Italian Court Frees Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito

Amanda Knox will be heading home, as the decision overturns a ruling issued in December 2009 that convicted Knox and led to a 26-year prison sentence.

Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito photo: metro.co.uk

(PERUGIA, Italy) - An Italian court overturned the homicide convictions of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito today, setting them free after an emotional and painful span of time... almost four years, in the Murder of Meredith Kercher, a citizen of Great Britain.

Amanda Knox broke down in tears as the appellate court jury of eight delivered their verdict. They deliberated for eleven hours.

The verdict was celebrated in the courtroom by Amanda Knox's supporters who were so loud that the court ordered them silenced.

A resident of Seattle, 24-year old Amanda Knox will be heading home, as the decision overturns a ruling issued in December 2009 that convicted Knox and led to a 26-year prison sentence for her, and 25-years for her co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito, who is a former boyfriend.

The case was built largely on DNA evidence that many legal experts suggested to be flimsy and suspect. Ron Hendry is blunt in his conclusion:

"Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito would never have been regarded as persons of interest – much less suspects – had the police correctly done their job from the start," he says.

Meredith Kercher

Hendry is a forensic engineer whose specialty is accident reconstruction. He has analyzed upwards of 2,000 civil cases and testified many times with regard to his opinions. He has interfaced with and reviewed the work of police investigators on many cases.

"Typically, with major accidents, the police have little time to spend on a job before having to move on," Hendry explains.

"I come behind them and usually spend a great deal more time. In cases that occurred months or years before I was brought in, the most relevant evidence is a set of photos of the accident scene. My technique is to study these photos intensely and then acquire enough information to do a scale layout. My approach is to analyze and interpret the physical evidence and review how it corresponds with witness accounts. I never start with witness accounts in any analysis."

There is a good deal of background information in the article, What Really Happened to Meredith Kercher? that Ron Hendry wrote for Salem-News.com.