The difficult legal vocabulary in bold is explained in a glossary after the article Legal Vocabulary: Amanda Knox acquited for Meredith’s murder 
Meredith Kercher, a 21-year-old British student was sexually assaulted and brutally murdered in her own bedroom in the little Italian university town of Perugia in 2007. In a procedure that put the Italian judicial system under the spotlight, the fact that there was a homicide victim was almost overlooked in extraordinarily tense courtroom scenes that focused on Amanda Knox. The American student, who was Meredith’s housemate and 20 at the time of the killing, was hoping to overturn her 26-year sentence, along with her then boyfriend Rafaelle Sollecito, for Miss Kercher’s murder. Earlier in the day’s proceedings, Knox gave an emotional speech to the jury claiming that she was completely innocent. After eleven hours of deliberation, judges upheld her appeal and she was acquitted along with the other defendant, Sollecito. However, the jury also came to the verdict that Amanda Knox had committed defamation and slander against the Italian Police (who she claimed had hit her during her interrogation) and her ex-boss, a local bar owner, who she had accused of the crime. She was ordered to serve 3 years in jail and pay €20,000 damages to Lumumba, the bar owner. As she had already served 4 years in jail, she was free to leave. After being hugged by her defence counsel, Knox, sobbing and stumbling, was hustled quickly from the courtroom, as the lead prosecutor commiserated with the Kercher family. At the original trial, The Italian Supreme Court ruled that Meredith was killed by a group of assailants, but now there is only one person in prison for the killing, Rudy Guede. He was found guilty of the crime and is currently serving 16 years after opting for a fast-track trial, and thereby a reduced sentence, in 2008. From the beginning, this case has received massive global media attention due to “Foxy Knoxy’s” beauty, personality and odd behaviour in the days after the murder. Additionally, the ever-changing testimony, contrasting statements, unsubstantiated alibis, unreliable DNA evidence undermining the prosecution, questionable motive and supercharged emotions have given the media endless reasons to run this story. However, after all is said and done, there are no winners in this case as the Kercher family members are still stoically waiting for the truth to emerge about what happened on that night to their beloved daughter, Meredith. (This is another example of a story that you can read in your own language and then from English media for a free English lesson.)
LEGAL VOCABULARY
- Assaulted
- physically attacked
- Murdered
- unlawful killing of a human by sb else
- Homicide
- same as murder
- Victim
- a person harmed, injured or killed as a result of a crime or accident
- Courtroom
- the place in which a court of law meets
- Overturn
- to reverse a legal decision
- Sentence
- the punishment given to sb found guilty of a crime
- Innocent
- not guilty of a crime
- Deliberation
- long and careful consideration and discussion
- Judge
- a public official who decides on cases in a court of law
- To uphold a decision
- to confirm
- Appeal
- an application to a higher court to reverse the decision of a lower court
- To acquit sb
- to free sb from a criminal charge by a verdict of not guilty
- Defendant
- sb accused in a court of law
- Verdict
- a decision from a criminal case
- Defamation
- the act of damaging sb’s good reputation
- Slander
- the crime of making a false spoken statement damaging sb’s reputation
- Interrogation
- being questioned by police for a long time
- To accuse
- charge sb with an offense
- To order to serve
- to say sb must go to prison for a specific time
- Damages
- money awarded as compensation for loss or injury
- Defence
- the case presented on behalf of sb being accused in a lawsuit
- Counsel
- lawyers conducting a case
- Prosecutor
- a lawyer who conducts the case against a defendant in a criminal court
- Trial
- a formal examination of evidence by a judge in order to decide guilt in a case
- To rule
- to say authoritatively and legally what the truth is
- Assailant
- sb who physically attacks another
- Fast-track trial
- court case that gives more rapid results than usual
- Case
- legal proceedings from a court of law
- Testimony
- a statement (sometimes by a witness) given in a court of law
- Statement
- sb formally saying what happened in a court of law
- Alibi
- a claim that sb was somewhere else when a crime took place
- DNA
- the material in all living things which carries genetic information
- Evidence
- the information given to establish facts in a court case
- To undermine
- to damage or weaken sth
- Motive
- a reason for doing something
