Italy's top court has cleared Amanda Knox of the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher, bringing a
sensational end to an eight-year legal drama.
Judges at the Court of Cassation also cleared Knox's Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito after ten hours of deliberations in Rome.
It had been widely expected that, even if the court overturned the previous convictions, it would order a retrial.
A Seattle-based representative for Amanda Knox said he was "overjoyed" after her acquittal for the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher by Italy's top court on Friday, adding that "the truth has won out."
"I personally feel overjoyed that the truth has won out, that she is innocent," said David Marriott, a spokesman for Knox who referred additional questions to her U.S. lawyer, calling the verdict "unexpected."
Lawyers for the pair, who each served four years in prison before being acquitted on appeal in 2011 and then convicted for a second time after a retrial last year, had argued the prosecution had presented a distorted picture from the evidence.
"If you take the Bible and divide it into many parts you can put together a pornographic book from the pieces," Sollecito's lawyer Giulia Bongiorno said as she arrived at court.
South London-born Kercher was found stabbed to death in a house she shared with Knox in the medieval hill town of Perugia in 2007.
Rudy Guede, originally from the Ivory Coast, is serving a 16-year sentence for the crime, but judges ruled he did not act alone.
Extradition feared ahead of verdict
Knox, who returned to Seattle in 2011, and Sollecito have maintained their innocence throughout but Knox's lawyer Luciano Ghirga said on Friday his client was "very, very worried".
Following the 2011 acquittal, the Court of Cassation ordered a new trial.
A Florence court convicted them again, saying the murder had been the result of a domestic argument, squashing the previous theory that it happened when a sex game went wrong.
If Knox's sentence of 28 years and three months had been confirmed, Italy could have asked the United States to extradite her.
Prosecutors had asked for Sollecito, who has distanced himself from Knox during the process, to serve 24 years and nine months. His passport had already been confiscated.
The 'unusual' decision
The decision means the judges, after thoroughly examining the case, concluded that a conviction could not be supported by the evidence.
Experts have said such a complete exoneration is unusual for the high court, which could have upheld the conviction or ordered a new trial as it did in 2011 when the case first came up to the Cassation's review on appeal.
The justices' reasoning will be released within 90 days.
The decision ends the long legal battle waged by Knox and Sollecito who have long maintained their innocence in the death of Kercher.
The Kercher family lawyer, Francesco Maresca, was clearly disappointed by the ruling.
"I think that it's a defeat for the Italian justice system," he said.
In the United States, a spontaneous shout of joy erupted from inside the Seattle home of Knox's mother as the verdict was announced.
Several relatives and supporters filtered into the back yard, where they hugged and cheered.
Dalla Vedova said he called Knox to tell her the news, but said she couldn't speak through her tears.
"She was crying because she was so happy," he said.
"I am tremendously relieved and grateful for the decision of the Supreme Court of Italy," Knox said in a statement.
"The knowledge of my innocence has given me strength in the darkest times of this ordeal," Knox said.
"And throughout this ordeal, I have received invaluable support from family, friends and strangers. To them, I say: Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
"Your kindness has sustained me. I only wish that I could thank each and every one of you in person."
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