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Amanda Knox VINDICATED in Italian murder case


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Amanda Knox found guilty again in Italian murder case

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Eric J. Lyman, Special for USA TODAY 4:18 p.m. EST January 30, 2014

ROME — An Italian court convicted American Amanda Knox and her ex-Italian boyfriend Thursday for the 2007 death of a British woman.

Knox, who was in Seattle while the court verdict was reached Thursday night in Florence, was sentenced to 28 1/2 years, although the verdict is expected to be appealed.

Ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito was also sentenced to more than 25 years in connection with the slaying of Meredeth Kercher, a 21-year-old student found stabbed to death in the villa that she and Knox had rented in Perugia.

Knox and Sollecito's first two trials produced flip-flop verdicts of guilty,then innocent.

The pair were acquitted on appeal in 2011 after spending four years in custody after a court found that important evidence regarding blood and DNA had been handled improperly by investigators.

But Italy's supreme court — called the Court of Cassation — dismissed that ruling based on what it said was key evidence that had been omitted during the appeal. A Florence appeals panel was subsequently designated by Italy's supreme court to address issues it raised about the acquittal.

Knox and Sollecito are expected to file appeals with the Supreme Court. Legal experts said a further trial could take place if new evidence is made available.

Much of the attention has focused on Knox, 26, who has remained in Seattle during the latest trial, citing her fear of "the universal problem of wrongful conviction," according to her statement emailed to the Florence court. Her representatives say she is concentrating on her studies at the University of Washington.

She told Italian state TV in an interview earlier this month that she would wait for the verdict at her mother's house "with my heart in my throat."

In a statement to the court in closing arguments, Knox's lead attorney, Carlo Dalla Vedova, said he was confident his client would be vindicated.

"The knowledge about Amanda is innocence is rock-solid and it allows us to wait for the verdict with complete serenity," Dalla Vedova said. "It is impossible for the court to convict someone because they are 'probably' guilty or 'may be' guilty."

Legal experts have said that if Knox is again convicted, Italy may seek her extradition, but probably not before a final judgment has been made. If that happens, it is not clear how that may play out.

"Italy would usually refuse to extradite someone convicted of murder to the U.S. based on human rights grounds, because of the death penalty," said Argia Bignami, a Rome-based attorney and frequent commentator on criminal justice issues. "But that is not relevant for an extradition request to Italy from the U.S.

"But an extradition request is not automatic," she continued. "That's a further step that must be taken, and it's not at all clear how U.S. authorities would react to such a request or what would happen if they refused."

Unlike Knox, Sollecito has said he would be in the courtroom when the verdict is announced.

Some Italians said they are bothered by the fact that Knox refused to come back for the trial.

"I have no opinion about guilt of innocence of these two, but it doesn't seem fair that one (Knox) stays at home, while Sollecito is brave enough to appear to hear the judgment," said 66-year-old Sabrina Vincente, a retired law firm office manager. "They either committed the crime together or they did not. It's not just to think the punishment would be given to only one half of the couple."

Contributing: Gary Strauss in McLean, Va., Associated Press

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It's not over yet. This is just the second judiciary grade. They could still be acquitted in the third grade by the Cassazione, Italy's Supreme Court. Oh well. The Hague Court of Human Rights places Italy right after Russia as far as the record for highest number of pending cases go. Too long and complicated a system

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XXL and Vande, would love to hear both of your opinions on Amanda Knox. From what I have read, I feel she is innocent but not properly aware of all the details. Would love to read both of your views as you would have much more detail and knowledge about the case.

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Is she the one that supposedly murdered a baby and got away with it? She is now being accused of murdering a woman?

No, she was accused of killing her flatmate - an English exchange student called Meredith Kercher. They were both students studying in Italy. Very strange case with lots of different evidence and theories.

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JUST BY THE FACT THE SHE, AT THE START OF THE TRIAL, ACCUSED AN INNOCENT MAN ON PURPOSE, LEAD ME THINK SHE'S GUILTY....HAVING SAID THAT THE INVESTIGATIONS AND COLLECTION OF EVIDENCES HAVE BEEN DONE IN AN AMATEUR WAY....."FUNNY" THING, A THIRD MAN IS ALREADY CONVICTED FOR THE MURDER, THE ONLY ONE THAT IS GUILTY FOR SURE, BUT HE NEVER SAID WHO THE OTHERS PARTNER IN CRIME WERE.....

BUT I WOULDNT FEEL MUCH SORRY FOR HER...SHE ALREADY MADE A LOT OF MONEY FROM THE CRIME AND I HIGHLY DOUBT THE USA, AS IN OTHER CASES, WILL EXTRADITE HER....

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So if she killed her what was her motive?

The reason the prosecutors gave was that it was a sex game gone wrong with Amanda acting with her boyfriend and another man. You should read up on the case as it is very strange. I still am in two minds about it as don't think the evidence was enough to convict her. They never found Amanda's DNA at the crime scene but they said it was wiped away

. Also, her demeanour did not help her ( she did not show a lot of emotion ) However, I also never take that into account. People react differently and I still remember people using that argument against Lindy Chamberlain because she never cried and showed emotion at her trial. She was convicted without any proper evidence and went to jail for years for killing her baby Azaria. It has since been proved that she was innocent.

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Guest Rachelle of London

She was willing to blame it on her friend and get away with it. Good thing that the evidence proves he wasn't even there. Horrible woman. Just for that she deserves to be sent down! Some people get life sentences and even the death sentence for crimes with less evidence. All these trials are just a waste of time and money!

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She's made $10m from her tell-all book once back in the States after the initial acquittal in the first Appeal trial

Jan personally I think they are guilty, all three of them

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She was willing to blame it on her friend and get away with it. Good thing that the evidence proves he wasn't even there. Horrible woman. Just for that she deserves to be sent down! Some people get life sentences and even the death sentence for crimes with less evidence. All these trials are just a waste of time and money!

and before that she accused a black man that wasn't even on the crime scene....

for once i agree with xxl... :laugh:

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JUST BY THE FACT THE SHE, AT THE START OF THE TRIAL, ACCUSED AN INNOCENT MAN ON PURPOSE, LEAD ME THINK SHE'S GUILTY....HAVING SAID THAT THE INVESTIGATIONS AND COLLECTION OF EVIDENCES HAVE BEEN DONE IN AN AMATEUR WAY....."FUNNY" THING, A THIRD MAN IS ALREADY CONVICTED FOR THE MURDER, THE ONLY ONE THAT IS GUILTY FOR SURE, BUT HE NEVER SAID WHO THE OTHERS PARTNER IN CRIME WERE.....

BUT I WOULDNT FEEL MUCH SORRY FOR HER...SHE ALREADY MADE A LOT OF MONEY FROM THE CRIME AND I HIGHLY DOUBT THE USA, AS IN OTHER CASES, WILL EXTRADITE HER....

She's made $10m from her tell-all book once back in the States after the initial acquittal in the first Appeal trial

Jan personally I think they are guilty, all three of them

and before that she accused a black man that wasn't even on the crime scene....

for once i agree with xxl... :laugh:

Thanks Vande and XXL for giving your opinions. Always like to hear what people who live in the country where the event took place think. xx

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So if she killed her what was her motive?

So what was the sex game?

So who killed the baby?

GU, loving your one question posts. :laugh:

Will try to answer the last two questions ( already tried answering the first )

I have no idea what the sex game was - not up to date on the latest sex games. :dazed:

As for who killed the baby - we probably need an entire new thread for that ! However, it is now generally believed that indeed a dingo took the baby. Expert Aboriginal trackers said that all along and were ignored by the Northern Territory police. They have a better understanding of the land than anyone in Australia and their skills at tracking are incredible.

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No not that one! :lmao: There was another one recently wasn't there? Or am I confusing news stories? :lol:

:lol: Sorry, thought you were talking about Azaria Chamberlain.

I now think you could be referring to Casey Anthony who was accused of killing her 2 year old daughter Caylee. Is that right ? Her mother reported her as said Casey's car smelled like a dead body had been inside it.

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:lol: Sorry, thought you were talking about Azaria Chamberlain.

I now think you could be referring to Casey Anthony who was accused of killing her 2 year old daughter Caylee. Is that right ? Her mother reported her as said Casey's car smelled like a dead body had been inside it.

Oooooh yes maybe!!!! How does one know what a dead body in a car smells like? :lmao:

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I'm not a fan (ie I don't approve) of mass murderers but at times they're fascinating and stylish. Sometimes I feel sympathy for them.

Did you ever watch Dexter ? The serial killer who killed serial killers.

Also, do you know that Adelaide in Australia is often noted as having the most serial killers per capita in Australia and one of the most in the world. Hence this advert for Dexter.

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