Italy appeals court clears Knox of murder

Friend: Knox just wants to go home, restart life

An Italian court has overturned the conviction of 24-year-old American Amanda Knox. Knox was found not guilty of killing her British roommate, 21-year-old Meredith Kercher, in 2007, and will be freed from jail.
Knox collapsed in tears after the verdict overturning her 2009 conviction was read out.
Earlier Monday, Knox tearfully told the court she did not kill her roommate. Knox frequently paused for breath and fought back tears as she spoke in Italian to the eight members of the jury in a packed courtroom, but managed to maintain her composure during the 10-minute address.
Amanda Knox has said she just wants to go home, restart her life and "win back her happiness," according to a friend who accompanied her as she left prison.
Corrado Maria Daclon, the secretary general of a foundation that has championed Knox's cause, drove with Knox as she left Perugia's Campanne prison after an appeals court overturned her 2009 conviction for the sexual assault and stabbing death of her British roommate Meredith Kercher.
Daclon quoted Knox as telling him as she left prison that she just "wanted to go home, reconnect with her family, take possession of her life and win back her happiness."

An Italian appeals court threw out Amanda Knox's murder conviction Monday and ordered the young American freed, a stunning reversal four years after she was jailed for the sexual assault and stabbing death of her British roommate.
Knox, 24, collapsed in tears after the verdict overturning her 2009 conviction was read out, her lawyers draping their arms around her in support. Her co-defendant, Italian Raffaele Sollecito, also was cleared of killing 21-year-old Meredith Kercher in 2007.

The ruling clears the way for Knox to leave Italy, and about 90 minutes after the verdict was handed down a black Mercedes carrying Knox was seen leaving the prison.
Even if prosecutors appeal the acquittal to Italy's highest court, nothing in Italian law would prevent her from returning home to Seattle. An Italian lawmaker who has championed her case, Rocco Girlanda, said she was due to fly out Tuesday from Rome.
"We're thankful that Amanda's nightmare is over," her little sister Deanna Knox told reporters and throngs of onlookers outside the courthouse after the verdict. "She suffered for four years for a crime she did not commit."
She then asked for privacy for the family so they could "recover from this horrible" ordeal.
The eight-member jury acquitted both Knox and Sollecito of murder after a court-ordered review of the DNA evidence cast serious doubts over the main DNA evidence linking the two to the crime.