Italy's high court set to rule on Amanda Knox case
SEATTLE— Italy's Supreme Court could announce its ruling in the Amanda Knox case as soon as Wednesday.
Knox has been back in Seattle since her conviction for murder was thrown out more than three years ago. But her fate is still uncertain because her acquittal was also tossed out. And last year she lost her appeal to a Florence court. If Italy's Court of Cassation (Supreme Court) upholds Knox's murder conviction, it could set the stage for an extradition battle between the U.S. and Italy.
In 2007, while Knox was living in Italy as an exchange student, her 21-year-old roommate Meredith Kercher was found dead of multiple knife wounds and bearing signs of sexual assault.
An Italian court found Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, guilty, and they served four years in prison before they were acquitted by an appeals court in 2011. But Italy's highest court threw out their acquittals in March of 2013 and sent the case to a Florence appeals court.
In January 2014, that court re-convicted them both, sentencing Knox to 28 ½ years in prison and Sollecito to 25 years. They appealed and the case went back to the Court of Cassation, which is holding the hearing in Rome Wednesday. Knox and her family have been quiet leading up to the hearing, but Knox supporters have been circulating a petition to put pressure on governments in both countries should the ruling go against Knox and Sollecito.
Knox supporters, like Karen Pruett of Vashon Island, Wash. are calling for an investigation into what they believe were wrongful convictions. Pruett is a friend of the Knox family and believes in Amanda's innocence.
"When the people are speaking, our politicians and legislators start listening and that's certainly the case in Italy," said Pruett.
Knox won't be in Rome for the hearing. She's living in Seattle and recently became engaged.
If the court upholds the convictions, Knox could become a fugitive from justice.
Seattle criminal defense attorney John Henry Browne said Italy would begin the extradition process by making a request to the U.S. State Department, but there would also be a hearing in U.S. Federal Court. Browne said that's where he would argue that Italy never had probable cause to try Knox for murder, much less convict her.
Browne has a track record of successfully defending Western Washington residents entangled in difficult legal battles abroad.
He said he does not know Amanda Knox well, but recently met her at an Innocence Project event.