AMANDA Knox and Raffaele Sollecito did murder British student Meredith Kercher, in Perugia, Italy. Today an appeals court in Florence upheld the convictions of U.S. student Knox and her ex-boyfriend for the November 2007 murder of her British roommate. Knox was sentenced to 28 1/2 years in prison, raising the specter of a long legal battle over her extradition. After nearly 12 hours of deliberation Thursday the court reinstated the guilty verdict first handed down against Knox and Raffaele Sollecito in 2009.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Is that it, then? No. Knox is in the US. Will she be extradited? And both she and Sollecito can appeal before Italy’s Supreme Court.
Appeals Court Judge Alessandro Nencini, center, reads out the verdict. Writing above reads in Italian “The Law is Equal for All.”
A woman believed to be Amanda Knox, center, is hidden under a jacket while being escorted from her mother’s home to a car by family members
John Swain notes:
This painfully slow legal process has now lasted longer than the Second World War – it was seven years ago, in 2007, that Knox and Sollecito were arrested and jailed on suspicion of murdering Meredith Kercher.
In that time, Knox has become a global media talking point. Take a look at today’s newspaper headlines.
The Times: “Knox guilty of Meredith murder – again”
The Sun: Â ”Knox is guilty”
EVen when Sollecito is mentioned, he plays third fiddle to Knox’s sex appeal:
Never mind the dead women, get a load of the ‘foxy’ babe.
Meredith Kercher
As BBCÂ said: Â ”What fascinated us most of all was the beautiful young murderess, and what was really going behind her smile.”
Rudy Guede, a man also convicted of raping and murdering Kercher, is not much talked about. Sollecito is presented as an afterthought. All eyes are on Knox, the young woman who never sobbed or broke down; who turned cartwheels and smooched her boyfriend in the aftermath of a sickening crime. She was, as the prosecution said, “a diabolical, Satanic, demonic she-devil.”
The men were not demons. Only her.
This case was never simply about the facts or motive – which was what? This was about Knox’s character. One media expert who had never met Knox wrote:
“Knox’s narcissistic pleasure at catching the eye of the media and her apparent nonchalant attitude during most of the proceedings show the signs of a psychopathic personality. Her behaviour is hauntingly reminiscent of Eichmann’s arrogance during his trial for war crimes in Jerusalem in 1961 and most recently of Karadzic’s preening before the International Criminal Court at The Hague.”
The two men – if we keep the them of Nazi Devil woman alive- were merely obeying orders.
Giulia Bongiorno, lawyer of Amanda Knox’s ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito waits for the verdict
Knox has released the following statement:
 First and foremost it must be recognized that there is no consolation for the Kercher family. Their grief over Meredith’s terrible murder will follow them forever. They deserve respect and support.
I am frightened and saddened by this unjust verdict. Having been found innocent before, I expected better from the Italian justice system. The evidence and accusatory theory do not justify a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Rather, nothing has changed. There has always been a marked lack of evidence. My family and I have suffered greatly from this wrongful persecution.
This has gotten out of hand. Most troubling is that it was entirely preventable. I beseech those with the knowledge and authority to address and remediate the problems that worked to pervert the course of justice and waste the valuable resources of the system: overzealous and intransigent prosecution, prejudiced and narrow-minded investigation, unwillingness to admit mistake, reliance on unreliable testimony and evidence, character assassination, inconsistent and unfounded accusatory theory, and counterproductive and coercive interrogation techniques that produce false confessions and inaccurate statements.
Clearly a wrongful conviction is horrific for the wrongfully accused, but it is also terribly bad for the victim, their surviving family, and society.
Meredith Kercher’s brother Lyle, left, and sister Stephanie arrive for the final hearing before the third court verdict for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, in Florence, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014.
Lyle Kercher, Meredith’s brother, says:
“It’s hard to feel anything at the moment because we know that it’s going to a further appeal by the defendants, which will extend the whole process until the Spring of next year. Whatever the verdict, it was never going to be a case of celebrating for us.”
Diya “Patrick” Lumumba, a Congolese citizen who was originally jailed for the murder of Meredith Kercher, leaves the court building on the occasion of the final hearing before the third court verdict for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, in Florence.
Patrick Lumumba, the Congo-born bar owner whom Knox falsely accused of being the murderer and spent two weeks in jail, said:
“I was convinced they would be found guilty again. Amanda knows what happened that night, she bears great responsibility. I want to express my solidarity with the Kercher family, and satisfaction at the verdict.”
He might still be in prison were it not for a Swiss businessman who came forward to say he had been talking to Lumumba in his bar on the night of the murder.
Raffaele Sollecito lawyer Luca Maori
Francesco Maresca, lawyer for the Kercher family
Raffaele Sollecito is flanked by his stepmother Mara Papagni, left, and his aunt Sara Achille, right, as he leaves after attending the final hearing before the third court verdict
Raffaele Sollecito, left, and his father Francesco
Raffaele Sollecito talks with his stepmother Mara Papagni prior to the start of the final hearing
TORI Spelling can’t afford to divorce her love rat husband, Dean McDermott.