Amanda Knox acquitted because of 'stunning flaws' in investigation - The Guardian

Amanda Knox: Judges’ legal reasoning says case against Knox and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito lacked evidence to prove wrongdoing
Italy’s highest court acquitted Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito of the 2007 murder of the British university student Meredith Kercher, because there were “stunning flaws” in the investigation that led to their convictions, according to judges’ legal reasoning.

A panel of judges at the court of cassation in Rome found that the state’s case against the pair, who were definitively cleared of murder in March, lacked enough evidence to prove their wrongdoing beyond reasonable doubt, and cited a complete lack of “biological traces” in connection to the crime.

The 52-page legal motivazioni, published on Monday, detailed the reasons for the acquittal of Knox, a US exchange student, and Sollecito, who each served four years in prison for Kercher’s murder before they were released and then retried.

Releasing the details involved in a court decision months after a verdict has been announced is common practice in Italy’s highest court.

“The trial had oscillations which were the result of stunning flaws, or amnesia, in the investigation and omissions in the investigative activity,” the judges wrote.  They also said that the murder investigation was ultimately hindered by the fact that investigators were under pressure to come up with answers once the case was prominently covered in media around the world.

“The international spotlight on the case in fact resulted in the investigation undergoing a sudden acceleration, that, in the frantic search for one or more guilty parties to consign to international public opinion, certainly didn’t help the search for substantial truth,” the judges wrote.- ReadMore at Amanda Knox acquitted

Amanda Knox acquitted because of 'stunning flaws' in investigation