An Italian court says: She’s free to go home.

On the livestream she appeared extremely nervous, cried quietly as the moment of the verdict approached, and then seemed to collapse into tears upon hearing that she and Raffaele Sollecito had been acquitted. Italian police officers almost carried her, hands under armpits, out of the court.

If you’re looking for a primer on how Knox’s supporters saw the case and the charges against her, the piece Madison Paxton wrote for The Stranger in 2009 is a good place to start:

Her story has gained worldwide attention over the last two years. It is long, complicated, and heartbreaking. It leaves one innocent person—Meredith Kercher—brutally murdered, multiple families devastated, and now two innocent people convicted of the crime.

It seems the Italian court agreed. The court also upheld Knox’s conviction for defamation for accusing her former boss, Patrick Lumumba, of being the murderer. It sentenced her to three years for that crime, but credited her for the three years she’s already served. She’ll also have to pay Lumumba’s legal fees and some court costs related to the defamation case—if I understood the livestream right, that will be somewhere around $20,000.

But the bottom line is: The court said Knox was wrongly convicted of murder, and that she’s now free to return home.

Eli Sanders was The Stranger's associate editor. His book, "While the City Slept," was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. He once did this and once won...

22 replies on “Amanda Knox Acquitted”

  4. I understand why she cried so hard, must be a relief and a surprise after lying consistently to be free despite the fact that you were never completely honest about what happened.

  8. I am so relieved for her and her family.

    The man who killed Meredith Kercher is in prison. The innocent are being freed. Justice has been done.

    Come home, Amanda.

  12. Can’t wait now for her to rake in millions on book deals and interviews while pathetic CM tries desperately to get people to buy an overwrought book of his. You are a piece of shit Mudede. You disgust me.

  13. She’s a sociopath who, at the very least, was an accomplice in a senseless murder. She’ll make millions from a book and a probable reality series. She’s scum and should have stayed in prison. There is no reason to feel anything positive about this turn of events. Money rules all over the world, apparently.

  14. I’ll probably never understand how Knox and Sollecito get 20+ years in prison while the guy with actual evidence against him gets just 16 years.

    I am glade that Amanda Raffaele and have been acquitted. Awhile ago I was pretty much sure that they didn’t do it as the prosecution kept changing their fucked up theories and all of the really harsh tabloid press headline spins on the people and case.

  16. Finally, it’s put right. Good to know that the Italians are not barbarians after all, and that an overzealous prosecutor with zero professional standards can indeed be overruled by the cooler heads of a higher court. now, if they can just get rid of Berlusconi…

  17. @13: Since you have the inside line and complete certainty about faraway events based only on media reports, can you fill us in on the JFK assassination, Troy Davis’ innocence, and the identity of Jack the Ripper?

  18. So much slut-shaming and crypto-Catholic bullshit went into the prosecution it was impossible to know what actually happened and what her real role was. I guess that means the presumption of innocence has been served.

  19. Geez, it’s difficult to wrap my head around what it must be like to send your young, bright college-age daughter off to a year abroad in Italy…..and then watch her go through this nightmare for 4 years.
    What a mess.
    Very glad it turned out the way it did today.
    Welcome home, Amanda.

  20. I’m so glad for Amanda Knox and hope she can get her life back after this terrifying incident. 

    I also, still, never want to go to Italy after this. An out-of-control prosecutor was able to disregard DNA science, basic police procedure and Italian law to lock her up based on an embarrassingly cheesy theory (she had condoms —> she-devil!!!), and Italians let it happen because they didn’t like her clothes. Now, in her appeal, she dresses up and cries a lot so they decide she’s just a misunderstood innocent after all. If I were Italian, I’d be embarrassed.

  21. Boy, I’m thinking I was living an Amanada-Knox-free life there for whole months, and I truly did not appreciate it.

    For God’s sake, don’t let CM post any more Knox items tonight. Stagger them a bit, OK?

  22. this girl is a sociopath and guilty as hell…look at the evidenc..her history and her character..she got away with murder…watch the movie and book deals..evil..but just because she is young and pretty she couldnt do it?..get over yourselves America

Comments are closed.