Amanda Knox Found Guilty in Murder of Former Roommate After Retrial, Sentenced to More Than 28 Years

American was not present for the verdict reading in Florence

By Lily Harrison Jan 30, 2014 9:00 PMTags
Amanda Knox Ida Mae Astute/ABC

A verdict for Amanda Knox's third trial has been reached.

She and her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were found guilty after being convicted and subsequently acquitted of murder in previous trials.

The 26-year-old American, who was sentenced to 28 years and six months in jail, was not present for the court proceeding on Thursday, Jan. 30.

After a court found that crucial DNA evidence had been mishandled by investigators, the two were acquitted on appeal in 2011 after spending four years in custody

Italy's supreme court, known as the Court of Cassation, then dismissed the ruling based on the fact that key evidence had been omitted during the appeal.

An appeals panel in Florence was then put in place by the supreme court to oversee the case.

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Both Knox and Sollecito can now take up another appeal with the court.

During closing arguments, Knox's lead attorney, Carlo Dalla Vedova, sounded confident that his client would be found not guilty.

"The knowledge about Amanda's innocence is rock-solid and it allows us to wait for the verdict with complete serenity," he said. "It is impossible for the court to convict someone because they are 'probably' guilty or 'may be' guilty."

If convicted, Italy may face a legal battle attempting to extradite her from the United States. Once the Italian Supreme Court affirms the verdict, the fight to extradite Knox will begin.

Knox and Sollecito were both charged with murder in 2007 after her British roommate Meredith Kercher was found dead in their Perugia home.

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Since her release in 2011, Knox has returned to her hometown of Seattle and remained largely out of the public eye.

She enrolled in the University of Washington and was most recently seen with a dramatic new haircut just one day before the verdict was announced.

Knox opened up last year to Anderson Cooper about her third trial, saying, "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."