Amanda Knox has been cleared after a court overturned her conviction for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.
The 24-year-old American has spent four years behind bars for the killing in Perugia, Italy, that she insisted she played no part in.
But her nightmare ended when jurors in her appeal trial found her not guilty of stabbing Miss Kercher after forcing her into a violent sex game.
Knox, from Seattle, was jailed for 26 years in December 2009 after a year-long trial, along with her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito who was jailed for 25 years. Sollecito, 27, was also cleared after a successful appeal.
The verdicts came after the former lovers delivered heartfelt addresses to the Perugia court, proclaiming their innocence once more.
Knox, watched by her anxious family in the medieval chamber, declared: "I am not who they say I am - the perversion, the violence, the lack of respect for life - and I did not do the things they say I did. I did not kill, I did not rape, I did not steal. I was not there at the time."
The semi-naked body of Leeds University student Miss Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon in Surrey, was found on November 2, 2007, in the house she shared with Knox on her year abroad.
Small-time drug dealer Rudy Guede, 24, from the Ivory Coast, was jailed for the murder and sexual violence after separate proceedings and, while he too protests his innocence, his conviction was upheld on appeal.
Hundreds of people gathered in the streets outside the court shouted "shame" when they heard about the decision. Knox was told she must pay 22,000 euros in compensation to Diya "Patrick" Lumumba, a barman she falsely accused of the murder.
Knox walked out of the court in floods of tears, followed shortly afterwards by Sollecito, who showed little expression on his face. Meredith's brother Lyle and sister Stephanie comforted each other as they remained seated in the courtroom with their mother Arline.
Amanda Knox has been cleared after a court overturned her conviction for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.
The 24-year-old American has spent four years behind bars for the killing in Perugia, Italy, that she insisted she played no part in.
But her nightmare ended when jurors in her appeal trial found her not guilty of stabbing Miss Kercher after forcing her into a violent sex game.
Knox, from Seattle, was jailed for 26 years in December 2009 after a year-long trial, along with her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito who was jailed for 25 years. Sollecito, 27, was also cleared after a successful appeal.
The verdicts came after the former lovers delivered heartfelt addresses to the Perugia court, proclaiming their innocence once more.
Knox, watched by her anxious family in the medieval chamber, declared: "I am not who they say I am - the perversion, the violence, the lack of respect for life - and I did not do the things they say I did. I did not kill, I did not rape, I did not steal. I was not there at the time."
The semi-naked body of Leeds University student Miss Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon in Surrey, was found on November 2, 2007, in the house she shared with Knox on her year abroad.
Small-time drug dealer Rudy Guede, 24, from the Ivory Coast, was jailed for the murder and sexual violence after separate proceedings and, while he too protests his innocence, his conviction was upheld on appeal.
Hundreds of people gathered in the streets outside the court shouted "shame" when they heard about the decision. Knox was told she must pay 22,000 euros in compensation to Diya "Patrick" Lumumba, a barman she falsely accused of the murder.
Knox walked out of the court in floods of tears, followed shortly afterwards by Sollecito, who showed little expression on his face. Meredith's brother Lyle and sister Stephanie comforted each other as they remained seated in the courtroom with their mother Arline.