Judges consider Knox guilty verdict

Judges at Italy’s top court retired to chambers Friday to consider whether to uphold the murder conviction of Amanda Knox in what could be the final act of an eight-year legal drama.

The American and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted last year for a second time of taking part in the 2007 killing of Meredith Kercher, a British student with whom the then 20-year-old Knox shared a house in the university town of Perugia.

In final arguments, Sollecito’s lawyer said last year’s ruling in Florence had been flawed, citing mistakes on the number of stab wounds inflicted on Kercher’s neck and a bloody footprint being described as that of a woman, when it belonged to a man.

The six judges must now decide whether to confirm once and for all that the Italian judicial system regards the convictions as safe.

If they do, Sollecito could be taken back to jail while the absent Knox is likely to become the subject of a wrangle over whether she should be extradited from the US to Italy to join him behind bars.

The pair have already spent four years in jail — two on remand and two after their initial conviction for murder in 2009.

The judges could also send the case back to the appeal stage, opening the door to one or both of the defendants being acquitted.