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Amanda Knox flew to London today on her way home to Seattle after an appeals court overturned her verdict in the murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher. Â Her one-time boyfriend and co-defendant Raffelle Sollecito, was also set free.
The case was blown wide open by court-ordered DNA evidence, which failed to link the two to the murder. Â The jury had two options to acquit: determining there wasn't enough evidence to uphold the conviction or that the pair simply didn't commit the crime. The jury determined the latter, clearing Knox and Sollecito completely.
"We will appeal," prosecutor Giuliano Mignini told Reuters. "The (higher) court will decide whether to confirm the first sentence or the second sentence."
The case cannot be appealed, however, until the appeals verdict is posted with explanations  for why the Jury reached its verdicts.  That is expected to take several months. Â
Knox, who collapsed in tears when the verdict was read and had to be helped from the courtroom by her defense lawyers, later thanked all those who had supported her with letters, visits, etc., during her four years of imprisonment.
The Kercher family, who flew in from London for the verdict, sat stoically in the courtroom. Â The family stated that they will respect the court's decision, although they cannot understand how the two could be found guilty the first time and innocent in the appeals court.
The verdict was controversial. Hundreds of mostly university-age young people gathered in the piazza outside the courtroom in Perugia, jeering and yelling, while Knox's supporters in her home town of Seattle hugged and shouted in joy.
Should Knox's sentence be reinstateed by Italy's equivalent of our Supreme Court, the United States does have an extradition treaty with Italy, Â which could force her return to serve the remainder of a 25-year-sentence.
Her family stated that basically it was back to "Square One" in the process if the prosecutor does indeed appeal, which some doubt.
