Below are some Frequently Asked Questions that we’ll try to answer as best as we can.
Is Amanda Knox going to jail in Italy?
Not any time soon. The presiding judge of the court that just delivered the verdict has 90 days to provide their findings that led to the conviction, and then Knox’s lawyers have 90 days to lodge an appeal, which would see the ruling go to the Italian Supreme Court for their judgement. If the Italian Supreme Court were to uphold the conviction (which seems likely, but who knows) then Italy would request that Knox be extradited to face Italian justice. This would initiate a legal tussle that could veer into the realm of politics. Lawyers both here and abroad though claim that Knox likely would be extradited, although some are claiming that double jeopardy could help Amanda Knox avoid fulfilling the sentence.
Did Knox ever confess to murdering Meredith Kercher?
She did not, however during the course of lengthy interrogations, conducted in Italian with some English interpretation, and without the presence of a lawyer, she implicated her then boss, Patrick Lumumba. According to police interpreter Anna Donnino Knox stated “It’s him, he did it, I can feel it” thus implicating herself by association. Knox later retracted her statement and Lumumba was eventually cleared.
Why is there a widespread perception in Italy that Knox is guilty?
From the beginning of the murder investigation widespread coverage of Knox portrayed an erratic, emotionally awkward American girl who at times behaved inappropriately for someone whose roommate had been viciously murdered. There was mention of her doing “cartwheels” in the police station, kissing her boyfriend around the crime scene, and buying sexy lingerie after the murder.
Can’t DNA clear up her innocence or guilt?
Much of the prosecution’s focus has been on a knife found at Raffaele Sollecito’s apartment which they claim is the murder weapon. In both the appeal to overturn the original conviction and in the latest trial DNA collected from the knife had no trace whatsoever of Meredith Kercher, which makes the latest conviction all the more surprising. It will be really interesting to review the Italian court’s findings from the latest trial to see what evidence and facts they relied upon to reach the guilty verdict.
Has anyone confessed to murdering Kercher?
No, but Rudy Guede, a drifter from the Ivory Coast who had lived in Perugia since he was five admitted that he was at the Knox/Kercher residence the night of the murder but denies he killed her despite his bloody foot and hand prints allegedly being found all over the crime scene. A few days after the murder Guede was tracked down in Germany where he had fled to. And apparently Guede had broken into a nursery in Milan four days before Kercher was murdered and was apprehended by police who found in his possession an 11-inch knife. Despite his claims that he was in the bathroom listening to loud music on his iPod while the murder was being committed a fast-track court found him guilty and sentenced him to 30 years in prison, which was later reduced to 16 on appeal due to his continuing, changing account of the tragic evening of November 1st.
Visit our Amanda Knox Crime Line to learn more about the tragic death of Meredith Kercher and the ongoing Amanda Knox/Raffaele Sollecito saga.
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