Family Shocked By Knox And Sollecito Acquittal

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Amanda Knox says she is "grateful to have my life back" after she and Raffaele Sollecito were acquitted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.

A tearful Ms Knox said she was "full of joy" following the judgement by Italy's top court, which brings an eight-year legal saga to a close.

"I'm still absorbing the present moment, which is full of joy," she told reporters outside her mother's home in Seattle in the US. "I'm grateful to have my life back."

She added: "Meredith was my friend. She deserved so much in this life. I'm the lucky one."

Ms Kercher's family said they were shocked by the judges' ruling, although they knew it was a possibility.

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Gallery: Meredith Kercher Murder: Key Events

2 November 2007: The body of Meredith Kercher, 21, is found in her Perugia apartment. Investigators say she was killed the night before

Ms Kercher's flatmate, Amanda Knox, is pictured kissing her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito in the days after the murder

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Police investigate the scene of the crime

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6 November 2007: Knox is arrested along with Sollecito and Diya 'Patrick' Lumumba, the Congolese owner of the pub where Knox occasionally worked

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20 November 2007: Mr Lumumba, implicated by Knox in her statements to police, is released from jail for lack of evidence

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In a statement they said: "Emotions are naturally raw at this stage. The decision came as a shock but was an outcome we knew was possible, even if it wasn't what we expected.

"We now understand this decision to be definitive and the end of what has been a long and difficult process for all concerned.

"We believe we will learn of the full reasoning behind the decision in the coming months but for now we need some time to take this in and remember Meredith, the victim at the heart of this."

Ms Kercher, who was 21 and from Coulsdon, Surrey, was sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in Perugia in 2007.

Her flatmate Knox, also a student, and her then-boyfriend Sollecito spent four years in jail for the murder but were freed on appeal in 2011.

Knox, now 27, returned to the US before an appeal court threw out the acquittal and reinstated the guilty verdicts last year.

But the legal seesawing now seems to be over after both convictions were annulled by Italy's Supreme Court.

"Finished!" declared Knox's lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, after the decision was read out.

He then called his client, who was "crying because she was so happy".

Within minutes Knox, who had remained in Seattle, released a statement saying: "I am tremendously relieved and grateful for the decision of the Supreme Court of Italy.

"The knowledge of my innocence has given me strength in the darkest times of this ordeal."

The judges, after 10 hours of deliberation, concluded that a conviction could not be supported by the evidence. Their reasoning will be released within 90 days.

Sollecito's lawyer, Giulia Bongiorno, shouted "Yes, yes, yes" after the judgement was read out.

"You never saw Raffaele pleading, or praying. He has been a rock," she said.

"He is at home with his father and he is very happy. The verdict has proved him completely right."

A lawyer for the Kerchers, Francesco Maresca, expressed very different sentiments, saying: "This is not so much a defeat for the prosecution as a defeat for Italy's justice system."

The original guilty verdicts led to sentences of 28 years for Knox and 25 years for Sollecito.

The couple maintained their innocence, insisting that they had spent the evening together at Sollecito's watching a movie, smoking marijuana and having sex.

Another man, Rudy Guede, from Ivory Coast, was arrested, tried and convicted of the murder in a separate trial and is serving a 16-year sentence.

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