Knox leaves prison after murder conviction overturned

 

"At the initial trial in 2009, Knox's parents had pre-bought her a plane ticket home that was never used. This time they did not tempt fate. Photograph: Pier Paolo Cito/AFP/Getty Images"-guardian.co

PERUGIA, Italy — Amanda Knox, the 24-year-old American found guilty in 2009 of murdering her roommate Meredith Kercher, was a free woman after an appeals court jury on Monday acquitted her and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito.
Knox, 24, collapsed in tears after the jury declared that the evidence against the two was not reliable.

After briefly returning to prison for a formal discharge, Knox was seen being driven away in a convoy. Rocco Girlanda, an Italian lawmaker who is close to the Knox family, said she planned to leave Italy on Tuesday.

In court, the Kercher family looked on grimly as the verdict was read out by the judge after 11 hours of deliberations by the eight-member jury.

Outside the courthouse, some of the hundreds of observers shouted "Shame, shame!"

The Kercher family issued a brief statement, saying: "We respect the decision of the judges but we do not understand how the decision of the first trial could be so radically overturned. We still trust the Italian justice system and hope that the truth will eventually emerge."

As Knox waited for the verdict to be read, she appeared tense — leaning forward in her chair, and panting and wincing between exchanges with her lawyer. A dark cloak draped around her, she put her hands to her face several times.
Prosecutors can appeal the acquittal to Italy's highest court. There was no word late Monday if they planned to do so.

It wasn't clear how soon Knox could leave Italy but nothing in Italian law would prevent her from returning home, even if prosecutors appeal, legal experts say.

One of Knox's lawyers, Carlo della Vedova, said he didn't know when Knox would leave Italy. Knox had an outdated passport that had to be renewed, but it's not clear how quickly that could be done or if the paperwork was already completed.

A slander conviction against Knox, who falsely accused barman Patrick Lumumba of the murders, was upheld, but since that was a three-year sentence it was considered time served.
Earlier Monday, a tearful Knox told the jury that she did not kill her British roommate, pleading for the court to free her so she can return to the United States after four years behind bars.

Knox frequently paused for breath and fought back tears as she spoke in Italian to the jury in a packed courtroom, but managed to maintain her composure during the 10-minute address.

"I'm not a promiscuous vamp. I'm not violent ... I have not killed, I have not raped, I was not there, I was not present," the American told a packed courtroom in Perugia.

"I want to go home, I want to go back to my life, I do not want to be punished and to have my life taken away from me for something I have not done, because I am innocent."

The jury weighed whether the 2009 convictions and prison sentences — 26 years for Knox, 25 years for Sollecito — should stand, be dismissed or altered.

The case made Knox an unwilling celebrity and placed Italy's justice system under scrutiny.

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