Amanda Knox Trial Case News: Verdict Due Today; Extradition Battle Could Result
Amanda Knox is currently awaiting the trial verdict from Italy's highest court, which is expected to be released today. If guilty, an extradition battle awaits her.
After Italy's Supreme Court reversed her acquittal in January 2014, four years after she left the country, Amanda Knox is awaiting the court's decision, and may face extradition proceedings if the guilty verdict is upheld.
Knox, 27, who faced a 28-year prison sentence for the 2007 murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher in Italy, was acquitted by an appeals court in October 2011 after spending four years in prison together with co-accused, Raffaele Sollecito.
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Today, a little over a year after the Italian Supreme Court reversed the Not Guilty verdict and ordered a re-trial, Knox may either be found guilty again, or permanently acquitted of the crime. If the guilty verdict is upheld, she may be facing extradition to Italy. Her only hope lies in the U.S. government declining Italy's extradition request based on the double jeopardy procedural defense, where her country's Constitution prevents an individual from being tried of the same crime twice after having been acquitted the first time.
Knox has recently become engaged to a childhood friend, musician Colin Sutherland, who corresponded with her during her time in an Italian prison. She had also earlier announced to the press she would never be returning to Italy again, no matter the cost.
He co-accused, ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, remains in Italy pending the verdict, his passport confiscated to prevent him leaving the country. Their third co-accused, Rudy Guede, remains in prison for the 2007 murder.
With the verdict from Italy due today, Knox is relying on the 1983 extradition treaty between U.S. and Italy, which contains this clause:
"Extradition shall not be granted when the person sought has been convicted, acquitted or pardoned, or has served the sentence imposed, by the Requested Party for the same acts for which extradition is requested."
Knox's case had earlier been reviewed thrice, with different outcomes each time, despite her not being present for those trials.
