Amanda Knox Reconvicted for Murder
On Jan. 30, American student Amanda Knox stated that she was “frightened and saddened” after being found guilty again for the brutal murder of her roommate in Italy back in 2007. A judge and panel of jurors sentenced Knox to 28 years and six months in prison.
In 2007, Knox was found guilty for murder and sentenced to 26 years in jail. In 2011, she appealed the courts and was acquitted due to evidence contamination after she had spent already four years in prison. Italy’s highest court claimed that the appeal trial had “inconsistencies” and demanded a retrial.
Unlike the United States, Italy does not have “double jeopardy” – a defense that prevents someone from being tried for the same conviction if found innocent. When the verdict was announced, Knox was in her hometown of Seattle WA, and watched it live with her family. The courts also convicted her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito to 25 years in prison and banned him from further travel.
“Having been found innocent before,” commented Knox “I expected better from the Italian justice system.”
At the time of the murder, Knox was an American exchange student in Perugia, Italy. British student, Meredith Kercher Knox’s roommate, was found half-naked in a pool of her own blood with 40 knife wounds in their villa.
Prosecutors have theorized that Knox and Sollectio killed Kercher in a drug-fueled sex game. They were originally sentenced to 26 years each, as well as Knox facing a slander charge during her interrogation. Both Knox and Sollecito claimed that Ivory Coast born Rudy Guede, a small club owner and drug dealer, murdered Kercher. Guede, denying any involvement in the murder, was previously sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Knox, alongside Sollectio and Guede, have debated their innocence in the crime. “The evidence and accusatory theory do not justify a verdict of guilt,” Knox argues.
Since Knox was in America at the time of the verdict, she could not be arrested. This predicament will have Knox extradited. The United States and Italy have an extradition treaty that, unless they find solid evidence that there was an obstruction to justice, will have to send Knox back. Italy and the Kercher family are pushing for her to be sent back.
