Amanda Knox Reacts to Guilty Verdict in Murder Trial, "Will Never Willingly Go Back" to Italy

She tellsGood Morning America conviction ""hit me like a train" after being acquitted in 2011

By Rebecca Macatee Jan 31, 2014 2:04 PMTags
Amanda Knox, GMAABC

Amanda Knox can't seem to put her Italian nightmare behind her.

On Friday, Jan. 31, the 28-year-old Seattle resident spoke out about being found guilty of the 2007 murder of her former roommate Meredith Kercher, telling Good Morning America's Robin Roberts that the latest conviction "hit me like a train."

"I couldn't believe what I was hearing," said an emotional Knox, who was sentenced on Thursday by Italy's supreme court, known as the Court of Cassation, to spend 28 years and six months in jail.

Franco Origlia/Getty Images

Knox, along with ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, was charged with Kercher's murder in 2009. Both parties appealed from behind bars, and in 2011, the original conviction was overturned. Knox and Sollecito were found innocent and released from prison. It wasn't until March 2013 that the Italian courts sent the case back for a third trial in Florence.

But don't expect Knox to fly back to face a judge on her own account. She told Roberts she "will never willingly go back" to Italy, adding, "I'm going to fight this to the very end. It's not right and it's not fair."

Both Knox and Sollecito (who was reportedly stopped by authorities near the Italian border on Friday) are appealing this latest conviction. Knox's lead attorney Carlo Dalla Vedova seemed confident his client would be found not guilty once again. "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."

NEWS: Celebs react to Amanda's second trial

Splash News

If convicted, Italy may face a legal battle attempting to extradite Knox from the United States. Another of her attorneys, Ted Simon, told CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 this shouldn't be part of the conversation yet. "It's really not in play right now, because first of all, she has another appeal to the Supreme Court of Italy," he said. "In Italy, under their system, you're still actually presumed innocent until that third, final stage."

"But I think we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves," he reiterated. "The bottom line is, there is no evidence. There was no evidence, and there never will be any evidence, and that's why this is such a gross miscarriage of justice."