Happy Birthday to me, Amanda Knox is FREE!!
The day has finally arrived, everybody. The verdict in the Amanda Knox appeal was read today at about 12:45 and she was acquitted of ALL CHARGES!! (aside from the civil suit brought on by the man she falsely accused of being the murderer). Four years in jail and she finally gets to come home to Seattle!
(Amanda entering the courtroom for the last time)
It probably isn’t nearly as big of a story for those of you who don’t live here in the Pacific Northwest, especially those of us here in the Seattle area. But this has been a long time coming. Here are my thoughts on the matter.
I think the circumstances of Meredith Kercher’s death are horrendous. I don’t think anybody should ever have to go through that, and I feel deeply for her family. I know they felt good about the original conviction of Amanda and her boyfriend (at the time) Rafaele, and they felt they had justice for their daughter. Because of this, I have sympathy for them in this time when they are once again looking for closure for their daughter’s murder. Rudy Guede is currently serving a sentence for her murder, and I hope if he acted with someone else, he comes clean and gives the Italian justice system some information to get any other guilty parties convicted.
As for Amanda, I have never been in such a room full of suspense as I was at work today. Our lunch room was full and we were staring at the TV screen with such intensity I thought we might blow it up with our collective brain power. It seemed like it too FOREVER for the judge and jury members to file into the court room. They kept flashing to Amanda sitting there holding back tears, white as a ghost and I couldn’t help but think about how her heart must have been pounding in those moments.
(Waiting for the verdict to be read)
The judge started reading the verdict and there was a choppy translation happening. Eventually the translation stopped and all we heard was Italian. Then we heard the magic word… the one that sounded like “aquietesce” (or something along those lines) and we knew. Our jaws dropped. Amanda immediately started crying and collapsed into her chair. After the full verdict was read, the guards and Amanda’s lawyers basically had to carry her out of the court room because she was crying so much.
(Finally getting to go home!)
Over the years, I feel almost like I am personally invested in this trial. Not because I know the victim or the accused, but because it has been such a big story around here because Amanda is a local girl. She is the same age as me. She comes from the same area. And she ended up in a very scary situation that landed her in jail in a foreign country with no control. I can only imagine…
I know some people may think that she is guilty, and some people may agree that she is innocent. This is just my opinion about the matter. The DNA evidence was compromised. There was no motive. The only person who put Amanda and Rafaele near the scene of the crime was a homeless man. I don’t think there was any evidence that would justify keeping her in jail. While I know the prosecution has one more opportunity to appeal the newest verdict, I do hope that they see the holes in the evidence and let Amanda try to regain her life and her freedom that she has been missing for these past 4 years, and they focus on finding final justice for Meredith Kercher and her family.
(Meredith Kercher... RIP and may justice be brought to your family someday!)
In other news, today is my 25th birthday! I will have a less intense birthday post this evening I hope.
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