Amanda Knox Murder Conviction Overturned
After being convicted in 2009 for the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher, American student Amanda Knox was acquitted of the charges today by an appeals court in Perugia, Italy.
Knox broke down in tears upon hearing the jury's verdict which threw out the original conviction and ordered Knox released immediately. She had been in jail since she was originally charged shortly after the 2007 murder.
Knox's former boyfriend Raffeaele Sollecito was also found not guilty. Knox and Sollecito had been sentenced to 26 and 25 years in prison respectively.
The family of the murdered student watched quietly as the judge read the verdict which came after 11 hours of jury deliberations. In Knox's home state of Washington, meanwhile, supporters of the student gathered in a hotel to watch the proceedings, breaking into chants of "she's free" and "we did it" after the verdict was announced.
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