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| Amanda Knox murder conviction annulled - live coverage | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 6.11pm ET22:11 | |
| The lawyer of Meredith Kercher’s family has told the Guardian’s Lizzy Davies that they will not deliver a statement tonight, but will likely do so tomorrow. | |
| The family had previously said they would have wanted Knox extradited to Italy should her conviction have been upheld by the court. | |
| Updated at 6.13pm ET | |
| 6.07pm ET22:07 | |
| “I personally feel overjoyed that the truth won out, that she is innocent,” David Marriott, a spokesperson for Knox has told Reuters in Seattle. Marriott called the verdict “unexpected”. | |
| Back in Italy, the reactions are more visceral. (Sollecito is in his hometown of Bari.) | |
| Both raffaelle Sollecito and #amandaknox convictions have been fully overturned. Cries of joy in courtroom from sollecito's family | |
| 6.03pm ET22:03 | |
| “It’s a victory of justice. This was a mistake from the beginning,” says Knox’s lawyer Carlo Della Vedova, who is outside the courthouse speaking with reporters. | |
| Stephanie Kirchgaessner has more from the scene: | |
| Knox was informed of the news by Vedova, who said she was “very happy”. | |
| “It’s a fair verdict. It’s a victory of justice. This was a mistake from the beginning,” he said as he was swarmed by cameras and reporters outside the court of cassation in Rome.The court room erupted in chaos as soon as the verdict was read by the presiding judge, Gennaro Marasca. | |
| The decision will also spare Italy a possible diplomatic tussle with the US. If Knox’s conviction had been upheld, as most experts expected, Italy would likely have sought her extradition back to Italy to serve a 28 and a half year jail sentence. | |
| Legal experts said the extradition could have created friction between the US and Italy because of public perceptions that the case was poorly handled by Italian authorities. | |
| Updated at 6.08pm ET | |
| 5.59pm ET21:59 | |
| By deciding to definitively end the trial of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, Italy’s highest judges have acted particularly decisively and beyond their usual role as arbiters of procedural arbiters, the AP explains. | |
| The supreme Court of Cassation overturned last year’s convictions by a Florence appeals court, and declined to order another trial. The decision means the judges, after thoroughly examining the case, concluded that a conviction could not be supported by the evidence. Their reasoning will be released within 90 days. | |
| Had the judges upheld the convictions, legal battles would likely have continued for years as Knox and Sollecito appealed the cases and the US waded into a fight over Knox’s extradition to Italy. The pair have maintained their innocence ever since the murder in November 2007. | |
| 5.53pm ET21:53 | |
| Knox’s supporters in Seattle are ebullient and relieved, reports Nicky Woolf, who’s in Salty’s Restaurant on the waterfront of west Seattle, near Knox’s childhood home. | |
| When news of the verdict broke, the sound of fireworks briefly echoed triumphantly over the water. | |
| “Thank god it’s over, they can get on with their lives,” said Candace Dempsey, author of Murder in Italy, a book about the case, who along with several Knox supporters are celebrating here, at the restaurant where the first fundraiser for Knox was held in 2009. | |
| “I’m very pleased and very surprised. Usually I’m an optimist, but I was sure this was going against them. I think it’s a brilliant move by Italy. They’ve averted a diplomatic crisis that no-one needed. I couldn’t be happier that two innocent people are going free.” | |
| “I never thought when I wrote my book that this would happen. I’m so happy.” | |
| Dempsey is also happy that the online abuse she said she has suffered from those who insisted Knox was guilty will come to an end. “I just hope the ‘guilters’ can go home now, and this tragic saga will be over at last,” she said. “It’s made me an admirer of Italian justice.” | |
| 5.48pm ET21:48 | |
| In a stunning turn in a legal saga that has lasted more than seven years, Italy’s high court has not only rejected the convictions of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, it has annulled them and declined to order another retrial. | |
| After 10 hours of deliberations, the ruling closes the case, and Knox and Sollecito are free without fear of charges or, in Knox’s case, extradition to Italy. | |
| Near Knox’s home in Seattle, Nicky Woolf hears what he believes are fireworks. | |
| Updated at 5.50pm ET | |
| 5.41pm ET21:41 | |
| Knox acquitted | |
| The court has annulled the convictions of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito in the 2007 murder of Meredith Kirchner, Reuters reports. | |
| Shocking Verdict. Both verdicts annulled | |
| Updated at 6.01pm ET | |
| 5.34pm ET21:34 | 5.34pm ET21:34 |
| Earlier today Knox and Sollecito’s lawyers made final appeals to the judges to overturn the convictions, in arguments that included a comparison of the Italian man to Forrest Gump. | Earlier today Knox and Sollecito’s lawyers made final appeals to the judges to overturn the convictions, in arguments that included a comparison of the Italian man to Forrest Gump. |
| Stephanie Kirchgaessner reported from the court where Sollecito’s lawyer provided a “little sampling” of the many errors she perceived in his conviction. | Stephanie Kirchgaessner reported from the court where Sollecito’s lawyer provided a “little sampling” of the many errors she perceived in his conviction. |
| In a rousing closing argument that lasted nearly two hours – they are supposed to be limited to 20 minutes in the court of cassation in Rome – Giulia Bongiorno, Sollecito’s attorney, said her client had always tried to cooperate with investigators and had not been in the room where the crime was committed. | In a rousing closing argument that lasted nearly two hours – they are supposed to be limited to 20 minutes in the court of cassation in Rome – Giulia Bongiorno, Sollecito’s attorney, said her client had always tried to cooperate with investigators and had not been in the room where the crime was committed. |
| “During the violence he was watching cartoons [at home],” she argued. “He is an innocent that got wrapped up in spectacular and gigantic events that, like Forrest Gump, he did not fully realise. Absolve him.” | “During the violence he was watching cartoons [at home],” she argued. “He is an innocent that got wrapped up in spectacular and gigantic events that, like Forrest Gump, he did not fully realise. Absolve him.” |
| Bongiorno did not point the finger at Knox but said that if the court believed that a statement the American made to police – and later retracted – was true, it meant her client was exonerated. Knox told police that she was in the house when Kercher was killed but that Sollecito was not. | Bongiorno did not point the finger at Knox but said that if the court believed that a statement the American made to police – and later retracted – was true, it meant her client was exonerated. Knox told police that she was in the house when Kercher was killed but that Sollecito was not. |
| You can read the full account here. | You can read the full account here. |
| Updated at 5.38pm ET | Updated at 5.38pm ET |
| 5.26pm ET21:26 | 5.26pm ET21:26 |
| With the clock nearing 10.30pm in Rome, the judges of Italy’s high court have been deliberating for hours past their predicted deadline of 5pm. | With the clock nearing 10.30pm in Rome, the judges of Italy’s high court have been deliberating for hours past their predicted deadline of 5pm. |
| Stephanie Kirchgaessner, reporting from the courthouse for the Guardian, says we can expect an announcement within 15-20 minutes. | Stephanie Kirchgaessner, reporting from the courthouse for the Guardian, says we can expect an announcement within 15-20 minutes. |
| In #amandaknox trial of first instance in Perugia judges deliberated from 10 a.m. to midnight. Many speculating about judicial rift. | In #amandaknox trial of first instance in Perugia judges deliberated from 10 a.m. to midnight. Many speculating about judicial rift. |
| Updated at 5.27pm ET | Updated at 5.27pm ET |
| 5.19pm ET21:19 | 5.19pm ET21:19 |
| Welcome to our live coverage of the final verdict of Italy’s highest court in the Amanda Knox murder trial, more than seven years after the American was accused with her then boyfriend of murdering her room-mate, the British student Meredith Kercher. | Welcome to our live coverage of the final verdict of Italy’s highest court in the Amanda Knox murder trial, more than seven years after the American was accused with her then boyfriend of murdering her room-mate, the British student Meredith Kercher. |
| Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were convicted of the murder in 2009, cleared of the charge in 2011, and then ordered to face a retrial when Italy’s Court of Cassation threw out their acquittals in 2013. In January 2014 an appeals court reinstated the original conviction, sentencing Knox and Sollecito to 28 ½ and 25 years in prison respectively. | Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were convicted of the murder in 2009, cleared of the charge in 2011, and then ordered to face a retrial when Italy’s Court of Cassation threw out their acquittals in 2013. In January 2014 an appeals court reinstated the original conviction, sentencing Knox and Sollecito to 28 ½ and 25 years in prison respectively. |
| The judges will decide on Friday whether to confirm those convictions, to reject them, or to order another retrial for Knox and/or Sollecito. A conviction could begin an extradition process for Knox, who returned to her home in Washington state in 2011. Knox has promised to fight the conviction “to the end” and resist any attempt to be removed back to Italy. | The judges will decide on Friday whether to confirm those convictions, to reject them, or to order another retrial for Knox and/or Sollecito. A conviction could begin an extradition process for Knox, who returned to her home in Washington state in 2011. Knox has promised to fight the conviction “to the end” and resist any attempt to be removed back to Italy. |
| Should Knox be convicted and Italy request her extradition the US State Department could either grant it under the countries’ treaty or attempt to argue against it on disputable provisions. | Should Knox be convicted and Italy request her extradition the US State Department could either grant it under the countries’ treaty or attempt to argue against it on disputable provisions. |
| A third person, an Ivorian named Rudy Guede, was convicted in 2008 and has served almost half of a 16-year sentence. Knox and Sollecito have vehemently denied any role in the murder or prosecutors’ allegations that the three accused cut Kercher’s throat during a sex game; they maintain their innocence and insist that Guede acted alone. | A third person, an Ivorian named Rudy Guede, was convicted in 2008 and has served almost half of a 16-year sentence. Knox and Sollecito have vehemently denied any role in the murder or prosecutors’ allegations that the three accused cut Kercher’s throat during a sex game; they maintain their innocence and insist that Guede acted alone. |
| Stephanie Kirchgaessner (@skirchy) in Rome and Nicky Woolf (@nickywoolf) in Seattle will contribute reporting throughout the day as the ramifications of the judges’ verdict become clear. | Stephanie Kirchgaessner (@skirchy) in Rome and Nicky Woolf (@nickywoolf) in Seattle will contribute reporting throughout the day as the ramifications of the judges’ verdict become clear. |
| Updated at 5.34pm ET | Updated at 5.34pm ET |