenced in absentia to 28½ years. Her ex-boyfriend got 25 years.

Then, on Friday, the Italian High Court brought the legal saga to an end.

If the decision had gone the other way, Sollecito, now 31, could have been sent to prison immediately. He has been living in Italy.

"This is truly a very important day, not just, I believe, for Raffaele Sollecito, but I believe also for all of those who believe strongly in justice," Sollecito's attorney, Giulia Bongiorno, told reporters in Rome.

Knox's Italian lawyer, Dalla Vedova, also expressed relief.

"We finally got the right decision," he said. "Right now she has to stay with her family and recover from this very bad experience."

Knox can freely travel to Italy if she wants to, said CNN reporter Barbie Nadeau, but there's one legal issue hanging over her head.

Knox had originally accused bartender Patrick Lumumba of being involved in the slaying. He spent several weeks in jail after Knox accused him and he won a defamation suit for which she was ordered to pay about $54,000 in damages, Nadeau said.

Knox hasn't paid the money, Nadeau said.

 

[angelo212]

I read earlier today (hours ago) she was found innocent of everything and will not be retried. Not sure now after what you posted. I'll research and see which one is a hoax.

 

[Tooly]

I read earlier today (hours ago) she was found innocent of everything and will not be retried. Not sure now after what you posted. I'll research and see which one is a hoax.

Op's post is a couple of years old. It's true though, conviction is quashed/annulled or whatever. She won't be retried.