I’m still mystified by the Italian court system and its seeming lack of “double jeopardy.” They kept trying and retrying Amanda Knox for murder and I guess we’re finally at the end? At the end of one cycle, perhaps. Maybe a month from now, they’ll decide to try Knox for murder one last time. First, Amanda Knox was found guilty of murdering her roommate Meredith Kercher. Then the conviction was appealed and thrown out, and Knox was released, and she came home to America. Then the acquittal was thrown out and she was retried – in absentia – for murder all over again. She was found guilty. Again. And so the lawyers took the case to the Italian Supreme Court and the second conviction was overturned on Friday. For the entirety of the second court case, conviction, appeal and acquittal, Knox remained at home in Washington state. After the ruling on Friday, Knox released a statement:

Hours after her murder conviction was overturned by Italy’s Supreme Court, Amanda Knox appeared outside her family’s Seattle home and spoke to the media.

“I just wanted to say that I’m incredibly grateful for what has happened, for the justice I’ve received, for the support that I’ve had from everyone – from my family, from my friends to strangers, people like you,” she said on Friday night, according to KING5. “You’ve saved my life and I’m so grateful. And I’m so grateful to have my life back.”

Knox, 27, and boyfriend Raffaelle Sollecito had been convicted of the 2007 murder of her roommate, British exchange student Meredith Kercher, and served four years in prison in Italy before their convictions were overturned in 2011. But last year a Florence court reinstated their guilty verdicts and sentenced them to 28 years and 25 years, respectively.

When asked what the future holds for her, Knox responded, “I don’t know. I’m still absorbing the present moment, which is full of joy.”

Knox’s mother, Edda Mellas, also spoke to the assembled reporters, saying, “We’re so grateful. I know you’re all here but we really need time as a family to digest. And again – so thankful that everything is finally right.”

Asked if she had some words for Kercher’s family, Knox said, “Meredith was my friend … She deserved so much in this life. I’m the lucky one.”

[From People]

Is it really over though? God knows. When Amanda was promoting her memoir back in 2013, I watched several of her interviews and I came away… unsettled. It’s not that I know the case from front to back or anything, but before those interviews, I had always assumed that Knox had gotten a raw deal and that the Italian cops did a crappy job investigating the crime and putting together a solid case. But after the interviews… I can see why the cops honed in on Knox so quickly. She seems very cold and unemotional, and it would be very easy to see how her self-contained manner would read as “killer.”

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

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