By Vincent de Ruiter
Staff Writer
The saga of Amanda Knox continued this past January, with an Italian appellate court upholding the findings of a lower courts guilty verdict for Amanda Knox, an American student accused of murdering her British roommate, Meredith Kercher, while on exchange in Italy. Ms. Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were both found guilty of the crime, although the former was not present at the Florence court room where the verdict was announced. Ms. Knox told CNN that she was “frightened and saddened by this unjust verdict”, adding that she had “been found innocent before” as a result of a “marked lack of evidence.”
While many of the details of what transpired on the night of the murder are unclear, multiple predictions have arisen regarding the possible course of future legal proceedings.
The Italian government has yet to file an extradition request to the United States, as under Italian law, Mrs. Knox is still free to travel until the case has been brought to the Italian Supreme Court. Until then, Ms. Knox can remain a free woman if she does not enter The European Union. Should the appellate court’s decision be reaffirmed, the Italian government will likely file for her extradition under a U.S. – Italy extradition treaty. At this point the legal opinion as to whether the U.S. will allow her extradition becomes divided.
Under the U.S. Constitution, a person is not allowed to be put in “double Jeopardy,” meaning they cannot be tried for the same crime twice without the existence of substantial new evidence, which would question their innocence. According to legal expert Sean Casey of Kobre & Kim law firm in New York, this would make her extradition to Italy unlikely. Mr. Casey told CNN that “she was once put in jeopardy and later acquitted… Under the treaty, extradition should not be granted.” In this case, she could remain free in the United States, but would be unable to travel to any country which has an extradition treaty with Italy (including Canada, the European Union, all major territories in Oceania, and the majority of Latin America).
On the other hand several U.S. and British legal authorities have concurred there is a fair chance of extradition. For starters, according to Hofstra University Professor Julian Ku, double jeopardy, the only reason why the U.S. could refuse a request under the treaty, only applies to U.S. citizen prosecuted in the U.S. for the same crime. Professor Ku told The Telegraph, “This is not applicable in this situation”, as Ms. Knox was prosecuted in Italy.
British lawyer Gemma Lindfield reaffirmed this opinion in an interview with SkyNews, stating: “I would also find it hard to conceive that they could refuse the request on the grounds of double jeopardy…It would… be very difficult for a U.S. court to sit in judgement of the Italian legal system and its fairness.”
In addition, refusing the extradition, could strain relations between the U.S. and Italy. Italy regularly extradites Italian citizens to the U.S., especially those accused of organized crime, whose prosecution has been essential to fighting the American “War on Crime.” A refusal could also make the extradition of people to the U.S. more difficult. This could be problematic, as Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz points out that “the United States seeks extradition of more people than any country in the world”.
If the U.S. does stall on extraditing Ms. Knox, besides Italy, it could also affect other countries willingness to extradite to the U.S. The U.S. is “trying to get NSA leaker Edward Snowden back”, but if the Americans refuses to “…extradite someone convicted of murder”, that might jeopardize the likelihood of having Snowden extradited, Mr. Dershowitz pointed out to NBC News.
With the Italian Supreme Court yet to rule and no outstanding request for extradition, Ms. Knox will still have her freedom for now, but what will transpire in the distant future is unclear.
Vincent de Ruiter, class of 2015, is a Politics and Anthropology major from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.
