Amanda Knox Has Acquittal Overturned, Will Not Need To Return To Italy For Retrial

Amanda Knox will be retried for the murder of Meredith Kercher. The Italian Supreme Court heard the prosecution’s appeal on Monday, March 25, and ruled on Tuesday that Knox’s 2011 acquittal will be overturned.

As previously reported by IBTimes, Knox, 25, was convicted, along with her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, of the 2007 murder of 21-year-old Kercher, who was sharing an apartment with Knox in Italy. Knox and Sollecito were convicted in 2009 but, on appeal, were acquitted in 2011 after spending four years in jail. The prosecutors appealed the acquittal and the Italian Supreme Court heard the prosecutor’s appeal on Monday. If the court did not overturn the acquittal, Knox and Sollecito could not be tried again for the murder of Kercher.

Knox will not need to return to Italy for the retrial, reports the Associated Press. The Italian Court of Cassation will release its reasoning for the retrial within the next 90 days. Based on Tuesday’s ruling, Sollecito will also be retried for the murder of Kercher.

Knox, who is a student at the University of Washington in Seattle, said in a statement, “It was painful to receive the news that the Italian Supreme Court decided to send my case back for revision when the prosecution's theory of my involvement in Meredith's murder has been repeatedly revealed to be completely unfounded and unfair.” Despite the retrial, Knox remains confident that she will be exonerated of the murder of Kercher.

An Ivorian drifter, Rudy Guede, was later convicted of the murder of Kercher. Knox and Sollecito deny any wrongdoing, claiming they were not in the apartment the night of Kercher’s murder although they admitted they smoked marijuana and their memories were “clouded,” reports AP.

Knox’s attorney, Carlo Dalla Vedova, believe the retrial won’t happen until 2014. If convicted in the new trial, Italy could ask the United States to extradite Knox although the countries could reach a deal that would let Knox stay in America, notes AP. The order for retrial does not proclaim Knox’s guilt but the ruling states that the case needs to be re-examined.

Francesco Maresca, the attorney for Kercher’s family, said the retrial was “what we wanted.”

Speaking about the ruling to “Today,” one of Knox’s attorneys, Theodore Simon, said “We fully expect she will be exonerated.” Video of Simon’s interview can be viewed below.

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