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Clarissa Sabedra
Professor Greenwell
English 1010-010
27 April 2015
Amanda Knox Trail
The topic that I chose for my research project is the ongoing Amanda Knox case that
occurred in November 2007. Amanda Knox was born on July 9, 1987 in Seattle, Washington.
Her parents were Edda Mellas, who was a math teacher and Curt Knox, a vice president of
finance at Macys. Amanda had two younger sisters, Ashley and Deanna Knox. Amanda Knox
played soccer in her high school days and earned her nickname as Foxy Knoxy which haunt her
years later. In 2005, Amanda Knox graduated from Seattle Preparatory High School. She applied
to the University of Washington that fall to pursue her degree in linguistics. By everyone she
knew, Knox was an ordinary college student. She threw parties, worked multiple jobs to pay her
tuition, and was named on the Deans List. At the age of twenty she decided to leave Washington
and headed to Perugia, Italy. She planned to spend a year at the University of Foreigners. While
in Perugia, Amanda Knox was roomed with Meredith Kercher, who was a twenty-one years old
student from London. Meredith Kercher was also studying linguistics abroad a year. Knox and
Kercher attended a musical concert, which later on Amanda met twenty-three years old, Raffaele
Sollecito, whom became her boyfriend soon after. Amanda found a job in Perugia, she worked at
a pub, which was called Le Chic, where she only worked part-time. She usually only worked
night shifts and weekends because she was a full time student at the University of Foreigners.
("Amanda Knox." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.).

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On November 1, 2007, Knox was supposed to work that night but she got a text message
from her boss, Patrick Lumbumba, saying she was not needed that night, she later went to her
boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito apartment. Around twelve p.m., Knox and her boyfriend Sollecito,
went back to her apartment and found that the front door was open, windows broken and blood
in the bathroom. Amanda had called her roommate, Meredith Kercher, but there was no answer.
Soon after that, Amanda called her other roommate that lived in that apartment. Finally, she
called her mother, in Seattle, who told Amanda to call the police. Two officers appeared at the
scene, they entered the apartment and kicked down Kerchers bedroom door. They found a body
on the floor, covered in a duvet and soaked in blood. The body was Meredith Kercher, who was
murdered in her own apartment in her bedroom. Amanda Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele
Sollecito were taken to the police station where they were interrogated for five straight days.
Edda Mellas, Amanda Knox mother, tried to convince Knox to go back to Washington and leave
Perugia. Amanda made the chose to stay in Perugia, Italy, wanting to meet with Meredith
Kerchers family. ("Amanda Knox." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.).
Sollecito finally admitted that Amanda Knox could have left his apartment while he was
sleeping. When they told Amanda Knox about what Raffaele said, she broke down and kept
denying it. She said he was lying, there was no way she left. Later, Amanda signed a confession
that she did return to the apartment on the night of November 1, 2007. She was standing in the
room next door while her boss, Patrick Lumumba, stabbed Meredith Kercher to death. Lumumba
had an alibi that he was seen bartending at Le Chic on the night of the murder. On November 6,
2007, the Perugia police announced they found Meredith Kercher killers, Amanda Knox and her
boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were arrested. Two weeks later, they ran the DNA scan and it did
not point to Amanda Knox or her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito; it pointed to someone else, Rudy

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Guede. He lived in the apartment below Amanda Knox and her roommate that was murder
Meredith Kercher. He was immediately arrested in Germany and admitted being at the murder
scene. He stated that he did not kill Meredith Kercher, also that Amanda Knox and her boyfriend
Raffaele Sollecito were not involved. (Leonard, Elizabeth. Amanda Knox My True Story.
People 79.18 (2013): 162. Academic Search Premier: Web. 24 Mar. 2015.).
Rudy Guede got a fast-track trail. In October 2008, he was found guilty of the murder and
sexual assault of Meredith Kercher, and was sentenced to thirty years in prison. Amanda Knox
and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito chose to have a full trial and were tried together. Giuliano
Mignini, a Perugian prosecutor, painted a picture of how the public saw Amanda Knox. He
described her as a sex-crazed marijuana smoker who dragged her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito,
into a game of rough sex that ended in Meredith Kercher murder. Giuliano Mignini even called
Amanda Knox the she-devil. On December 29, 2009, Amanda Knox and her boyfriend
Raffaele Sollecito were found guilt and were sentenced to prison. Amanda Knox was sentenced
twenty-six years in prison, while her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, was sentenced to twenty-five
years in prison. Many supporters, mostly American, and Knoxs family protested the sentencing
which made the case international sensation. Many supporters believe that Amanda Knox was
discriminated against because she was American and a beautiful young lady. (Rich, Nathaniel.
The Neverending Nightmare of Amanda Knox. Rolling Stone 1134/1135 (2011): 86-114.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.).
In April 2010, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito lawyers filed appeals, contesting the
evidence and credibility of the witnesses. It took eight months for the appeal process to begin. It
began in December 2010. In June 2011, the defense called a witness who testified that in prison,
Rudy Guede had said Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were not involved in the murder of

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Meredith Kercher. Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito had support from the Idaho Innocence
project, which is a legal organization that uses DNA testing to prove the innocence of wrongly
convicted people. On October 3, 2011, two years after their first trial, Amanda Knox and
Raffaele Sollecito murder convictions were overturned. Amanda Knox still had a conviction for
defaming Patrick Lumumba, she was sentenced to a three-year term and fined. Knox flew from
Rome, Italy, to London, England, and then home to Seattle, Washington. (Lenth, Danielle. Life,
Liberty, and The Pursuit Of Justice: A Comparativelegal Study Of The Amanda Knox Case.
Mcgeorge Law Review 45.2 (2013): 347-382. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.).
When Amanda Knox returned home, she picked up her studies at the University of
Washington, majoring in creative writing. Two years after the convictions were overturned, in
March 2013, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were both ordered to stand on trial again for
the murder of Meredith Kercher by the Italian Supreme Court. Italys final court appeal
overturned the acquittals of both Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito. Shortly after when
Amanda Knox found out she will be facing the trial again for the murder of Meredith Kercher,
she released a statement, It was painful to receive the news that the Italian Supreme Court
decided to send my case back for revision when the prosecution's theory of my involvement in
Meredith's murder has been repeatedly revealed to be completely unfounded and unfair
(Amanda Knox." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.).After the acquittal
was overturned, the new trial began September 30, 2013. The new trial was in Florence, Italy,
with Judge Alessandro Nencini overseeing the trial. Amanda Knox did not make any
arrangements to attend any portion of the trial, while Raffaele Sollecito will attend the trial as it
comes. New piece of evidence was being used, it was called 36-I, it is a small piece of material
that was found on the knife that the Italian prosecutors believe was used to kill Meredith

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Kercher. By the Italian Supreme Courts decision, any new information gained from 36-I would
be decisive in March of 2013, Kerchers DNA would likely result in a guilty verdict for the two
defendants. (Lim, Melinda. Will Amanda Knox Go Back To Italy? An Examination of
Extradition Law and The Necessity Of Repurposing Agreements In The Fight Against
Transnational Crime. Tulane Journal of International & Comparative Law 23.1(2014): 205-225.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.)
In early February 2014, they finally came up with a decision that shocked the world,
Amanda Knox and Raffaele were found guilty for the murder of Meredith Kercher. Nearly
twelve hours in the court, the judge rules and Amanda Knox was not happy about the decision
they made. Raffaele was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison and Amanda Knox was
sentenced to twenty-eight and a half years in prison. She gives a statement saying she is scared to
go back to prison also stating that she excepted more from the Italian justice system. In March
2015, the Supreme Court of Italy overturned the 2014 convictions of Amanda Knox and Raffaele
Sollecito. This ruling is the final decision in the case against Amanda Knox and Raffaele
Sollecito. Amanda Knox is excepted to return to file a wrongful imprisonment suit. She is also
going to write a book about Italys judicial system. (Amanda Knox." Bio. A&E Television
Networks, 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.).
After years into this trial, the court final decision is Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito
are innocence. This trial went from being they were guilt in 2009, then overturned in 2011,
acquitted in 2013 and found guilty again in 2014 and as of March 2015 they were overturned
from the 2014 trial and found not guilty. Many people believed that she was found guilty at first
because she was American and a beautiful young lady. The Supreme Court wanted justice for the
Kerchers family, that is why they brought Amanda Knox and Raffaele back to court believing

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they were the ones who murder Meredith Kercher. Many people believed Amanda Knox was
innocence, after all these years final decision she was not guilty.

Work Cited

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"Amanda Knox." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
Lenth, Danielle. Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit Of Justice: A Comparativelegal Study Of The
Amanda Knox Case. Mcgeorge Law Review 45.2 (2013): 347-382. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
Leonard, Elizabeth. Amanda Knox My True Story. People 79.18 (2013): 162. Academic
Search Premier: Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
Lim, Melinda. Will Amanda Knox Go Back To Italy? An Examination of Extradition Law and
The Necessity Of Repurposing Agreements In The Fight Against Transnational Crime.
Tulane Journal of International & Comparative Law 23.1(2014): 205-225. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
Rich, Nathaniel. The Neverending Nightmare of Amanda Knox. Rolling Stone 1134/1135
(2011): 86-114. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.