Both were expected to be freed after being returned to prison to collect their belongings.

Earlier Monday, a tearful Knox told the jury that she did not kill her British roommate, pleading for the court to free her so she can return to the United States after four years behind bars.

Knox frequently paused for breath and fought back tears as she spoke in Italian to the eight members of the jury in a packed courtroom, but managed to maintain her composure during the 10-minute address.

“I’m not a promiscuous vamp. I’m not violent … I have not killed, I have not raped, I was not there, I was not present,” the 24-year-old American told a packed courtroom in Perugia.

“I want to go home, I want to go back to my life, I do not want to be punished and to have my life taken away from me for something I have not done, because I am innocent.”

The eight-member jury weighed whether the 2009 convictions and prison sentences — 26 years for Knox, 25 years for Sollecito — should stand, be dismissed or altered.

I’m not sure what to say here, I haven’t followed the Knox case closely, but from what little I have read two things seem clear: the Italian p0lice hopelessly botched their investigation into the murder Meredith Kercher and the tabloid media held what amounts to a virtual public lynching of Ms. Knox… Something that is becoming far to common both here and abroad.

Related

• Italian appeal court clears Amanda Knox of murder – Reuters.com
• Italian Court Frees Amanda Knox – Wall Street Journal

France on Wednesday led a walkout of a dozen delegations, including the United States, to protest a fiery speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the UN General Assembly.

“It is disappointing that Mr Ahmadinejad has once again chosen to espouse hateful, offensive and anti-Semitic rhetoric,” Mark Kornblau, spokesman to the US mission to the United Nations, said in a statement.

Delegations from Argentina, Australia, Britain, Costa Rica, Denmark, France Germany, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand and the United States left the room as Ahmadinejad began to rail against Israel, a European source said.

Israel had already called for a boycott of the speech, and was not present when the Iranian leader began his address. Canada had already said it would heed the boycott call.

I doubt the U.S. delegation would have walked out without White House approval so kudos to Pres. Obama for demonstrating a little moral clarity.

CBC News has great photo of the largely empty General Assembly chamber here.