I am happy for Amanda Knox, the 24-year-old American girl whose conviction for murder was overturned today in an Italian court. She has spent the last four years in prison, convicted of murdering her housemate, an English girl.
A court-appointed review of the DNA discredited the crucial genetic evidence used to put Amanda and her boyfriend behind bars for 26 and 25-year terms.
I am happy, too, for Amanda’s parents, whose composure impressed me every time I saw them interviewed by the media. The thought of my daughter in prison–an Italian prison, no less– for a murder I knew she could never commit, is horrifying. I’m not sure I could stand it. I would want to be in jail with her, at the very least.
And, I am happy for Amanda’s boyfriend, whose conviction was overturned as well. He told the court, before the decision was announced, that he had been living a nightmare from which he could never wake.
I am not happy today for the parents of the dead young girl, Meredith Kercher, because their pain will never go away.
Life is not just for all of us.