After eight years of being tried for the death of her former British roommate Meredith Kercher, Amanda Knox was finally acquitted by Italy’s Supreme Court on March 27.The New York Times reports, “Italy’s highest court acquitted Amanda Knox and her Italian former boyfriend of murder on Friday, throwing all charges and ending a long-running courtroom drama over the killing of a British student in 2007.” The New York Times shared Knox’s statement she made after hearing the news of her overturned conviction, “I am tremendously relieved and grateful for the decision of the Supreme Court of Italy. The knowledge of my innocence has given me strength in the darkest of times of this ordeal.” Brigham Madsen, junior business major from California, said, “I remember a lot of this in the news. I still cannot believe that this girl has had to suffer the pain of her friend’s death over and over again as the courts have changed their minds over the years. I’m glad she has finally gotten her justice.”Student Erika Hill, a junior ICS major from Utah, also said she thought it was horrible that Knox had to ‘suffer the pain of her friends death over and over again.’ Hill adds, “From every interview I’ve seen, she seemed innocent. I can’t imagine what it would be like to know you didn’t kill your friend and then to go through what Knox did for eight years. That’s horrible. But now I’ sure she has so much relief in her life of being truly free.”In 2007 Amanda Knox and Meredith Kercher were roommates at an Italian University in Perugia, Italy. Kercher was murdered and Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted of the murder in Perugia in 2009 after spending two years in custody, reported The World Post. In 2011 both Knox and Sollecito were freed, “after a Perugia appellate court overturned the convictions,” reports The World Post. In 2013, Knox and Sollecito were back in an appellate court when the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation, rejected the acquittals over, according to The World Post, “the Perugia chief appellate judge’s reasoning.” Then in 2014, “an appeals court in Florence convicted the pair, sentencing Knox to 28 and a half years and Sollecito to 25 years.” The World Post continues to report that the ruling was that they both acted with another man, Rudy Guede, who had already been sentenced for part in the murder. Knox and Sollecito, “had always argued that Mr. Guede committed the crime on his own,” reported by The New York Times. BYU-Hawaii students who are familiar with Knox’s years of trial shared what they think about her being acquitted. Chris Toronto, senior business finance major from Utah, said, “The whole ‘Amanda Knox’ trial was drama and dragged way too much out in my opinion… She must feel like a huge weight has finally been lifted off her shoulders.”After spending nearly four years in jail, Knox said, “throughout this ordeal, I have received invaluable support from family, friends, and the strangers. To them, I say: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your kindness has sustained me,” reported The New York Times. Sollecito was also acquitted. According to The New York Times, in 90 days, “the reasoning behind the decision is to be made public.”Uploaded April 2, 2015
Writer: Jessica Everette
