Italy’s Court of Cassation has criticized “glaring errors” in the investigation into the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher.
The highest appeals court acquitted Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito of the murder in March.
The court said there was an “absolute lack of biological traces” of either defendant in the room where Meredith Kercher was killed or on her body.
Meredith Kercher, 21, was stabbed to death in a Perugia flat she shared with Amanda Knox.
The Court of Cassation published its reasoning on September 7, as it is required to do under Italian law.
It issued a damning assessment of the quality of the prosecution case, saying its high profile nature had an effect on investigators.
“The international spotlight on the case in fact resulted in the investigation undergoing a sudden acceleration,” the court said.
Several mistakes in the investigation were outlined by the court in its reasoning, including the fact that investigators burned Amanda Knox’s and Meredith Kercher’s computers, which could have yielded new information.
The court also wrote that the Florence appeals court which convicted Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito last year ignored expert testimony that “clearly demonstrated possible contamination” of evidence and misinterpreted findings about the knife allegedly used to slit Meredith Kercher’s throat, in what prosecutors had described as a s**ual assault, AP reports.
“The kitchen knife, found in Sollecito’s house and the supposed crime weapon, was kept in an ordinary cardboard box,” the judges noted, adding that no traces of blood were found on it.
The judges said that one of Meredith Kercher’s bra clasps, which prosecutors argued carried a trace of Raffaele Sollecito’s DNA, was left on the floor of the murder scene for 46 days, and then “was passed from hand to hand of the workers, who, furthermore, were wearing dirty latex gloves”.
Another man, Rudy Hermann Guede, born in Ivory Coast, was convicted of murder in a separate trial and is serving a 16-year sentence.
The court’s ruling against Rudy Hermann Guede stated that he did not act alone, but the acquittals of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito mean that no-one now stands convicted of acting with Guede to kill Meredith Kercher.
Amanda Knox has announced she will work on behalf of the wrongly convicted after being cleared of Meredith Kercher’s murder in Italy.
In a letter published by The Seattle Times on April 3, Amanda Knox writes that the kindness of friends, family and strangers has sustained her in the seven-plus years since she was arrested in Meredith Kercher’s death of in Perugia.
She says she knows she must give back.
Amanda Knox also says she is lucky she had the backing of lawyers, DNA experts and former FBI investigators who saw the injustice in her case. She says countless other wrongfully convicted people lack that support, and she wants to work to give them a voice.
Italy’s highest court exonerated Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito on March 27.
Amanda Knox’s ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito has said being acquitted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher by Italy’s highest court was like “being born again”.
Speaking for the first time since a final ruling exonerated him and Amanda Knox, Raffaele Sollecito said he had been “branded a killer”.
Meredith Kercher, 21, was stabbed to death in 2008 in the Perugia flat she shared with Seattle native Amanda Knox.
Raffaele Sollecito spent four years in prison in Italy after being convicted in 2009.
He was freed along with Amanda Knox in 2011 after the convictions were overturned and Knox returned to the US. Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty again by another court in 2014.
Italy’s Court of Appeal ruling on March 27 will be the last in the case and so brings to a close a seven-and-a-half-year ordeal for Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.
Speaking at a news conference in Rome, Raffaele Sollecito described the years since his arrest as a “dreadful kind of pain without an end”.
“It is time I will never be able to recoup. My mind and my soul will be marked for life, and the wound will never stop bleeding, it will never heal.”
He said he was informed of the decision over the phone late on Friday night, by his sister.
“The most beautiful moment without a doubt was the one that put an end to the nightmare, the call from my sister after the reading of the sentence and the total acquittal from the High Court,” Raffaele Sollecito said.
He added that his relationship with Amanda Knox had been distorted by the press, describing it as “simply affection between two young adolescents”.
“Neither of us could have envisaged this absurd and never-ending story.”
Both Rafafele Sollecito and Amanda Knox always denied being involved in the crime, with the American claiming that an early confession was obtained under duress.
Asked about the victim, Raffaele Sollecito said he “hardly knew” Meredith Kercher.
“I am very sorry that Meredith’s family is disappointed about this verdict. The verdict reflects the truth. It reflects what really happened. I have nothing to do with this crime. I hardly knew Meredith. I just said hello to her a few times and I had no reason to hate her or to be a part of this heinous crime.”
Arline Kercher, Meredith’s mother, said she was “shocked” by the decision.
Amanda Knox said she was “full of joy” after being acquitted.
The reasoning behind the acquittal will be made public in 90 days.
Rudy Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was convicted of Meredith Kercher’s murder in 2008 and is serving a 16-year prison sentence in Italy.
Amanda Knox said she’s “incredibly grateful” that Italy’s highest court overturned her murder conviction in the murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher, in Perugia, Italy, in 2007.
Amanda Knox spoke out for the first time after Italy’s Supreme Court overturned her murder conviction.
She and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were again cleared of the murder of Meredith Kercher in the final ruling of a long-running case.
Amanda Knox, now 27, told the press: “I’m incredibly grateful for what has happened, for the justice I have received.”
When asked about Meredith Kercher, Amanda Knox said: “She deserved so much in this life, I’m the lucky one.”
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito have been cleared in Meredith Kercher murder case, Italy’s top appeals court has ruled.
The decision is the final ruling in the case relating to the 2007 murder.
Meredith Kercher, 21, was found dead in a Perugia flat she shared with Amanda Knox.
Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend were found guilty in 2009, then freed in 2011 after the convictions were overturned. They were reinstated by another court in 2014.
Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox had always maintained their innocence and the decision by the Court of Cassation puts an end to their long legal battle.
The reasoning behind the decision will be made public in 90 days.
Amanda Knox, 27, said she was “full of joy” after hearing the verdict.
“I’m still absorbing the present moment,” she said, speaking outside her mother’s house in Seattle, expressing thanks “for the justice I’ve received and for the support I’ve had from everyone”.
Amanda Knox added: “Meredith was my friend, she deserved so much in this life.”
The lawyer for Ms Kercher’s family, Francesco Maresca, has expressed his disappointment with the verdict.
“I think that it’s a defeat for the Italian justice system,” he told the Associated Press news agency.
Meredith Kercher’s mother has been quoted by the Press Association as saying that she is “surprised and very shocked” by the acquittals.
Days after the killing, Amanda Knox and her boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollecito, 31, were arrested.
They were convicted of murder in 2009 by a court in Perugia.
In 2011, a jury cleared both defendants of the charge, after doubts were raised over the handling of DNA evidence.
A retrial was ordered after prosecutors argued that important evidence had been disregarded. In 2014, the guilty verdict was reinstated.
Another man, Rudy Hermann Guede, born in Ivory Coast, was also convicted in a separate trial and is serving a 16-year sentence for his role in the murder.
Italy’s Court of Cassation has delayed a decision on whether to uphold the convictions of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher.
The top court will hear from Raffaele Sollecito’s defense team on March 27 before the judges give their verdict.
Former lovers Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were convicted for the second time in 2014.
They have maintained their innocence throughout and have already served four years in prison.
The Court of Cassation in Rome is due to confirm the guilty verdict or overturn it – either ordering another trial or effectively bringing about an acquittal.
A definitive conviction would trigger complicated attempts to extradite American Knox, who lives in Seattle in the US.
Raffaele Sollecito, from Bari, southern Italy, has remained in the country, and attended the court with his new girlfriend on March 25.
Speaking before the hearing, the Kercher family’s lawyer, Francesco Maresca, said they hoped the court’s decision would bring an end to the judicial process.
“It’s a case that has gone on for so many years now,” he said.
“They hope that this will be the final stage of this judicial process and they will at last… be able to remember Meredith outside of the court room [process].”
Leeds University student Meredith Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, was found dead in the flat she shared with Amanda Knox, now 27, in Perugia, central Italy, where both women were studying.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, 30, were convicted of the murder by a trial court in Perugia in 2009.
They were freed in 2011 after an appellate court overturned the convictions.
The Court of Cassation rebuked the appellate judge’s reasoning and last year an appeals court in Florence sentenced Amanda Knox to 28 years and Raffaele Sollecito to 25 years.
The latest ruling could confirm that conviction or overturn it – and either order yet another trial or effectively acquit the pair, although legal experts say the last option is unlikely.
Rudy Hermann Guede, born in the Ivory Coast, who opted for a fast-track trial, is serving a 16-year sentence for his role in the murder of Meredith Kercher.
Italy’s Court of Cassation is to decide whether to uphold the convictions of Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were convicted for the second time in 2014.
The Italian top court must now choose whether to confirm the conviction or order a retrial.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito have maintained their innocence throughout and have already served four years in prison.
Meredith Kercher, 21, was found dead in the flat she shared with Amanda Knox, now 27, in Perugia, central Italy, where both women were studying.
Her body was found under a duvet in her bedroom, which had been locked from the inside.
Prosecutors claimed Meredith Kercher was killed by Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, 30.
They were convicted of murder in 2009 after a trial in Perugia.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were freed in 2011 after an appellate court overturned the convictions.
The Court of Cessation rebuked the appellate judge’s reasoning and last year an appeals court in Florence sentenced Amanda Knox to 28 years and Raffaele Sollecito to 25 years.
Raffaele Sollecito, from Bari, southern Italy, has remained in the country, but a definitive conviction would trigger attempts to extradite Amanda Knox who lives in Seattle.
Rudy Hermann Guede, born in the Ivory Coast, who opted for a fast-track trial, is serving a 16-year sentence for his role in the murder.
The high-profile case has inspired books and at least two movies, and Kercher’s family has said Meredith, the real victim, risked being forgotten.
Originally portrayed as a fast-living partygoer, Amanda Knox came to be seen in much of her home country as a victim of a botched investigation and an unwieldy justice system.
The US state department has said officials are monitoring the case.
Amanda Knox is to get married to New York musician Colin Sutherland, reports say.
The former student was convicted in Italy over the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher.
Amanda Knox, 27, is engaged to Colin Sutherland, also 27, whom she has known since her school days, according to The Seattle Times. Colin Sutherland moved from New York to Seattle.
He does bass and vocals for Johnny Pumps – a Strokes-inspired indie rock band.
Colin Sutherland and his mates call themselves a “slag rock” band that formed in 2013 with their debut self-released album That Escalated Quickly.
Johnny Pumps has played a string of small shows in Manhattan and Brooklyn and doesn’t appear to have played outside New York in their brief history.
On the band’s website, Colin Sutherland is referred to as being the member of the band who “likes flat soda”.
Amanda Knox was recently hired as a freelance writer at the West Seattle Herald.
Her conviction for the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher was re-instated in absentia by an Italian court in 2014.
Amanda Knox, who returned to the US after her original conviction was overturned, has always maintained her innocence.
Meredith Kercher was stabbed to death in the flat she shared in Perugia with Amanda Knox.
Rudy Guede from Ivory Coast, who was also convicted of her murder, is currently serving a 16-year sentence in prison.
Amanda Knox was also arrested days after the murder, along with her Italian boyfriend at the time, Raffaelle Sollecito. Both pleaded not guilty to the offence.
They were tried and convicted in 2009.
However, in 2011, an eight-member jury cleared both defendants of the murder, after doubts were raised over procedures used to gather DNA evidence.
A retrial was ordered after prosecutors argued that important evidence had been disregarded. In 2014, the guilty verdict was re-instated.
Amanda Knox has said she will not voluntarily return to Italy. Raffaelle Sollecito remains in the country.
An Italian court will rule on March 25 on whether to uphold the latest verdict.
The retrial of Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito over the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher is due to open in Italy, but the American will not be in court.
Amanda Knox, 26, and Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty in 2009, but acquitted on appeal in 2011.
In March, Italy’s highest court overturned both acquittals, ordering a fresh appeals process.
Amanda Knox spent four years in prison before her acquittal. She has always insisted that she is innocent.
The retrial is due to open in the central Italian city of Florence, and the first session is expected to discuss procedural issues such as dates for further hearings.
The retrial was ordered after the prosecution had taken the case to Italy’s Supreme Court.
Amanda Knox was found guilty in 2009, but acquitted on appeal in 2011
The court strongly criticized the way the appeals court had dismissed important DNA evidence, ordering the whole process to begin all over again.
Amanda Knox is not required to be present for the retrial.
Earlier this month, she said she expected to win another acquittal, but that “common sense” told her not to return to Italy.
“I was already imprisoned as an innocent person in Italy,” she told America’s NBC television.
“I just can’t relive that.”
“I thought about what it would be like to live my entire life in prison and to lose everything, to lose what I’ve been able to come back to and rebuild.
“I think about it all the time. It’s so scary. Everything is at stake.”
However, if her previous conviction is confirmed, Italy would be expected to request her extradition.
Meredith Kercher, from Coulsdon, south London, was found dead in a flat she shared in Perugia with Amanda Knox, a fellow exchange student.
Both Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito maintain their innocence.
Raffaele Sollecito is expected to attend some of the hearings, reports in local media say.
Amanda Knox insists that on the night of Meredith Kercher’s death she was at Raffaele Sollecito’s flat, smoking marijuana and watching a film.
Another man – Rudy Guede from Ivory Coast – was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to 16 years for the killing.
Amanda Knox says she will not travel to Italy for the appeals trial over the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher.
“I was already imprisoned as innocent person in Italy,” Amanda Knox said told NBC.
“I just can’t relive that.”
Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty in 2009, but acquitted on appeal in 2011.
In March, Italy’s highest court overturned both acquittals, ordering a fresh appeals process.
Amanda Knox spent four years in prison before her acquittal.
Amanda Knox says she will not travel to Italy for the appeals trial over the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher
She said she expected to win another acquittal, but that “common sense” told her not to return to Italy.
“I thought about what it would be like to live my entire life in prison and to lose everything, to lose what I’ve been able to come back to and rebuild,” she said.
“I think about it all the time. It’s so scary. Everything is at stake.”
Amanda Knox is not required to be present in Italy for the new appeal, due to start in Florence on September 30.
However, if her previous conviction is confirmed, Italy would be expected to request her extradition.
Meredith Kercher, from Coulsdon, south London, was found dead in a flat she shared in Perugia with Amanda Knox, a fellow exchange student.
Both Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito maintain their innocence.
Amanda Knox insists that on the night of Meredith Kercher’s death she was at Raffaele Sollecito’s flat, smoking marijuana and watching a film.
Another man – Rudy Guede from Ivory Coast – was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to 16 years for the killing.
Amanda Knox has revealed she will not attend a retrial in Italy because she will forever be seen as “the dark lady who decided Meredith had to die”.
Amanda Knox, 26, claims her presence animates the courtroom, detracting from the evidence.
It follows claims by her co-accused and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito that Italian police tried to bribe him into framing her.
Since overturning a 26-year jail sentence, Amanda Knox has denied any involvement in the 2007 murder of Leeds University student Meredith Kercher, who was found with her throat slashed in their shared flat in Perugia.
Now living in Seattle, she refuses to answer calls to revisit the evidence at a court Florence.
Amanda Knox told the New York Post nobody in the Perugia court cared about what really happened to Meredith Kercher.
Amanda Knox has revealed she will not attend a retrial in Italy because she will forever be seen as the dark lady who decided Meredith had to die
Branding the court room a “circus”, Amanda Knox claims everybody was more concerned about what she was wearing, how she did her hair or whether she smiled at her parents than the legal proceedings.
In an interview with the Sun on Sunday, Amanda Knox said: “The fact is that my presence has always been a distraction in the courtroom.
“Every single movement I made, every gesture, every facial expression, was the focus of scrutiny and distracted from the evidence in the case.”
Amanda Knox told the paper she had been portrayed during the first trial as “the dark lady…who decided Meredith was better than me and had to die”.
“Projecting that image justifies in their minds that I would be capable of committing a crime so heinous as this and therefore validates the guilty verdict in the first trial,” she said.
But, she added, finance was also a problem: “If it were possible to go to the court and not have to deal with the issues of being afraid of being thrown back in prison again for an arbitrary reason, or for being able to financially afford it, absolutely I would want to be there.”
Italy’s highest criminal court, the Court of Cassation, ruled in March that an appeal court in Florence must re-hear the case against Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of 21-year-old Meredith Kercher.
Raffaele Sollecito is due to face a retrial on September 30. But Amanda Knox’s lawyer revealed last month that she will not return to Italy for the new trial.
They were found guilty in December 2009 of murdering Meredith Kercher, with Amanda Knox sentenced to 26 years in prison and Raffaele Sollecito 25.
But, after an 11-month appeal in a Perugia court, both convictions were thrown out in October 2011.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito have consistently protested their innocence and claim they were not even in the apartment on the night Meredith Kercher died.
Raffaele Sollecito has claimed Italian police tried to bribe him into framing ex-girlfriend Amanda Knox for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher – and revealed his fears “out of control” Knox would do the same to him.
Amanda Knox’s former boyfriend says “sneaky” officers instigated a string of approaches from a prison guard, other inmates and even his family as he and his American lover were awaiting trial for 21-year-old Meredith Kercher’s murder in Perugia, Italy.
Raffaele Sollecito, 29, said he refused to point the finger of blame at Amanda Knox to save his own skin because he was “really fond of her”.
Yet he admits he was terrified Amanda Knox, who he had been dating for just a week before the 2007 killing, would do a deal to stitch him up because she was “out of control”.
Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox, 26, were convicted of Meredith Kercher’s murder in 2009 then cleared on appeal two years later.
But Italy’s highest court later threw out the acquittals and the pair faces a new trial, beginning later this month.
Raffaele Sollecito claimed detectives told him he would be released immediately if he distanced himself from Amanda Knox, saying he should pretend he couldn’t remember anything or that he was sleeping in order for the prosecution to catch her.
He told the Daily Mirror: “They did not persuade me. It was the most sneaky situation. I couldn’t invent anything.”
But he still “feared Amanda” and added: “I knew her for a short time, a week, and in reality I did not really know this woman. I was scared because she was out of control at the police station. She had been making crazy statements and everything was just wrong.
“I thought she could make a deal to blame me. I was scared of that.”
Amanda Knox was jailed for 26 years and Raffaele Sollecito for 25 following the trial in 2009.
Raffaele Sollecito said the first “deal” was when he was in solitary confinement and came about when he his father tried to speak to the prosecution and was told to pass on the message his son should keep his distance from Amanda Knox.
Other family members urged Raffaele Sollecito to take the deal and free himself, but he refused to be persuaded and wrote a letter to his nearest and dearest vowing to stand by Amanda Knox.
Raffaele Sollecito claimed police then began trying to get him to turn against Amanda Knox and that, unless he distanced himself from the American, he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
The Italian claims this message was passed to his family in no uncertain terms.
Raffaele Sollecito has claimed Italian police tried to bribe him into framing Amanda Knox for the murder of Meredith Kercher
His father was allegedly approached by a Perugia lawyer offering a similar deal.
Meredith Kercher’s grieving family, from Coulsdon, Surrey, were devastated when Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were freed on appeal but vowed to keep Meredith’s memory alive.
They have kept out of the public eye and refused to read the books that Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito wrote about their “ordeal”.
But in March the family welcomed news of the retrial and hoped they would finally get answers.
No murder weapon was ever found, DNA tests were faulty and prosecutors provided no motive for murder.
In a series of confused interviews after their arrest Amanda Knox initially claimed to have witnessed the murder and named a local bar owner as the killer.
She later withdrew the statement, insisting it had been made under duress, and said she had been at Raffaele Sollecito’s student apartment throughout the night – which he confirmed.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito met at a classical music concert and became lovers within hours. Meredith Kercher was murdered just a week later.
Raffaele Sollecito said the pair “were like teenagers in a fantasy romance” but then became friends bonded by the tragedy.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were photographed being reunited in New York earlier this year – but he insists there is no romance.
Raffaele Sollecito is often asked if he wished he had never met Amanda Knox. He said: “No, I don’t think like that. I don’t blame her, it is not her fault this nightmare. It is others.”
And he claimed his own life is “in limbo”, and that he is without a home. He fears he is a target in Italy for those who still believe he and Amanda Knox were involved and worries police will try to seek revenge by planting drugs in his car.
He has tried to settle in Lugano, Switzerland, and set up a computer software firm – but was kicked out by the Swiss authorities because he failed to disclose details of the murder charges.
Raffaele Sollecito then went to stay with relatives in the US and even got marriage proposals from female murder trial “groupies”.
He has now moved to a secret location in the Caribbean, where he is currently trying to establish a business.
Amanda Knox’s lawyers have insisted she will not be at the retrial in Florence and Raffaele Sollecito said he will wait until after the first of eight scheduled hearings to see “which way the court is going”.
Raffaele Sollecito feels victimized and slammed the police handling of the case, saying everything about the investigation was handled “wrong” and that officers were “incompetent” and “fools”.
Despite his own grievances, Raffaele Sollecito insists he hasn’t forgotten the pain of Meredith Kercher’s family, saying he “can’t imagine their suffering”.
But he urged them to read the case documents and ask questions about what really happened instead of sticking by the “theory” of what happened.
“If you accept only the prosecution case you will never find what is right and what really happened,” he added.
New reports claim that Amanda Knox will not return to Italy for a retrial in the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher.
Meanwhile, David Marriott, a spokesman for the Knox family, told CNN that Amanda Knox, 26, had never agreed to attend the re-trial and that there is “no requirement she be there”.
However, Amanda Knox could still be forced to return to Italy if the country requires her extradition from the United States, the network reported.
In an interview in May, Amanda Knox expressed her fear and uncertainty about returning to the country where she was held in prison for several years for the murder of her roommate, 21-year-old Meredith Kercher.
“I’m afraid to go back there,” she told CNN.
“I don’t want to go back to prison.”
Amanda Knox was convicted of the November 2007 murder of the British exchange student, whose body was found in the villa they shared in Perugia, in central Italy.
Her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, was also found guilty of the killing. He received 25 years behind bars, while she was given 26 years.
Amanda Knox will not return to Italy for a retrial in the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher
But the convictions were turned over in 2011 due to “lack of evidence”. The appellate court noted that the murder weapon was never found, said that DNA tests were faulty and that prosecutors provided no murder motive.
Their convictions had come despite a drifter from the Ivory Coast, Rudy Guede, being found guilty of the assault and murder. He is currently serving a 30-year sentence.
After she was acquitted, Amanda Knox returned home to Seattle, Washington, where she remains.
But last year, Italy’s Supreme Court said the ruling was full of “deficiencies, contradictions and illogical” conclusions and ordered the new appeals court to look at all the evidence.
The new court must conduct a full examination of evidence to resolve the ambiguities, the high court judges said.
They said the new appeal process would serve to “not only demonstrate the presence of the two suspects in the place of the crime, but to possibly outline the subjective position of Guede’s accomplices”.
It said hypotheses ran from a simple case of forced intimate relationship involving Meredith Kercher “to a group e**tic game that blew up and got out of control”.
Amanda Knox has said that such claims were “a bombardment of falsehood and fantasy”.
No date for the new trial has been set. Florence’s appeals court was chosen since Perugia only has one appellate court.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito have both denied wrongdoing and said they weren’t even in the apartment that night, although they acknowledged they had smoked marijuana and their memories were clouded.
Earlier this year, Amanda Knox said the future was very unsure for her financially and that she is almost broke because of her huge legal bills – despite a $1.5 million book advance.
She will be paid a reported $ 4million in total for her memoir Waiting To Be Heard but claimed that her retrial and a potential libel lawsuits will leave her penniless.
Amanda Knox also revealed that to make money in the future she will be writing more books and will be taking a creative writing course at the University of Washington, near her home in Seattle.
Raffaele Sollecito, Amanda Knox’s Italian ex-boyfriend, has told of their “intense” relationship claiming he felt he had been “hit by a thunderbolt” when they first met.
Speaking to reporters in New York, where he and Amanda Knox were reunited earlier this week, Raffaele Sollecito said he was horrified by the Italian Court’s decision to reopen the case into the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.
Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox were found guilty of murdering 21-year-old Meredith Kercher in 2009 and were jailed for 25 and 26 years respectively.
They were freed on appeal in 2011, but Italian judges have now ordered them to return to court for retrial.
Raffaele Sollecito told The Sun: “Meeting Amanda was like being hit by a thunderbolt. Our relationship got very intense, very quickly.”
He said he felt great sorrow over the death of Meredith Kercher and added that he would one day like to visit her grave in Mitcham, Surrey.
Raffaele Sollecito said: “I will never forget Meredith. It was terrible what happened. But I am not responsible for her death.
“It makes me sad when her family say they still believe other people were involved. Rudy Guede is in prison for her murder and his DNA was all over the scene.”
He described the reopening of the trial as like a “horror movie where they keep making sequels”, and continues to deny having anything to do with Meredith Kercher’s death.
The court ruled that Meredith Kercher’s death was a “s** game gone wrong” and have ordered Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox back for trial.
This has resulted in Raffaele Sollecito launching a desperate $500,000 online appeal for donations to fund his retrial.
The computer studies graduate said he was hard up and needed the cash for “legal expenses” but added he would donate anything raised above the target “to a research foundation”.
In an appeal posted on his Facebook page, Raffaele Sollecito wrote: “Well Guys, the problem for me now is pretty though.
Raffaele Sollecito, Amanda Knox’s Italian ex-boyfriend, has told of their “intense” relationship claiming he felt he had been “hit by a thunderbolt” when they first met
“I’m deeply concerned not just for the issue I’m facing and most of you already know about, but also because I don’t have resources anymore to fight this injustice.
“I badly need to be able to hire experts, when needed, or pay my attorney fees, documents fees, and so on when the new appeal will start.
“I hope to not bother you, but I need your collaboration to face this ordeal. Otherwise I don’t want to forced to give up just for financial reason.
“I hope you will understand. I’m just asking if you, buddies, know how to build up a non-profit raising funds foundation. Big Hugs, Raffaele Sollecito.”
Raffaele Sollecito is thought to have been paid $1million for U.S. TV news interviews and an advance on his book Honor Bound: My Journey to Hell and Back with Amanda Knox, which was published last year.
However, a sizeable proportion of that was swallowed up in legal fees to his team of lawyers including Italy’s high flying Giulia Bongiorno who is said to have the highest fees in the country.
On Tuesday, the High Court issued its written reasoning for doing so. Meredith Kercher’s body was found in November 2007 in her bedroom of the house she shared with Amanda Knox in Perugia, a central Italian town popular with foreign exchange students.
Amanda Knox, now 25, and her Italian ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, 29, were initially convicted and sentenced to long prison terms, but a Perugia appeals court acquitted them in 2011, criticizing virtually the entire case mounted by prosecutors.
The appellate court noted that the murder weapon was never found, said that DNA tests were faulty and that prosecutors provided no murder motive.
A young man from Ivory Coast, Rudy Guede, was convicted in a separate proceeding and is serving a 16-year sentence.
In the 74-page Cassation ruling, the High Court judges said they “had to recognize that he [Rudy Guede] was not the sole author” of the crime, Italian news agency LaPresse reported. The judges though said he was the “main protagonist”.
They said the new appeal process would serve to “not only demonstrate the presence of the two suspects in the place of the crime, but to possibly outline the subjective position of Rudy Guede’s accomplices”.
The high court faulted the Perugia appeals court for “multiple instances of deficiencies, contradictions and illogical” conclusions.
The new court must conduct a full examination of evidence to resolve the ambiguities, it said.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito denied wrongdoing and said they weren’t even in the apartment that night, although they acknowledged they had smoked marijuana and their memories were clouded.
Raffaele Sollecito was given a 25-year jail term while Amanda Knox was given 26 years but in 2011 the verdicts were overturned and they were released on appeal.
However, three months ago Italy’s highest court ruled there should be a fresh trial for both of them.
Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were caught hugging and kissing during a secret reunion in New York this week.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were pictured strolling in New York City on Tuesday – just hours after Italian judges ordered them to return to court for a retrial for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher
The tryst has already led to concerns that the couple should not be in contact with each other now they have been recalled for a retrial.
As reported by the Daily Mirror, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were pictured hugging closely, with Amanda closing her eyes during the warm embrace as Raffaele kissed her cheek.
Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were caught hugging and kissing during a secret reunion in New York this
The meeting has led to rumors that the pair have become romantically involved again. James Terrano, who is reportedly Amanda Knox’s boyfriend, was nowhere to be seen.
As Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito walked and chatted along the street, Amanda’s mother walked behind. One onlooker told the Daily Mirror that the pair looked like a couple who had been together for some time.
He said: “You only have to look at him to see he still holds a huge torch for Amanda.
“They never once stopped chatting. It’s astonishing they are allowed to even talk to each other, let along see one another, considering they are both suspects in a murder trial.”
Amanda Knox declined to comment on the reunion, with Raffaele Sollecito admitting the pair have much to plan.
Hours before their secret reunion on Tuesday, Italy’s high court faulted the acquittal of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito by the appeals court for the murder of Meredith Kercher.
Amanda Knox, who was convicted and then cleared of murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher, says she may return to Italy to face a retrial.
“My lawyers have said that I don’t have to… I’m still considering it, to be honest,” Amanda Knox told USA Today.
Amanda Knox, 25, also went on TV to publicly protest her innocence as she released her autobiography, Waiting to Be Heard.
Last month, an Italian court overturned her acquittal along with that of her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito.
Meredith Kercher, 21, was found stabbed to death in the flat she shared with Amanda Knox – an exchange student- in Perugia in November 2007.
Prosecutors say she died in a brutal sex game that went wrong.
Another man – Rudy Guede from Ivory Coast – was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to 16 years for the killing.
Amanda Knox says she may return to Italy to face a retrial in Meredith Kercher murder case
The case has drawn intense media interest in Italy, the UK and the US, and put the Italian police and justice system under great scrutiny.
Amanda Knox told USA Today on Tuesday that the thought of returning to Italy for the retrial was “scary”.
“But it’s also important for me to say: <<This is not just happening far away from and doesn’t matter to me.>>
“So, somehow, I feel it’s important for me to convey that. And if my presence is what is necessary to convey that, then I’ll go.”
The Italian courts cannot compel her to return for the retrial but they could request her extradition – at which point it would be up to the US authorities to determine her fate.
In a separate interview with ABC News, Amanda Knox said claims that she was a “she-devil” and “heartless manipulator” were all wrong.
She added that what happened to her “was surreal but it could’ve happened to anyone”.
“It’s one thing to be called certain things in the media and it’s another thing to be sitting in a courtroom fighting for your life while people are calling you a devil,” Amanda Knox said.
“For all intents and purposes I was a murderer, whether I was or not. I had to live with the idea that that would be my life.”
In a reference to the Kercher family, Amanda Knox said she wanted them to understand “that my need for justice for myself is not in contradiction with theirs”.
Amanda Knox said she hoped “that eventually I can have their permission to pay respects at her grave”.
The interview was timed to coincide with the release of her autobiography, Waiting to Be Heard, for which Amanda Knox was reportedly paid more than $4 million.
In the book, Amanda Knox maintains that on the night of Meredith Kercher’s death she was at Raffaele Sollecito’s flat smoking marijuana and watching a movie.
Amanda Knox, who is facing a retrial over the killing of Briton Meredith Kercher in Italy in 2007, claims she is innocent during an ABC News interview to be aired later on Tuesday.
Amanda Knox, 25, says claims that she is a “she-devil” and “heartless manipulator” are all wrong.
“I’d like to be reconsidered as a person,” she says.
Last month, an Italian court overturned her acquittal and ordered a retrial.
Her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 29, will also face a new trial.
Meredith Kercher, 21, was found stabbed to death in the flat she shared with Amanda Knox in Perugia in November 2007.
ABC News interview coincides with the release of Amanda Knox’s autobiography Waiting to Be Heard
Prosecutors believe she died in a brutal sex game that went wrong.
Another man – Rudy Guede from Ivory Coast – was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to 16 years for the killing.
The case has drawn intense media interest in Italy, the UK and the US, and put the Italian police and justice system under great scrutiny.
“I was in the courtroom [in Italy] when they were calling me <<devil>>,” Amanda Knox says in the ABC interview.
“It’s one thing to be called certain things in the media and then it’s another thing to be sitting in a courtroom, fighting for your life, while people are calling you a devil.
“For all intents and purposes, I was a murderer – whether I was or not. And I had to live with the idea that that would be my life.”
She adds that what happened to her “was surreal but it could’ve happened to anyone”.
The interview is timed to coincide with the release of Amanda Knox’s autobiography (Waiting to Be Heard), for which she was reportedly paid more than $4 million.
In the book, Amanda Knox maintains that on the night of Meredith Kercher’s death she was at Raffaele Sollecito’s flat smoking marijuana and watching a movie.
The Italian courts cannot compel her to return for the retrial but they could request her extradition – at which point it would be up to the US authorities to determine Amanda Knox’s fate.
Italy’s Supreme Court’s decision to retry Amanda Knox for the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher sparks a heated legal debate that raises questions of double jeopardy.
The U.S. constitution bans double jeopardy, or being tried twice for the same crime; however, the Italian courts have no such law, meaning that they will use the same evidence to try Amanda Knox for the 2007 murder.
According to legal experts, Italy’s Supreme Court decision could throw both countries into uncharted territory, as it is highly unlikely the U.S. will extradite Amanda Knox to face trial.
Amanda Knox’s Italian lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, said it was unlikely that his client does not intend to return to Italy to face trial, which would likely take place this year or next. However, Amanda Knox can be tried in absentia.
“Amanda does not intend to come back for the retrial,” he said.
“Her home is in Seattle and she doesn’t need to be here.”
Carlo Dalla Vedova added that the decision to order a new trial was shocking.
“She thought that the nightmare was over,” he said on the steps of the courthouse.
“But she’s ready to fight.”
When the Italian courts reach a final decision they can also ask for her extradition, the lawyer told Reuters. At that point, the U.S. Department of State would have to weigh in on the request and make its own decision. The state department would then turn to the U.S. Attorney’s Office to seek the Seattle resident’s extradition.
Regardless of the outcome, the new trial will prove to be an expensive and emotionally-charged spectacle.
After the court’s decision, Amanda Knox struck back: “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,” she said in a statement.
Amanda Knox has largely avoided the public eye since returning to Seattle, Washington, and has been spotted around the town running errands and resuming her studies.
Her memoir, Waiting to be Heard, is due out in April.
Amanda Knox’s memoir, Waiting to be Heard, is due out in April 2013
Meredith Kercher, 21, a Leeds University student, was found semi-naked with her throat cut in the bedroom of the house she shared with Amanda Knox, in Perugia in November 2007.
The first trial caused a stir as both Amanda Knox and her then boyfriend Raffaele Sollicito were acquitted of Meredith Kercher’s murder, and a polarizing divide in national thought. Americans largely understood the two to be innocent, while the British believed them to be getting away with murder.
The initial trial also put Amanda Knox’s character in the forefront as prosecutors painted the American student as a sexual deviant who experimented with marijuana.
But in 2011, the evidence was re-visited and much of it was found to be “contaminated”.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito spoke on the phone soon after Italy’s Supreme Court’s decision of retrial.
Raffaele Sollecito’s current girlfriend Annie Achille said: “They will see what can be done.”
Annie Achille added that Raffaele Sollecito, who turned 29 yesterday, is “destroyed” and not talking to anyone.
Meredith Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was in Italy as an exchange student from Leeds University.
She was found dead in 2007, in the cottage she shared with Amanda Knox in Perugia.
Her throat had been slit and her semi-naked body had been covered with a duvet. After a lengthy trial in Perugia, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were convicted of the murder in December 2009 and sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively.
Two years later, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were freed after an appeal court found that the case had been botched and DNA evidence contaminated.
A third suspect, Rudy Guede, whose DNA and bloody footprints were found all over the crime scene, is serving a 16-year prison sentence, reduced from 30 years on appeal.
Meredith Kercher’s family welcomed the Italian court’s judgment. Her sister Stephanie said: “We are never going to be happy about any outcome because we have still lost Meredith but we obviously support the decision and hope to get answers from it.
“There are still so many unanswered questions. All we have ever wanted to do is do what we can for Meredith and to find out the truth of what happened that night.”
Amanda Knox had rejoiced after her conviction was sensationally overturned in 2011.
She fled Italy within hours, returning home to the US, where she quickly embraced life as a free woman.
Amanda Knox now shares a flat with boyfriend James Terrano, a classical guitarist, and is studying at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she can be near her parents and three sisters.
She is preparing for the publication next month of a memoir for which she has been paid a reported $3.8 million.
Raffaele Sollecito remained in Italy and is studying robotic surgery at the University of Verona. He has already released a book about his experience. In it he said that he and Amanda Knox were still in touch – he visited her earlier this year and they speak on Skype regularly.
His lawyer Giulia Bongiorno said: “We are still strong. This is not a sentence in itself: this is just an annulment.”
Amanda Knox’s appeal against her conviction for slander – for having falsely accused her boss Patrick Lumumba of the murder – was rejected. She has already served the three-year prison sentence for that conviction, but was ordered to pay Lumumba €4,000 ($5,100) in costs.
The retrial will be held in Florence, with different judges, to avoid accusations of prejudice against Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.
Amanda Knox has said she will fight to clear her name after Italy’s Supreme Court overturned her acquittal for killing Briton Meredith Kercher.
Amanda Knox and former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito face a new trial over the 2007 killing in Perugia.
They were freed on appeal in 2011 after four years in jail, but Italy’s Supreme Court re-opened the case on March 26, 2013.
Amanda Knox does not have to return from the US for the case, but if found guilty she could face extradition.
Raffaele Sollecito, 29, will not have to return to jail while the new appeals process goes ahead.
Both deny killing Meredith Kercher, 21, who was found stabbed to death in the flat she shared with Amanda Knox in Perugia in November 2007.
Amanda Knox has said she will fight to clear her name after Italy’s Supreme Court overturned her acquittal for killing Meredith Kercher
The case has drawn intense media interest in Italy, the UK and the US and put the Italian police and justice system under great scrutiny.
In a statement, Amanda Knox, now a 25-year-old student in Seattle, described the court decision to reopen the case as “painful news”.
“The prosecution’s theory of my involvement in Meredith’s murder has been repeatedly revealed to be completely unfounded and unfair,” she said.
“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,” Amanda Knox added.
Meredith Kercher’s family has welcomed the decision.
“Whilst we are not happy about going back to court, and it will not bring her back, we have to make sure we have done all we can for her,” Meredith Kercher’s older sister Stephanie said.
Kercher family lawyer Francesco Maresca said it was “an important day for the Italian legal system”.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were originally sentenced to 26 and 25 years in prison for murdering and sexually assaulting Meredith Kercher.
Meredith kercher, a Leeds University student, was found with more than 40 knife wounds on her body, including a deep gash to the throat.
Prosecutors believe she died in a brutal sex game that went wrong.
Another man – Rudy Guede from Ivory Coast – was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to 16 years for the killing.
In 2011, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were acquitted on appeal, largely on the grounds that DNA evidence was flawed.
But that decision has now been overturned by the Supreme Court after prosecutors argued that it was “contradictory and illogical”.
The court has not yet given a full explanation for its ruling on the appeal, but will announce its reasons within 90 days.
The new trial will be held in Florence rather than Perugia, where the original trial and appeal took place, although the date has not yet been set.
After her release in 2011, Amanda Knox returned to the US.
Both she and Raffaele Sollecito – now a student in Verona – have written books about the case.
Rafafele Sollecito’s book was published last year.
Amanda Knox’s book – titled Waiting to be Heard – is due out on April 30, 2013.
Meredith Kercher case:
1 November 2007: Meredith Kercher is killed at her apartment in Perugia, Italy. Police find her a day later.
6 November 2007: Meredith Kercher’s US housemate Amanda Knox is arrested, along with Raffaele Sollecito and Congolese national Patrick Diya Lumumba.
20 November 2007: Rudy Guede detained in Germany and extradited to Italy. Patrick Diya Lumumba released without charge
28 October 2008: Rudy Guede sentenced to 16 years. A judge rules Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox will face a murder trial
4 December 2009: Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito found guilty of murder and sexual violence, and jailed for 26 and 25 years
3 October 2011: Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito acquitted
26 March 2013: Re-run of appeals ordered. Acquittals overturned
Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito face a retrial over the 2007 killing of Briton student Meredith Kercher, Italy’s highest court has ordered.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito spent four years in jail in Italy for murder but were freed on appeal in October 2011, largely on the grounds DNA evidence was flawed.
Prosecutors appealed and the Court of Cassation overturned the acquittals.
Ivory Coast national Rudy Guede was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to 16 years.
He was found guilty of sexually assaulting and stabbing Meredith Kercher. Rudy Guede admitted being at the house on the night of the killing in November 2007, but denies murder.
Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito face a retrial over the 2007 killing of Briton student Meredith Kercher, Italy’s highest court has ordered
Meredith Kercher, from Coulsdon, south London, had been on a year abroad from Leeds University when she was found semi-naked in her bedroom and with her throat cut in the cottage she shared with Amanda Knox.
Prosecutors believed Meredith Kercher was killed in a brutal sex game that went wrong.
Addressing the court on Monday, they urged the judges to “make sure the final curtain does not drop on this shocking and dire crime”.
Amanda Knox’s Italian lawyer, Luciano Ghirga, said on Monday her client was “very anxious” about the latest hearing.
Amanda Knox lives in Seattle and a retrial is likely to take place in absentia, as the US is unlikely to extradite her, analysts say.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were originally sentenced to 26 and 25 years in prison for killing and sexually assaulting Meredith Kercher.
Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito are waiting to find out if their acquittal for the murder of Meredith Kercher will be overturned by Italy’s highest court.
Italy’s Supreme Court judges will rule on Monday on whether there should be a retrial regarding the death of Meredith Kercher or if the case against them should be closed completely.
In 2011 Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were cleared of the 2007 murder on appeal after they had initially been found guilty and sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively.
British student Meredith Kercher, 21, was found semi naked and with her throat cut in her bedroom in the house she shared with American Amanda Knox in the picturesque Italian hill top town of Perugia.
The case made headlines around the world amid allegations of sex games, drugs and jealousy during their first trial in 2009.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty but were cleared two years later after a fresh hearing uncovered a bungled police investigation.
Defence lawyers and experts revealed how evidence had been contaminated or poorly handled by forensic teams and that the conviction should be considered unsafe.
They were immediately freed with Amanda Knox returning to her home in Seattle while Raffaele Sollecito went back to Bisceglie on the southern Italian coast near Bari.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito are waiting to find out if their acquittal for the murder of Meredith Kercher will be overturned by Italy’s highest court
Prosecutors in Perugia appealed the decision on behalf of Meredith Kercher’s family and will find out on Monday if they have been successful.
They want the acquittal to be quashed and for a new trial to be held in neighboring Tuscany.
Neither are expected to attend the hearing which will be held behind closed doors in Rome.
The case will decided purely on paperwork and legal documents with no new witnesses giving evidence.
Luciano Ghirga, Amanda Knox’s lawyer, said: “She is very anxious about the hearing but she is waiting for it knowing full well that the outcome is very important.”
Since returning to Seattle in the US, Amanda Knox has kept a low profile although she is due to given an interview to ABC television on April 30 to coincide with the release of a book about her four years in an Italian jail.
Raffaele Sollecito has also written a book and has already given an interview on Italian TV about the case where he said he and Amanda Knox were no longer lovers but they were still in touch – he visited her earlier this year and they speak on Skype regularly.
He is now studying in Verona and they have always insisted they are innocent of Leeds University student Meredith Kercher’s murder – she had only been in Italy for two months before she was killed having arrived from Coulsdon for a year long course as part of her degree.
During the investigation and trial much was made of Amanda Knox’s character with prosecutors saying she was highly sexual and had manipulated Raffaele Sollecito but her lawyers dismissed the theory.
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