Knox awaits 3rd verdict in absentia for brutal 2007 killing of British roommate

FILE PHOTOS COMBO - File photos combo shows, from left; Italian student Raffaele Sollecito, slain 21-year-old British woman Meredith Kercher, her American roommate Amanda Knox. Few international criminal cases have cleaved along national biases as that of American student Amanda Knox, awaiting half world away her third Italian court verdict in the 2007 slaying of her British roommate, 21-year-old Meredith Kercher. Whatever is decided this week, the protracted legal battle that has grabbed global headlines and polarized trial-watchers in three nations probably won't end in Florence. With the first two trials producing flip-flop guilty-then-innocent verdicts against Knox and her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, the case has produced harshly clashing versions of events. A Florence appeals panel designated by Italy's supreme court to address errors in the appeals acquittal is set to deliberate Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014, with a verdict expected later in the day. (AP Photo/files) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Tuesday Sept. 16, 2008 file photo, then murder suspect Amanda Knox is escorted by Italian penitentiary police officers from Perugia's court after a hearing, central Italy. Few international criminal cases have cleaved along national biases as that of American student Amanda Knox, awaiting half world away her third Italian court verdict in the 2007 slaying of her British roommate, 21-year-old Meredith Kercher. Whatever is decided this week, the protracted legal battle that has grabbed global headlines and polarized trial-watchers in three nations probably won't end in Florence. With the first two trials producing flip-flop guilty-then-innocent verdicts against Knox and her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, the case has produced harshly clashing versions of events. A Florence appeals panel designated by Italy's supreme court to address errors in the appeals acquittal is set to deliberate Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014, with a verdict expected later in the day .(AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2007 file photo, Italian student Raffaele Sollecito, then boyfriend of American student Amanda Knox, stands outside the rented house where 21-year-old British student Meredith Kercher was found dead on Nov 1, in Perugia, Italy. Few international criminal cases have cleaved along national biases as that of American student Amanda Knox, awaiting half world away her third Italian court verdict in the 2007 slaying of her British roommate Kercher. Whatever is decided this week, the protracted legal battle that has grabbed global headlines and polarized trial-watchers in three nations probably won't end in Florence. With the first two trials producing flip-flop guilty-then-innocent verdicts against Knox and her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, the case has produced harshly clashing versions of events. A Florence appeals panel designated by Italy's supreme court to address errors in the appeals acquittal is set to deliberate Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014, with a verdict expected later in the day. .(AP Photo/Stefano Medici, file) (The Associated Press)