This much is known as fact: on November 1, 2007, British exchange student Meredith Kercher was found dead in her bedroom. She was living in a home in Perugia that she shared with University of Washington student Amanda Knox and two other young women. It was a brutal and bloody scene. Kercher’s throat was slashed, her clothes strewn about, and she lay in a pool of blood.

What happened the night of her death has fueled an international debate. After several days, Amanda Knox, Knox’s boyfriend Rafaelle Sollecito, and a third man, Patrick Lumumba, were arrested. Prosecutor Guiliano Mignini declared the case solved.

But since then, Lumumba has been exonerated, and a different man, Ivorian drifter Rudy Guede, has been convicted in the murder. Knox and Sollecito were also convicted and are now appealing.

FAQs

Of what crimes was Amanda Knox convicted? 
Murder, unlawful use of weapon, staging a crime scene, and defamation. Prosecutors said Knox led the two men in a sexual assault – a demonic ritual – and was the one who slit Kercher’s throat. Knox was also convicted of staging a crime scene because she allegedly tried to make it look like someone had broken into the home.

While in police custody, Knox told interrogators that she had seen the owner of the bar where she worked, Patrick Lumumba, go into Kercher’s room. She said she heard screams, but did nothing. But Lumumba had an air-tight alibi: he was working at his bar, and many people saw him there. Knox later recanted the story, saying she gave the account while being mistreated by police. The defamation conviction is the result of her false story about Lumumba.

http://bcove.me/aar8zltp

What is the alleged motive for the murder? 
Knox was immediately portrayed as a conniving vixen with extreme sexual appetites that convinced the two men to participate in a sexual assault of Kercher. The prosecution has tapped the breaks on that story, now putting greater emphasis on Knox’s alleged jealousy of Kercher. They also say the two roommates had a frayed friendship because of disagreements over the cleanliness of their home and Amanda’s dating life.

Prosecutors eventually dropped the theory that there was some sort of demonic ritual involved in the slaying, but they continue to portray Knox and Sollecito as a couple interested in sex, drugs, and violence.

What is the strongest evidence in the case? 

In the first trial, the prosecution emphasized “character issues,” especially what was viewed as Amanda’s troubling behavior: doing cartwheels in the police station (which Knox’s camp later explained as yoga), she and Rafaelle continuing to kiss and hug right after the murder, and other behavior that was considered inappropriate. But the couple’s shifting stories about what happened may have cast the most doubt on their innocence.

When questioned, Knox originally said she was at Sollecito’s apartment the night of the murder. But Sollecito told police she was not with him the entire time. When told Sollecito had taken away her alibi, Knox then said she had been at the house where she and Kercher lived, that she had heard screams, and that she saw her boss Patrick Lumumba leave Meredith’s room. 

Later, Knox returned to her original story, and Sollecito corroborated it. Knox has said she gave a false confession because she was being mistreated by police.

Police investigators say they found a knife in Sollecito’s apartment that had traces of Kercher’s DNA on the point and Amanda’s DNA on the handle. They also found a bra clasp on the floor of Kercher’s room 47 days after the murder, and investigators say it had Sollecito’s DNA on it.

How does the Italian legal system compare to ours? 
There are some significant differences. The jury is made up of six civilians and two judges. They are not sequestered until they go into deliberations, and they are not prohibited from reading media coverage of cases.

The verdict does not have to be unanimous – just a majority.

The appeals system is also significantly different in that the entire case is retried in front of a jury, and additional evidence can be introduced. (Re-hearing a case is very rare in the American system, and new evidence is only allowed in the appellate process if it was previously unavailable for a significant reason-- such as prosecutorial misconduct-- or the DNA technology did not previously exist.) Statistically, more than half of sentences in Italy are altered somehow in the appeals process.

How has the media played a role? 
Initially, much of the European media coverage was very anti-Knox, portraying her as a promiscuous, seductive American girl. Some time passed before Knox’s friends and families spoke with the media here, and, in the void, European reports were repeated. When Patrick Lumumba was cleared, he gave an interview to the London Daily Mail saying that Amanda was constantly throwing herself at the male customers at his bar, and she was very jealous of Meredith’s popularity.

Media coverage has significantly changed. Several investigative reporters in Europe and the U.S. have come to the conclusion that the evidence is flimsy and the prosecution and investigation was suspect.

What is different in this trial versus the first one? 
Several factors are helping Knox’s case this time. First, the one witness who put Knox and Sollecito near the crime scene the night of Kercher’s murder is a homeless man named Antonio Curatolo. 

Curatolo said he saw the couple in the headlights of buses that carry college students down to the area clubs.

Since then, it’s been discovered that there were no buses running that night. The defense has also tried to discredit him as a witness because he was recently convicted of dealing drugs.

But the biggest blow to the prosecution came in a review of the DNA evidence. In the first trial, the prosecution asked for an independent review, but that was denied. This time around, it was approved, and two court-appointed experts came to the conclusion there was no blood found on the knife and the gathering of evidence was botched and likely contaminated. They say all the DNA evidence used against Knox and Sollecito is unreliable.

http://bcove.me/a79ols8s

 WATCH IT: Court-Appointed Expert Discredit Evidence Against Knox

Who does the defense say did it? 

Knox’s and Sollecito’s defense teams say that Rudy Guede committed the crime by himself. The Ivorian drifter previously had a history of breaking and entering and stealing. His handprint was found in blood at the scene, and his feces was found in the toilet at the house. Guede was tried separately. He was given a sentence of 30 years. He also appealed, and the sentence was reduced to 16 years.

What is the civil case against Knox? 
In Italy, civil and criminal trials can run concurrently. In the first go around, Knox was ordered to pay a total of $4.2 million dollars in damages to the Kercher family and Lumumba.

 WATCH IT: Kercher's Family Reacts To Knox's Conviction

What is the defamation case against Knox’s parents? 

Curt Knox and Edda Mellas gave interviews in which they repeated their daughter’s claims that she had been mistreated by police while being interrogated. The police say that is defamation. The parents were charged in July 2010, but it has not gone to trial. If their daughter is exonerated of murder, their charges will likely go away. But, if the conviction stands, her parents will have to make some tough decisions about whether they will stay out of country to avoid a potential trial/conviction – thereby, preventing them from visiting her in jail.

What are the possible outcomes? 
There are four: Knox may be exonerated and released, the conviction and 26 year sentence may stand, the conviction may be upheld but her sentence is reduced, or the conviction may be upheld and she is given a harsher sentence. The prosecutor has filed his own appeal in the case, asking that Knox and Sollecito get life sentences.

If Knox is not released, she would be able to appeal her case again.

If Knox is released, what happens? 
Her parents have said they would try to get her out of Italy as soon as possible. The prosecutor, Guiliano Mignini, has already said if the conviction is overturned, he will appeal to the highest court in Italy, the Cassazione.

Guede’s attorneys believe it may affect his next appeal as well. They say if the independent DNA experts concluded there was sloppy police work and shoddy testing, then they believe that applies to the evidence against Guede as well.