Amanda Knox Full Statement on Guilty Verdict Second Time Around
A court in Italy has reinstated the guilty verdicts against Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for mu rderf UK student Meredith Kercher in 2007.
American Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Sollecito – who had pleaded not guilty – now face long jail sentences.
The latest verdict overturns the pair’s successful 2011 appeal, which freed them after four years in jail.
Read the full statement of Amanda Knox on the guilty verdict.
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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.
Amanda Marie Knox was convicted in 2009 of the murder of Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Umbria, Italy. She served four years of a 26-year sentence before the conviction was overturned on October 3, 2011.