IN A ruling that is certain to prompt fierce controversy, a Perugia appeals court last night acquitted American Amanda Knox (24) and her former boyfriend, Italian Raffaele Sollecito, of the November 2007 murder of English Erasmus student, Meredith Kercher.
The court thus overturned a December 2009 Perugia verdict in which Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito had received 26 and 25 years respectively for the killing.
As the verdict was read out in court late last night, an emotional Ms Knox burst into tears. As she was rushed out of the courtroom to an almost immediate release, there were contrasting emotions outside the courthouse with the piazza whistling its disapproval and chanting “Vergogna, Vergogna”, (Shame, Shame) in the belief that justice had not been done.
It may be 90 days or longer before the court registers its “motivazioni” or reasoning for this ruling. In reality, legal experts argue that fresh doubts both about much of the forensic evidence used in the original trial and also about some of the investigative methods, may well have prompted the acquittal. Supporters of Ms Knox have long argued that most of the evidence against her was circumstantial and that this was a murder without motive.
As of now, only one person, Ivory Coast national Rudy Guede has been sentenced for the killing. In October 2008, in a fast track trial, Guede was given a 30-year sentence, subsequently commuted to 16 years, for his part in the murder of Kercher, with the prosecution arguing that he had carried out the killing with accomplices, believed to be Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito.
The case obviously does not end here, with the public prosecutors almost certain to appeal last night’s ruling. In the meantime, Ms Knox is free to leave the country, just as soon as the US embassy can organise emergency travel documents for her, given that her passport ran out during her four years in prison.
The relief of the Knox family was palpable in the courtroom last night. Deanna Knox, her sister, spoke to reporters outside the court after the conviction was overturned.
“We’re thankful that Amanda’s nightmare is over,” she said.
“She has suffered for four years for a crime that she did not commit.”
The family of murder victim Kercher sat in silence, making no comment. Her sister Stephanie had told a news conference earlier in the day: “Mez has been almost forgotten in all of this.”
Carlo Della Vedova, lawyer for Ms Knox, said the ruling represented “the correction of an error”.
Asked what Ms Knox would do now, he said: “We’re looking forward to taking her back home as soon as possible.
“We’re going to the prison now to complete the procedure. I know that Amanda wants to go home – she’s been far away from home now for four years and she wants to go back to Seattle.”