bmwohio Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 (edited) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/03/501364/main20114867.shtml PERUGIA, Italy - American student Amanda Knox, who was convicted by an Italian court for the 2007 murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher, was acquitted today by an appeals court. Her murder conviction in the 2007 slaying of her roommate Meredith Kercher was thrown out by the jury, and she was ordered immediately released from prison after nearly four years of detention. Knox collapsed in tears after the verdict was read out Monday. The murder conviction against her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito was also thrown out. The judge upheld Knox's conviction on a charge of slander for accusing bar owner Diya "Patrick" Lumumba of carrying out the killing. He set the sentence at three years - meaning for time served - and a fine of 22,000 euros (about $29,000). Knox has been in prison since Nov. 6, 2007. Sobbing, Knox was escorted out of the courtroom. Knox and Sollecito had been convicted in 2009 of sexually assaulting and murdering Kercher, who was stabbed to death in her bedroom. She was found in a pool of blood and covered by a duvet the following day. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison, Sollecito to 25. Also convicted in separate proceedings was Rudy Hermann Guede, an Ivorian man. They all denied wrongdoing. DNA evidence used to convict Knox and Sollecito has since been scientifically discredited. Prosecutors can appeal today's acquittal to Italy's highest court. There was no word late Monday if they planned to do so. Inside the courtroom, Knox's parents, who have regularly traveled from their home in Seattle to Perugia to visit the 24-year-old over the past four years, hugged their lawyers and cried with joy. "We've been waiting for this for four years," said one of Sollecito's lawyers, Giulia Bongiorno. The Kercher family looked on grimly as the verdict was read out by the judge after 11 hours of deliberations by the eight-member jury. Later Knox's family said in a statement, "We are thankful that Amanda's nightmare is over." They also expressed thanks for support Amanda received from all over the world. "And last, we are thankful for the court for having the courage to look for the truth and overturn this conviction. "We now respectfully ask that give Amanda the privacy she needs to recover from this ordeal." Outside the courthouse, competing protesters - some supporting Knox, some not - added their voices, with cheers as well as shouts of "Shame, shame!" As the verdict was announced, about a dozen supporters from the group called Friends of Amanda, gathered at a downtown Seattle hotel to watch the proceedings on TV, burst into applause and cheered. They began chanting, "She's free!" and "We did it!" Jubilation in Seattle as Amanda Knox is freed Earlier Monday, as hundreds of reporters and cameras filled the underground, frescoed courtroom, Knox tearfully told the Italian appeals court she did not kill her British roommate, pleading for the court to free her so she can return to the United States after four years behind bars. The court began deliberations moments later. Knox frequently paused for breath and fought back tears as she spoke in Italian to the six members of the jury and two judges in a packed courtroom, but managed to maintain her composure during the 10-minute address. "I've lost a friend in the worst, most brutal, most inexplicable way possible," she said of the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher, a 21-year-old Briton who shared an apartment with Knox when they were both students in Perugia. "I'm paying with my life for things that I didn't do." "She had her bedroom next to mine, she was killed in our own apartment. If I had been there that night, I would be dead," Knox said. "But I was not there." "I did not kill. I did not rape. I did not steal. I wasn't there. I wasn't there at the crime," Knox said. "48 Hours Mystery" correspondent Peter Van Sant reports that Knox appealed to the jury - members of which wept openly during her statement - to reverse the conviction and let her return home. "I insist I'm innocent and that must be defended. I just want to go home, go back to my life," she told the court through tears. http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2011/10/03/AP111003113391fixed_370x278.jpg Edited October 3, 2011 by bmwohio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustlestiltskin Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaddyBuiltRacing Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimTaylor751647545500 Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 I will eat pasta tonight in her honor. At least the Italians got it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRed05 Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Good to hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhett Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Copy And Paste? Just Posting a link = LAZY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmwohio Posted October 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Copy And Paste? Just Posting a link = LAZY http://ragefac.es/faces/f6b62ef385283bb66f554cacabfdc7d9.png fixed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhett Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littleguy Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Finally, at least some justice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oh8sti Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Casey anthony and her should scissor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangsn95gt Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Casey anthony and her should scissor :lolguy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Pomade Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Copy And Paste? Just Posting a link = LAZY Because clicking a link is the epitome of an arduous task? I think the Irony Police should put you in prison for four years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dover Posted October 4, 2011 Report Share Posted October 4, 2011 Well deserved, she spent 4 years in that hell hole prison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mowgli1647545497 Posted October 4, 2011 Report Share Posted October 4, 2011 Casey anthony and her should scissor Win Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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