Amanda Knox has arrived home in the US a day after she was acquitted of murder and sexual assault charges by the Italian court. Knox was released from jail after independent experts cast serious doubt on some crucial DNA evidence.
In her first public appearance to the media, she said, ” thank you to everyone who’s believed in me, who’s defended me, who has supported my family,”
The tearful 24-year-old was accompanied off the plane and taken back home by her parents, Kurt Knox and Etta Mellas.
“A trying and grueling four-year nightmarish marathon that no child or parent should have to endure,” said lawyer Theodore Simon on Knox’s four year Italian jail stints.
Murder and sexual assault charges
Knox along with her ex-boyfriend (Raffaele Sollecito) and Rudy Guede was convicted and sentenced to 26-years in prison for allegedly taking part in the murder and sexual assault of her British housemate Meredith Kercher in November 2007.
Kercher was found covered in dozens of knife wounds and bruises in a pool of blood on the floor of her bedroom. Investigators also found traces of a sexual assault. Prosecutors had claimed that Knox and the other two may have been in the house for a drug deal and then taken part in a frenzied sexual attack.
Unsurprisingly, Kercher’s family was disappointed to hear the verdict. Her brother, Lyle, said at a press conference, “We’re back to square one. The search on to find out what really happened.”
Guilty of slander and incriminating
Knox was however found guilty of slander and incriminating Patrick Lumumba, the owner of a local bar where she worked as a waitress, days after her first interrogation. She was sentenced to time already served and will have to pay compensation and his legal fees.
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Source: https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/an-innocent-abroad/