| Amanda Knox retrial Mar 26th 2013, 11:08 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013...kercher-murder Quote:
Italy's highest appeal court has ordered a fresh trial in the case of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, overturning the acquittals of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito and paving the way for a potential extradition tussle between Italy and the US.
In a ruling, which came more than five years after the 21-year-old from Surrey was found dead in the university town of Perugia, the court of cassation quashed the acquittals handed down by an appeals court in 2011 and said a fresh trial would take place in Florence.
The move came after prosecutors had argued that the court that acquitted Knox, 25, and Sollecito, who turns 29 on Tuesday, had "lost its bearings" in the case and had erred in numerous ways, including insufficient forensic evidence tests...
...Within minutes of the ruling, Knox issued a statement condemning the arguments on which it appeared to be based as "unfounded and unfair".
"It was painful to receive the news that the Italian supreme court decided to send my case back for revision when the prosecution's theory of my involvement in Meredith's murder has been repeatedly revealed to be completely unfounded and unfair," Knox added...
...The ruling by the panel of five judges paves the way for future friction between Italy and US over Knox's fate. Since returning to her home city of Seattle in autumn 2011, she has enrolled at the University of Washington, found a new boyfriend and written her memoirs, clinched in a deal reportedly worth $4m.
Although she will not have to be present for the Florence retrial, her lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, said Italy could request her extradition if she were convicted a second time. It would then be up to the US to decide whether to agree to the move, something some observers say is unlikely.
| |  |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.