Kanyi Okeke
Amanda Knox, the American exchange student who was convicted in the 2007 slaying of British university student Meredith Kercher has been found guilty again by an Italian court.
An Italian appeals court convicted former exchange student Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito on murder charges. Prosecutors said the couple had killed Meredith Kercher in November 2007.
They were convicted two years later of murder, but those charges were overturned on appeal in 2011. (Read HERE). A judge said Thursday that Knox, also convicted of slander, was sentenced in absentia to 28 1/2 years in prison. Sollecito’s sentence was 25 years.
Knox, who was at home in Seattle, Washington, said her conviction would bring no consolation to the Kercher family.
“I am frightened and saddened by this unjust verdict,” she said in written remarks. “Having been found innocent before, I expected better from the Italian justice system. The evidence and accusatory theory do not justify a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. …There has always been a marked lack of evidence.”
“This has gotten out of hand. Most troubling is that it was entirely preventable,” she said. “I beseech those with the knowledge and authority to address and remediate the problems that worked to pervert the course of justice and waste the valuable resources of the system.”
Knox also said that Kercher’s family had suffered greatly.
“Their grief over Meredith’s terrible murder will follow them forever. They deserve respect and support.”
Presiding Judge Alessandro Nencini has 90 days to write his arguments behind the jury’s ruling. Once that is out, lawyers have 90 days to appeal.
