Amanda Knox Acquitted: Murder Conviction Overturned By Italian Court
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It’s official: Amanda Knox is a free woman. On Friday, March 27, an Italian court ultimately decided to overturn her and her boyfriend Raffaelo Sollectio’s murder conviction — relieving her of a guilty conviction found in 2014.
Amanda Knox, 27, must be feeling pretty amazing now that the announcement that she knows she will not be extradited by the United States government to serve a 28 year sentence in Italy for murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher. The verdict came in the late hours of Friday, March 27, when an Italian court decided to completely overturn her original murder conviction.
Amanda Knox Acquitted: Murder Conviction Overturned
This verdict follows a long and winding legal process for Amanda. She and her former boyfriend, Raffaelo Sollecito, were arrested and imprisoned in 2007 for Meredith’s murder. The two were found guilty in 2009, with Amanda sentenced to 25 years in prison. In 2011, their convictions were overturned and they were released. However, they both were retried in 2013.
By that time, Amanda had returned home to US in Seattle and wasn’t present during her second trial. In January 2014, Amanda and Raffaelo were once again found guilty and Amanda was sentenced to 28 1/2 years in prison. Amanda and Raffaelo appealed this decision and their request was granted. Italy’s highest court began hearing the appeal on March 25, before making their announcement.
The Italian justice system has an extraordinary number of checks and balances in place to protect those accused with a crime. While it seems unusual that Amanda was convicted, released, and convicted again, this is all part of the Italian way.
Amanda announced her engagement to musician Colin Sutherland, who she reportedly has known since middle school. Colin wrote Amanda while she was in prison and the two sparked a love affair that resulted in them announcing their engagement in February of 2015.
What do you think of the court’s decision, HollywoodLifers?
— Lauren Cox