Amanda Knox may have a lot of supporters in the United States, but the U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly no friend of hers. Radar Online reports that the convicted killer must register as a sex offender by law as part of her conviction in a sex related murder. Not only was the Seattle woman convicted of killing her roommate Meredith Kercher, she was found guilty in participating in the group attack that involved sexual assault.
The U.S. Department of Justice wouldn’t comment specifically on the Knox case, but confirmed to Radar Online that someone who has been convicted of sexual homicides abroad must also register as a sex offender while living in the United States. That includes living in the state of Washington, where Amanda resides. However, officials in the state of Washington aren’t being as forthcoming with information regarding Knox’s need to register as a sex offender. The Washington State Department of Corrections indicated that it would be something that needs to be decided by the U.S. Department of Justice. In other words, nobody in Washington intends on making Amanda compliant with federal and state law until the feds force them to do so.
If the state of Washington isn’t going to force Amanda Knox to register as a sex offender, then isn’t this an arbitrary way to enforce the law? Washington State Legislature declares that convicted offenders from abroad are under the jurisdiction of the Washington State Department of Corrections, but for some reason they have passed on enforcing the written word of the law in Amanda Knox’s case, putting the ball in the feds’ court. Of course the ball could already be in the feds’ court since Knox is not necessarily from abroad, but requests for her possible extradition must come through the federal government in the first place.
This could also mean that the feds are possibly waiting for the March hearing in Italy, which will determine whether or not the conviction sticks. If they uphold the conviction, then Amanda will have three days, by law, to register as a sex offender. She will also become the possible target of an extradition request, which could end in her going back to prison.
Meanwhile, BBC News and other sources continue to share the news of Amanda’s engagement to Colin Sutherland — a childhood friend she began dating after her last long term relationship ended in 2014. Sutherland himself hasn’t made any comments publicly about his engagement to Knox now that he’s become a true crime celebrity by association. Nonetheless, the #AmandaKnox hashtag on Twitter and Facebook features numerous questions regarding his thoughts about the high profile murder case in which Knox is entangled.
[Photo credit: The Telegraph /Meredith Kercher, murder victim]