The retrial of American student Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend for the 2007 murder of a British student began in Italy Monday, but this time, Knox was not in court.
Italy's highest court ordered the retrial, overturning Knox's acquittal, and the court in Florence is expected to re-examine forensic evidence to determine whether Knox and former boyfriend, Raffaelle Sollecito, were responsible for the death of Knox's roommate, Meredith Kercher.
Knox has repeatedly denied playing any role in the murder of Kercher, 21, who was found with her throat cut in the house the two women shared when both were exchange students studying in Perugia, Italy.
Knox, 26, has refused to be present at the retrial, citing the desire not to relive the experience of being imprisoned for a crime she says she didn't commit, as well as the financial strain and commitments of school. She is now a student at the University of Washington.
Her former lover, Sollecito, was not expected to be in court Monday, though his lawyer has told Sky News he would attend later hearings.
Knox and Sollecito were convicted of the killings by a lower court in 2009, but their convictions were quashed two years later on appeal. The appeals court cited weaknesses in the DNA evidence in letting the two go free. However, last year, Italy's Supreme Court overturned the appeal court's acquittal in March, citing "shortcomings, contradictions and inconsistencies" in the ruling.
In reversing the acquittal, the high court also suggested that Rudy Guede, a drifter convicted and sentenced to jail for the murder, did not act alone.
DNA evidence is expected to be at the center of the new trial, with a lawyer for the Kercher family telling Sky News that the judge in the new trial might order new tests on the alleged murder weapon as well as the bra Kercher was wearing at the time of her death. That evidence was questioned by experts appointed by the appeals court, who in turn were challenged by the Supreme Court in hearing the acquittals.
Knox, who served four years of her initial 26-year prison sentence in Italy, is not required by law to return to the country for the retrial.
A new appeal verdict is expected to be reached by Christmas, before the case returns to the Supreme Court for a second time. If a guilty verdict for Knox is upheld, the Italian government may put in an extradition request for Knox, though the U.S. would likely refuse it.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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