Amanda Knox 'Paralyzed' After Ordeal in Italian Courts, Retrial, and Potential Extradition
Amanda Knox is detailing in a new interview that she is "paralyzed" with anxiety sometimes as a result of her being tried for murder in the death of her roommate, convicted, and then acquitted in a case that captured global headlines.
Knox recently spoke to People magazine in the wake of the report that Italian authorities will once again go ahead with criminal proceedings against Knox, according to excerpts of the interview made available to the Associated Press.
"When Meredith was murdered and I was arrested, it was so shocking. It was paralyzing. Everything toppled," Knox said during the interview.
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"Things creep up on me and all of a sudden I'm overwhelmed by the feeling of helplessness and that desperation and fear to even hope," Knox told the magazine. "Just that can make my heart race and makes me paralyzed until I can breathe it away."
Italy's highest criminal court overturned her acquittal in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in 2007 and ordered a new trial. Italian law cannot force the 25-year-old Knox to return to Italy for the new trial, with family spokesman David Marriott explaining that she will more than likely not go back to Italy.
Even though Knox does not have to be present for the trial, should she be convicted, authorities will press for her extradition form the United States.
"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 said through a family spokesperson soon after learning the she would be retried.
"No matter what happens, my family and I will face this continuing legal battle as we always have, confident in the truth and with our heads held high in the face of wrongful accusations and unreasonable adversity," Knox said.
