Amanda Knox left the court in tears as her family hugged and kissed Amanda Knox and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito have been cleared of killing UK student Meredith Kercher following a successful appeal in Perugia, Italy. Miss Kercher’s family said they did not understand how the original verdict could be so “radically overturned”.
Giulia Bongiorno, Mr Sollecito’s lawyer, said: “I don’t want to stress the four years of suffering that these two young people went through but I do want to stress the extremely positive outcome of this trial.” Giulia Bongiorno, Mr Sollecito’s lawyer, said: “I don’t want to stress the four years of suffering that these two young people went through but I do want to stress the extremely positive outcome of this trial.” Knox will depart for the U.S. “as soon as possible,” Carlo Dalla Vedova, one of her lawyers, said after the ruling, Ansa newswire reported.
Meredith Kercher -telegraph
“Amanda loves Italy” but “now she wants to go home.” The original trial garnered global media attention and divided opinion along national lines, with U.S. newspapers including the New York Times arguing for acquittal and U.K. dailies portraying Knox as a seductive temptress with a violent streak. Italian newspapers covered everything from love letters Knox received from supporters to the outfits she wore in court.
“There is no winner in this ruling,” Knox’s lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova said in an interview broadcast on BBC News after today’s decision. “This was a terrible tragedy, Meredith was a friend of Amanda Knox and we must never forget this.” Looking at Italian media coverage, the runs with the emotive headline: “Ms Knox issues letter of thanks to Italians: ‘I’m grateful to you. I love you'”
People charged with the murder ( from wikipedia )
Rudy Guede
Rudy Hermann Guede (born 26 December 1986, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire)[18] was 20 years old at the time of the murder. He had come to Perugia at the age of five with his father,[19] who worked as a labourer in the 1990s.[20] At the age of 16, when his father left Italy, Guede was informally adopted by the family of a local businessman.[19] Guede had acquired joint Italian nationality and sporadically studied accounting and hotelkeeping.[20] He also played basketball for the Perugia youth team in the 2004–2005 season.[20] He often stayed with his aunt in Lecco, about 50 km north of Milan, and sometimes worked in Milan bars, returning occasionally to Perugia.[20]
Amanda Knox
Amanda Knox (born 9 July 1987, Seattle, Washington) was, at the time of the murder, a 20-year-old University of Washington language student who shared a flat with Kercher.[21] She was in Perugia attending the University for Foreigners for one year, studying Italian, German and creative writing.[22] Knox met Raffaele Sollecito, an Italian student, at a classical music concert held on 25 October 2007,[23] which she attended with Kercher at the University for Foreigners. When Kercher left at the intermission, Sollecito met Knox.[24] On 3 October 2011, a jury of two judges and six citizens reversed Knox’s conviction in the murder of Meredith Kercher. The jury affirmed Knox’s conviction of calunnia (misleading and obstruction) against her former employer.[citation needed]
Raffaele Sollecito
Raffaele Sollecito (born 26 March 1984, Giovinazzo, Bari) was 23 years old at the time of the murder, and nearing the completion of a degree in computer engineering at the University of Perugia, which he finished[25] while imprisoned. On 3 October 2011, Sollectio’s conviction with respect to the murder of Meredith Kercher was reversed.