Amanda Knox Case Latest News: Italian Supreme Court to Issue Final Ruling This Week
Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation is due to make a final decision on the murder case of Amanda Knox and her co-accused Raffaele Sollecito this week. This decision will dictate Knox's fate as a free woman, but some reports are contending that the decision may also spur another round of legal battles between Knox, who is currently residing in the U.S., and the Italian courts.
One report on The Guardian does not predict what the court's verdict will be, but it cites that the pair's recent conviction is based on Knox's written confession that she was in the house when the murder occurred. This confession however was retracted, as Knox said it was made under duress.
If the Italian Supreme Court decides to uphold this conviction, a former U.S. Department of Justice lawyer says that its impact on Knox's freedom will not be immediate. According to the Guardian report, the court's legal rationale will take about 90 days to be issued, based on which the Italian minister of justice needs to make a decision to pursue Knox's extradition, which can take up to six months. The Italians most likely will not seek extradition because of pressure from the U.S.
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If Italy decides to request for extradition, the U.S. is technically bound by an extradition treaty between the two countries to grant the request. The Guardian report interviewed a foreign policy expert, Steve Clemons, who believed that "if the Italian supreme court sustains the conviction, it will be nearly impossible for the US – despite the political uproar that will occur among those who believe she is innocent – not to extradite her to Italy."
Sources inside the U.S. State Department, however, are saying otherwise. According to a report in the Express, sources are saying that the U.S. State Department "will never agree to any extradition request."
"There is a feeling that the whole case is flawed and that a US citizen should not have to go to jail because of that. If there is an extradition request from Italy it will be denied," the insider explained.
The extradition request will be scrutinized by the U.S. State Department, then the Justice Department. A U.S. Court would need to approve it and at this stage, Knox could make an appeal. After the courts' approval, then the final decision rests on Secretary of State John Kerry.
Knox on the other hand would have to wait as the proverbial wheels of justice grind on. She is currently residing in Seattle, working as a journalist for a local paper. She recently announced her engagement to childhood friend Colin Sutherland. Her first conviction in 2009 was overturned on appeal while she was serving her prison sentence. In 2011, she came back to the U.S. after her acquittal. The Italian courts, however, convicted her again in 2014.
