American says she will not return to Italy if appeal court upholds conviction for murder of Meredith Kercher 
 
 Amanda Knox says she will be fugitive from justice if court decides she is guilty 
 
 Amanda Knox, the American accused of killing her British flatmate Meredith Kercher, has said she will become a fugitive from justice if an Italian court decides to uphold her murder conviction later this month. 
 
 Knox, 26, is facing the possible reinstatement of a hefty sentence for her alleged part in the death of the 21-year-old Leeds University student in Perugia in 2007. She and her co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito, are in the final stretches of a second appeal against convictions handed down in 2009. 
 
 On Thursday the 29-year-old Italian sat in court as his defence lawyer argued that he was the innocent victim of a deeply flawed prosecution and should be allowed to walk free. 
 
 But the Seattle-based student, as is her right under Italian law, has not returned to Italy for the new proceedings at the Florence appeals court, saying she fears being found guilty and sent back to jail. 
 
 In an interview on Thursday, she appeared to confirm that she has no intention of returning to Italy if the verdict goes against her. Asked by the daily newspaper La Repubblica what she would do if her conviction were upheld, she was quoted as saying: "In that case I will be – how do you put it? – a fugitive." 
 
 If the court, which is expected to rule on 30 January, upholds the guilty verdicts its judgment will still have to be validated by Italy's supreme court. If that happens, Italy could request Knox's extradition from the US, a move her lawyers would challenge, at least in part on the US legal principle of double jeopardy – the premise that someone cannot be tried for a crime of which they have been acquitted. 
 
 Legal experts, however, say the picture is by no means clear cut as the 2011 appeal verdict that quashed Knox and Sollecito's convictions was not confirmed by the supreme court, which ruled last year that the decision to acquit was flawed. 
 
 On Thursday, Sollecito's defence lawyer Giulia Bongiorno wrapped up her argument for why he should again be cleared of the 2007 murder, insisting that police and prosecutors overlooked signs of his innocence because they were keen to avoid public fright over "a monster" on the loose. "For some investigators, the first suspects are like first loves: never forgotten," she said, Reuters reported. Both defendants insist they are innocent. 
 
 In her interview Knox said that although she was reasonably optimistic about the verdict, she was also approaching it with trepidation as "every time that I've thought my innocence would be acknowledged I have been convicted". 
 
 She said she badly wanted to talk directly to Kercher's family, but was aware that such a move would not be welcome. 
 
 "I still want to talk with them, tell them directly that I had nothing to do with Meredith's death, that I cared about her and that we were friends," she was quoted as saying. "But I know that they see me as their daughter's murderer [and] are convinced that it was me who killed her, and so it is still not the moment to speak with them. But that day will come." 
 
 The comments were not welcomed by Francesco Maresca, the Kercher family's lawyer, who told the Ansa news agency: "Amanda must act like a defendant … she should stop making these statements." 
 
 Another man, Rudy Guede, from Ivory Coast, is serving a 16-year sentence, cut from 30 years on appeal, for Kercher's killing. But tThe Italian supreme court, in the reasoning for its decision last year, said the Florence court should re-examine the possibility that Guede did not act alone. ||||| share tweet pin email 
 
 Amanda Knox has reportedly told an Italian newspaper that if she is again convicted of murder, she will become a fugitive rather than return to an Italian prison. 
 
 
 
 A representative for Knox, 26, confirmed the interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica and released a statement to TODAY on Friday clarifying her comments. 
 
 “[If convicted] legally I'll be defined a ‘fugitive,’ but I will continue to fight for my innocence,’’ Knox said in the statement. “I will not willingly submit myself to injustice." 
 
 The current trial is Knox's third for the alleged murder of British roommate Meredith Kercher while both were students in Perugia, Italy, in 2007. Knox was convicted in 2009 and spent nearly four years in an Italian prison before she and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were acquitted on appeal and released on Oct. 4, 2011. In March of last year, the Italian Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Knox, rejecting the appeals court ruling. 
 
 Knox has remained at her home in Seattle during the proceedings in Italy. She has suggested that she will not leave there even if the Italian court finds her guilty again, telling La Repubblica, “In that case, I will become, what do you call it? A fugitive.” 
 
 Slideshow Photos Oli Scarff / Getty Images Europe Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga The long legal saga of Amanda Knox, an American student accused of the violent death of her roommate, British student Meredith Kercher, has made headlines around the world since it began in Perugia, Italy, in late 2007. Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga The long legal saga of Amanda Knox, an American student accused of the violent death of her roommate, British student Meredith Kercher, has made headlines around the world since it began in Perugia, Italy, in late 2007. 
 
 
 
 Reversal of fortune From left, Pierluigi Puglia, member of the British consulate in Italy; Stephanie Kercher, sister of the late Meredith Kercher; her brother, Lyle Kercher, and lawyer Francesco Maresca speak to the press in Florence on Jan. 31, 2014, the day after the guilty verdicts against Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of UK student Meredith Kercher in 2007 were reinstated in Italy. The verdict overturned Knox and Sollecito's successful appeal in 2011, which released them after four years in jail. Getty Images / Getty Images 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Reconvicted Amanda Knox is shown here in Seattle after serving four years in prison after being convicted in a case involving the murder of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher. Her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito is shown here in Florence, Italy, on Jan. 20, 2014. Though both were acquitted on appeal and released in 2011, they were re-convicted of the murder on Jan. 30, 2014. Splash News, AP file / Splash News, AP file 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Awaiting another verdict Raffaele Sollecito leaves court in Florence, Italy, on Jan. 30, 2014. The Italian ex-boyfriend of Amanda Knox awaited the court's verdict in the retrial of both Knox and himself for the murder of Meredith Kercher more than two years after they were acquitted. EPA / EPA 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of A new trial Francesco Maresca, lawyer for the family of Meredith Kercher, talks to reporters as he arrives for the start of Amanda Knox's second appeals trial in Florence, Italy, Monday, Sept. 30, 2013. Italy's highest court ordered a new trial for Knox and her former Italian boyfriend, overturning their acquittals in the 2007 slaying of Kercher. AP / AP 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Not going back Amanda Knox appeared on TODAY on Sept. 20, 2013, to discuss her upcoming retrial in Florence for the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher. Knox maintained that she would not go back to Italy to face trial again: "It's not a possibility, as I was imprisoned as an innocent person and I just can't relive that," she told Matt Lauer. NBC / NBC 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of A memoir Filled with details first recorded in the journals Amanda Knox kept while in Italy, "Waiting to be Heard," Knox's memoir, is set to be released on April 30, 2013. HarperCollins via AP / HarperCollins via AP 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Acquittal overturned Luciano Ghirga, lawyer of Amanda Knox, center, talks to journalists as he leaves Italy's Court of Cassation in Rome on March 26, 2013. Italy's highest criminal court overturned the acquittal of Amanda Knox in the slaying of her British roommate and ordered a new trial. The court ruled that an appeals court in Florence would have to re-hear the case against the American and her Italian-ex-boyfriend for the murder of 21-year-old Meredith Kercher. AP / AP 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Home at last Amanda Knox makes remarks after arriving in Seattle a day after her release from prison in Italy on Oct. 4, 2011. She was acquitted of murder and sexual assault by an Italian appeals court after spending four years in custody over the killing of her British housemate, Meredith Kercher. At left is her father, Kurt Knox. EPA / EPA 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Welcome home Well-wishers greet Amanda Knox upon her arrival at Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle a day after her release from prison in Italy on Oct. 4, 2011. EPA / EPA 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Tears of relief Amanda Knox cries after hearing the verdict that overturned her conviction and acquits her of murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher, at the Perugia court on Monday, Oct. 3. The Italian appeals court threw out Amanda Knox's murder conviction and ordered the young American freed after nearly four years in prison. AP / AP 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Home front Supporters of Amanda Knox react as they watch a news broadcast about her appeal verdict from a hotel suite in downtown Seattle on Oct. 3. AP / AP 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Sisterly support Amanda Knox's sister Deanna Knox, center, cries tears of joy in Perugia's Court of Appeal after hearing that Amanda won her appeal against her murder conviction on Monday in Perugia, Italy. Getty Images / Getty Images 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Closing arguments Amanda Knox, accused of the 2007 murder of her housemate Meredith Kercher, arrives in court as her appeal trial resumes in Perugia, on Sept. 30, 2011. Wrapping up the defense case, Knox's lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, points to alleged errors by police and urges a panel of lay and professional judges to look beyond how Knox has been portrayed by the media and the prosecution. AFP - Getty Images / AFP - Getty Images 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Hoping for her release Amanda Knox's lawyer, Luciano Ghirga (left), and her father, Curt Knox (right), use their mobile phones at the court during her Sept. 30, 2011, appeal trial session in Perugia. Reuters / Reuters 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Her fate in the balance Amanda Knox arrives at the court during her appeal trial session in Perugia, Italy, on Sept. 30, 2011. Reuters / Reuters 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito attends his appeal hearing at Perugia's Court of Appeal on Sept. 29, 2011 in Perugia, Italy. Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito are awaiting the verdict of their appeal that could see their conviction for the murder of Meredith Kercher overturned. Getty Images / Getty Images 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of He calls her 'she-devil' Carlo Pacelli (center), lawyer for Patrick Lumumba, (left) -- a barman who is seeking damages from Amanda Knox as part of a civil case running alongside her murder appeal -- speaks outside the Perugia courthouse on Sept. 26, 2011. Pacelli called Knox a "she-devil" and told the appeals court she destroyed Lumumba's image by falsely accusing him of the murder, testimony that helps prosecutors attack her credibility. Knox has said she wrongly implicated Lumumba under pressure from police. . AFP - Getty Images / AFP - Getty Images 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Legal battleground Through the bars of holding cells, a view of the courtroom in Perugia on Sept. 6, 2011, before the resumption of the appeal trial of Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. AFP - Getty Images / AFP - Getty Images 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Making her appeal On Nov. 24, 2010, Amanda Knox leaves court after a trial session in Perugia, Italy. Knox and former lover Raffaele Sollecito returned to court to appeal their conviction for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. Reuters / Reuters 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of New 'do Sporting a new, short haircut, jailed Amanda Knox attends a preliminary hearing in Perugia, Italy, on June 1, 2010. AP / AP 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Awaiting sentence Amanda Knox is driven into court at midnight to hear the sentence in her murder trial on Dec. 5, 2009, in Perugia, Italy. Knox was convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher was sentenced to 26 years in prison. Her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, was also convicted of the murder charges. He was sentenced to 25 years. Getty Images / Getty Images 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Pleading her case Amanda Knox looks on during a break in the closing arguments of the murder trial in Perugia, Italy on Dec. 3, 2009. She read a statement during her murder trial on Dec. 3, in Italiian saying, "I am afraid of having the mask of a murderer forced onto my skin." Reuters / Reuters 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Police escort Murder suspect Amanda Knox, right, is escorted by a police officer as she arrives at Perugia's court, Italy, Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. Italian prosecutors have begun their closing arguments in her trial. AP / AP 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of The murder weapon? Prosecutor Manuela Comodi shows a knife during a hearing in the murder trial for Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, on Sept. 19, 2009. The knife, wrapped in plastic and kept in a white box, was shown to the eight-member jury during the trial of Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. AP / AP 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Victim in video At the trial of Amanda Knox, a music video that included an appearance by slain student Meredith Kercher was shown June 8, 2009. Kercher played the love interest in the video for the song "Some Say" by London musician Kristian Leontiou. The 2007 video was shot only weeks before Kercher died in Perugia, Italy, at age 21. TODAY / TODAY 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Boning up? Amanda Knox holds the Italian penal code book at the trial of slain British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, on Jan. 16, 2009. Reuters / Reuters 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Back in court Amanda Knox, one of three suspects in the murder of Meredith Kercher, arrives at a Sept. 27, 2008 court hearing in Perugia, Italy. Kercher, a British student, was found dead in her Perugia flat on Nov. 1, 2007 with her throat cut. AFP - Getty Images / AFP - Getty Images 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Sister speaks out Stephanie Kercher reads a statement during a Sept. 15, 2008 press conference in Perugia, Italy as legal proceedings connected to the death of her sister, Meredith Kercher, approach a critical phase. AP / AP 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of The victim's family Arline, mother of Meredith Kercher, answers newsmen questions flanked by Meredith's sister Stephanie, left, and brother Lyle, during a press conference in Perugia, Italy on April 18, 2008. AP / AP 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Headed to a hearing Amanda Knox's ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, who along with Knox and Rudy Hermann Guede was held on suspicion in the murder of Knox’s housemate Meredith Kercher, is escorted by Italian police to a January 2008 hearing with magistrates. AFP - Getty Images / AFP - Getty Images 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Remembering Meredith A floral tribute with photographs of Meredith Kercher is shown at her funeral at Croydon Parish Church, South London on December 14, 2007. Getty Images / Getty Images 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Another suspect In December 2007, police in Germany arrested Rudy Hermann Guede, a native of the Ivory Coast, in connection with Meredith Kercher's murder. Here Guede is shown being led away by Italian police after arriving in Rome from prison in Germany. AP / AP 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Arrested, then released Patrick Lumumba Diya, a Congolese man who owned a small bar in Perugia where Amanda Knox sometimes worked as a barmaid, was arrested after being implicated in the Meredith Kercher murder by Knox. However, he was released after another suspect, Rudy Hermann Guede, was arrested in the case. He is shown here leaving police headquarters with his lawyer on Nov. 20, 2007. AFP - Getty Images / AFP - Getty Images 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Under arrest Her cap pulled low, American student Amanda Knox was arrested on Nov. 6, 2007, for her alleged involvement in the brutal murder of her housemate, Meredith Kercher. EPA / EPA 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Searching for clues Police forensics investigators examined Meredith Kercher's Italian house while a coroner conducted a post-mortem investigation on the slain student's body. AP / AP 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of The murder scene On Nov. 5, 2007, the rented hillside home that murder victim Meredith Kercher had shared with fellow student Amanda Knox in Perugia, Italy was a crime scene. AFP - Getty Images / AFP - Getty Images 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of Front-page news By Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007 Meredith Kercher's gruesome murder was front-page news in the central Italian city of Perugia. AP / AP 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of The day after Amanda Knox, a student from Seattle who had been living with Meredith Kercher in Perugia, was arrested Nov. 6, 2007 for her alleged involvement in Kercher’s murder. Also held by police was Knox’s Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. Taken Nov. 2, the day Kercher was found dead, this picture shows the pair outside the rented house Knox shared with Kercher. AP / AP 
 
 Amanda Knox: Her long legal saga of The murder victim Meredith Kercher, a 21-year-old British exchange student, was found dead with her throat slit on Nov. 2, 2007 in her room in an apartment she shared with other exchange students in the Italian town of Perugia. AFP - Getty Images / AFP - Getty Images 
 
 The Italian reporter who conducted the recent interview told TODAY’s Keir Simmons that Knox’s comments about becoming a fugitive may have been lighthearted, but making a joke about becoming a fugitive while closing arguments are being heard in a murder case may have been ill-advised. If Knox is re-convicted, her legal team can appeal to the Italian Supreme Court. It’s not clear whether the U.S. would allow her to be extradited if she is re-convicted. 
 
 
 
 Amanda Knox on retrial: 'Everything's at stake' 
 
 “I was already imprisoned in Italy as an innocent person, and I can't reconcile the choice to go back with that experience,’’ Knox told Matt Lauer in an interview on TODAY last year. 
 
 Knox also indicated in the interview with the Italian newspaper that she would like to visit Kercher’s family, but so far they have made it clear they would not welcome that, still believing Knox was involved in their daughter’s murder. 
 
 "I really hope that that isn't the case,'' Knox told Lauer in September. "I really hope that they can come to understand that it's so hard to be logical about this when you've lost someone so close to you and so important to you, but I really hope that with time, with things changing, with an opening, they'll give my innocence a chance, and I'll be able to approach them. I don't want to be forever separated from them because at this point Meredith is a part of my life. I only knew her for a very short amount of time, but she'll always be there, and I want to be able to share that with them." 
 
 ||||| If there is a rule book—and surely there is—listing all the things you shouldn’t say if you are on trial for murder, one would think that “If they convict me, I’ll become a fugitive” must be somewhere near the top of the list. The second thing on the list might well be, “When all of this is over, I want to visit the victim’s parents.” 
 
 But that’s exactly what Amanda Knox, the now 26-year-old Seattle native who is appealing her 2009 conviction for the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher, told Italy’s top national newspaper La Repubblica ahead of the last day of defense closing arguments in her second appellate trial, now being held in Florence. 
 
 Knox and her erstwhile Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, are fighting to keep their freedom after Italy’s high court threw out their 2011 acquittals that had cleared them of Kercher’s murder last March. They currently stand convicted of Kercher’s murder after their acquittals were reversed. The ongoing trial is their appeal of that conviction. A verdict in the new appeal, which began in September, is expected on January 30, and will still have to be considered by Italy’s high court before this case is finally closed. 
 
 Knox apparently made the ill-advised remarks to Meo Ponte, the La Repubblica correspondent who has been covering the Kercher murder case that has been lumbering through the Italian legal system for more than six years, in an unrecorded Skype interview ahead of Thursday’s hearing. Ponte, who stands by his story and who has championed her innocence in previous trials, concedes that Knox was likely making a lighthearted joke about an extremely serious appellate case that has not exactly been going her way. But a comment about becoming a fugitive is hardly a laughing matter in a murder trial. It undoubtedly sends a signal that Knox might just go into hiding should her murder conviction be upheld on January 30. If that’s the case, American authorities may be compelled to keep a close eye on her until the case is definitively concluded. 
 
 In Italy, appeals are not considered final until and unless the high court signs off on them. In Knox’s case, that could happen sometime in late 2014. If her conviction is upheld by the Florentine appellate court, the high court would also have to uphold the conviction before any extradition request is made. There is a valid extradition agreement between the United States and Italy and the U.S. State Department—not a hometown Seattle court, in a city where Knox is often viewed as an innocent—would make the final decision if Italy chooses to request that Knox return to serve a prison sentence. 
 
 Speculation runs the gamut on whether or not Italy would actually request extradition. The two countries have an uneasy history when it comes to handing over prisoners. In 2102, the United States refused to return 22 CIA agents and an Air Force captain who had been convicted in the extraordinary rendition of an Egyptian cleric on suspicion of terrorism. The Americans were never handed over. Knox, of course, is a civilian and not a CIA agent, so it remains to be seen whether the United States would hand her over. The new appeal is not “double jeopardy” under the Italian legal system—she is not being tried twice for the same crime; she is still being tried for the same crime. 
 
 On Thursday, the Florence appellate court heard closing arguments by Sollecito’s legal team. Knox’s lawyers delivered her closing arguments on December 17, which included an email sent to the court. The presiding judge, Alessandro Nencini, grudgingly read the five-page email to the lay jurors, but made the comment that an email was “highly irregular” because its authenticity could not be verified. He concluded that, “If someone wants to be heard in court, they should appear in court,” virtually dismissing its contents for their consideration. 
 
 Sollecito’s lawyers focused on their client’s individuality, underscoring the fact that he is often linked with Knox when they are two separate suspects. “He’s not her other half,” his lead attorney Giulia Bongiorno said. “Raffaele was not a puppy. He wouldn’t have killed for the love of Amanda.” His defense team maintains that the two young lovers were used as scapegoats to calm fears of a murderer on the loose in Perugia after Kercher’s body was found in the apartment she shared with Knox. Sollecito has been attending court sessions and says he will also attend the verdict hearing. 
 
 Knox says she will not come back for the new appeal verdict because she is afraid. “I am afraid that the prosecution’s vehemence will leave an impression on you,” she wrote to the judge. “That their smoke and mirrors will blind you. I’m afraid of the universal problem of a wrongful conviction.” Knox has instead taken to Twitter to maintain her innocence in the case, tweeting articles and websites that support her side of the story. Her lawyers say she remains “hopeful” that she will be exonerated of the murder. 
 
 Lawyers for Kercher say they hope the court will uphold the original conviction. Kercher’s siblings are expected to attend the verdict at the end of the month. “There is only one truth,” Kercher lawyer Francesco Maresca told The Daily Beast. “And we hope this court will find it.”
– If convicted again of murder, Amanda Knox says she won't willingly return to Italy to face punishment; instead, she told an Italian journalist, "I will be—how do you put it?—a fugitive," the Guardian reports. The reporter, Meo Ponte, who interviewed her over Skype, has previously called Knox innocent of the murder of former roommate Meredith Kercher; he says her "fugitive" comment was likely a joke, the Daily Beast notes. But in a statement to the Today show, Knox was clearer: "(If convicted), legally I'll be defined a 'fugitive,' but I will continue to fight for my innocence," she said. "I will not willingly submit myself to injustice." Such a verdict would need to be upheld by the country's top court, and even then it's not clear whether Italy would ask the US to extradite her, or how the US would respond (double jeopardy could be at play, but it's complicated). Still, such a comment may not serve her well, the Daily Beast points out: US officials may now have to keep her on their radar in case she is found guilty. The verdict is due Jan. 30.