Amanda Knox says she is prepared to become "a fugitive" from justice if an Italian court upholds her original conviction for the murder of Meredith Kercher, a British student.
As one of the last hearings in her retrial was held yesterday, Knox, 26, confirmed from her hometown of Seattle, in the United States, where she is studying at Washington University, that she would fight any extradition request from Italy if the appeals court in Florence finds her guilty of the murder and sexual assault of the British undergraduate in Perugia in 2007.
Italy could apply for her to be extradited but her lawyers in the US are expected to resist that on the basis of double jeopardy - the principle that a defendant cannot be tried twice for the same crime. The appeals court is expected to hand down its verdict on January 30.
Asked what she would do if the court overturned her 2011 acquittal, Knox said: "In that case I will be ... how does one say ... a fugitive."
She told Italian daily La Repubblica that she remained optimistic she and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 29, would be found not guilty.
