AN Italian appeals court acquitted imprisoned American student Amanda Knox of murdering her British roommate today, throwing out her original 26-year sentence and clearing the way for her to return to the US.
The ruling by a panel of two judges and six jurors drew gasps in the packed courtroom and the 24-year-old Knox, who only hours earlier had tearfully told the court, "I am innocent…I want to go home," appeared near collapse when it was read.
Media reports have already begun circulating suggesting she is either in the process of leaving or has already left the country.
The Daily Mail said Sky News was reporting that Knox is already on a plane, whisked away by a television network under an exclusive deal believed to be worth up to $1 million.
Knox's former Italian boyfriend, Rafaelle Sollecito, was freed as well in the 2007 death of student Meredith Kercher at the home the two women shared in Perugia.
Knox was cleared of all charges except slander. Earlier, she had accused a bar owner of being responsible for the killing.
That charge carried a three-year sentence and since she already has served four years, she was allowed to go free immediately.
"We're thankful Amanda's nightmare is over," said her younger sister, Deanna Knox, speaking on behalf of the family after the verdict.
Earlier, Deanna had said that if Amanda were freed, the first thing she wanted to do was take a walk outside and feel the grass between her toes.
Knox left the courtroom to return to prison for several hours of paperwork to arrange her release.
It was not immediately clear when she would head back to her hometown of Seattle, Wash. There were reports her passport had expired during the two years she already had spent in prison and she would need to renew it before she could travel.
Knox, wearing a green shirt and black hooded jacket, appeared to have trouble standing and was close to collapse as the verdict was read. She was ashen and seemed to be hyperventilating when she arrived several minutes earlier.
Prosecutors had indicated earlier they would likely appeal to Italy's Supreme Court if she were acquitted, the Italian News Agency ANSA reported.
The ruling, a dramatic climax to Knox's almost year-along appeal, was transmitted instantly worldwide by the battalions of international media who had descended on the medieval town of Perugia for the high-stakes courtroom showdown.
Knox's prospects for release or a sentence reduction appeared buoyed in recent weeks by a report of two court-appointed forensic experts rejecting DNA evidence purporting to link her to a 30cm kitchen knife that prosecutors say was the weapon that killed Kercher.
As well, a clasp from Kercher's bloody bra found at the scene of the crime was originally said to show traces of Sollecito's DNA.
But during the appeals trial, an independent review of the forensic work found that the clasp - tested 46 days after it was found and subsequently lost by police - was at high risk of contamination.
Prosecutors had maintained the 21-year-old British student, who was found half-naked with her throat slit, was killed during a drug-fueled sex game in the apartment the women shared.
A third suspect, Rudy Guede, a small-time drug dealer from the Ivory Coast, has already exhausted his appeals after being sentenced by Italy's highest court to 16 years for committing the murder "in consort" with others.
Kercher's family, who traveled from Britain to Perugia, said everyone needed to remember "the brutality of what actually happened that night" and asking that she not be forgotten.
In her final remarks in the courtroom, Knox, who reportedly was having difficulty eating and sleeping in recent days and had broken out in hives, spoke in Italian as she made her emotional plea to the five women, one man jury.
"I am not what they say. I am not a promiscuous vamp. I am not violent. I don't disrespect life ... I didn't do what they said I've done," she maintained.
Sollecito, 27, who was initially sentenced to 25 years in prison, said in his own address, "every day I spend in jail is like dying itself."
In their closing remarks, prosecutors called Knox "a devilish slanderer" and portrayed her as scheming and diabolical.
Sollecito's lawyer, apparently attempting to defend Knox, compared her to celluloid sex siren Jessica Rabbit who famously claimed, "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way."
The ruling by a panel of two judges and six jurors drew gasps in the packed courtroom and the 24-year-old Knox, who only hours earlier had tearfully told the court, "I am innocent…I want to go home," appeared near collapse when it was read.
Media reports have already begun circulating suggesting she is either in the process of leaving or has already left the country.
The Daily Mail said Sky News was reporting that Knox is already on a plane, whisked away by a television network under an exclusive deal believed to be worth up to $1 million.
Knox's former Italian boyfriend, Rafaelle Sollecito, was freed as well in the 2007 death of student Meredith Kercher at the home the two women shared in Perugia.
Knox was cleared of all charges except slander. Earlier, she had accused a bar owner of being responsible for the killing.
That charge carried a three-year sentence and since she already has served four years, she was allowed to go free immediately.
"We're thankful Amanda's nightmare is over," said her younger sister, Deanna Knox, speaking on behalf of the family after the verdict.
Earlier, Deanna had said that if Amanda were freed, the first thing she wanted to do was take a walk outside and feel the grass between her toes.
Knox left the courtroom to return to prison for several hours of paperwork to arrange her release.
It was not immediately clear when she would head back to her hometown of Seattle, Wash. There were reports her passport had expired during the two years she already had spent in prison and she would need to renew it before she could travel.
Knox, wearing a green shirt and black hooded jacket, appeared to have trouble standing and was close to collapse as the verdict was read. She was ashen and seemed to be hyperventilating when she arrived several minutes earlier.
Prosecutors had indicated earlier they would likely appeal to Italy's Supreme Court if she were acquitted, the Italian News Agency ANSA reported.
The ruling, a dramatic climax to Knox's almost year-along appeal, was transmitted instantly worldwide by the battalions of international media who had descended on the medieval town of Perugia for the high-stakes courtroom showdown.
Knox's prospects for release or a sentence reduction appeared buoyed in recent weeks by a report of two court-appointed forensic experts rejecting DNA evidence purporting to link her to a 30cm kitchen knife that prosecutors say was the weapon that killed Kercher.
As well, a clasp from Kercher's bloody bra found at the scene of the crime was originally said to show traces of Sollecito's DNA.
But during the appeals trial, an independent review of the forensic work found that the clasp - tested 46 days after it was found and subsequently lost by police - was at high risk of contamination.
Prosecutors had maintained the 21-year-old British student, who was found half-naked with her throat slit, was killed during a drug-fueled sex game in the apartment the women shared.
A third suspect, Rudy Guede, a small-time drug dealer from the Ivory Coast, has already exhausted his appeals after being sentenced by Italy's highest court to 16 years for committing the murder "in consort" with others.
Kercher's family, who traveled from Britain to Perugia, said everyone needed to remember "the brutality of what actually happened that night" and asking that she not be forgotten.
In her final remarks in the courtroom, Knox, who reportedly was having difficulty eating and sleeping in recent days and had broken out in hives, spoke in Italian as she made her emotional plea to the five women, one man jury.
"I am not what they say. I am not a promiscuous vamp. I am not violent. I don't disrespect life ... I didn't do what they said I've done," she maintained.
Sollecito, 27, who was initially sentenced to 25 years in prison, said in his own address, "every day I spend in jail is like dying itself."
In their closing remarks, prosecutors called Knox "a devilish slanderer" and portrayed her as scheming and diabolical.
Sollecito's lawyer, apparently attempting to defend Knox, compared her to celluloid sex siren Jessica Rabbit who famously claimed, "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way."
