FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — An Italian court has begun the second appeals trial of American student Amanda Knox in the murder of her British roommate, but Knox isn't there.

Italy's highest court ordered a new trial for Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend, overturning their acquittals in the gruesome 2007 slaying of Meredith Kercher. The court said the acquittal was full of "deficiencies, contradictions and illogical" conclusions.

The appellate court in Florence is expected to re-examine forensic evidence to determine whether Knox and her former boyfriend helped kill the 21-year-old Kercher while the two women shared an apartment in the university town of Perugia (peh-ROO'-juh).

Knox, who served four years of a 26-year prison sentence in Italy, is now a 26-year-old University of Washington student. She has not returned to Italy for the trial, nor is she required by law to do so.


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