there's nothing. >> no one questioned rudy guede's guilt. t, two and a half weeks after amanda's trial ended, guede's sentence was reduced from 30 years to 16, leading some to ask, did he cut a deal? >> there's overwhelming dna evidence along with lots of other physical evidence that points to rudy guede. >> amanda's attorneys appealed the verdict and focused on challenging the dna evidence. >> when the appeals process began, it felt like they had another mountain to climb that right away you could tell that there was a very different tone, and, again, the key decision was whether or not they would allow an independent assessment of the forensic evidence. >> november 24th, 2010. 11 months after the guilty verdict, a second trial is granted. >> the defense presented a very compelling case, identifying rudy guede as the true killer, based on hard facts and motive. >> rudy guede came to the house. he broke in. he was in the bathroom. he left his own dna in the bathroom. meredith may have come home and surprised him. maybe he was lying in wait. i

it was rudy guede. this isn't a third person, this is a completely separate actor according to the defense and i think the record shows that. but in any case, rudy guede asks for a speedy trial and is convicted. why the prosecution continued with its two initial suspects when all of the dna is rudy guede's in that room, all of the dna that is found the day of the murder is either the victim or rudy guede. it is on her body, in her vagina. if this case had been worked what i'd say properly, look at the data, look at the evidence, amanda knox and raffaele sollecito were never charged. they were charged based on a gut feeling before the evidence was processed. once the evidence was processed, scientifically it pointed to one person who was tried and convicted. i think a lot of people forget that's how this happened. so the knife evidence that the state used to prosecute amanda knox we've questioned from the beginning it's clear to me it was probably a contaminant. it's very low level, they used evidence th

also inside meredith's naked body, rudy guede's dna.olice explain the fact that at the crime scene there is not one trace of dna from amanda knox. the prosecutors will say she must have cleaned hers off. >> it's impossible to see dna, much less identify whose dna it is. >> the trial will continue for 318 days. on december 5, 2009, two years after the murder, amanda knox is called back into the courtroom and hears the word colpevole. guilty? >> colpevole. and it was a roar in the courtroom. people exclaiming. my mom and my sister crying. and i couldn't breathe. everything that i thought i knew about the way justice and life worked was gone. >> outside, italians rejoice. >> amanda knox was found guilty. >> as the verdict was read amanda knox and her family began to sob. >> her sense 26 yesentence /* h years in prison. >> capanne prison, 500 prisoners. in a tiny room, a 22-year-old american girl sentenced to 26 years has only a small window onto a cypress tree. she says day and night she could hear women wailing in their cells. you wrote,

rudy guede, a known petty criminal from the ivory coast who fled to germany shortly after the murder.ede's handprint made in meredith kercher's own blood was found in the victim's room. guede's dna found inside the victim's body in her vagina. his dna on her clothing, on his purse, his feces even found on used toilet paper left near an unflushed toilet down the hall and something else. guede didn't even know raffaele and had only met amanda a few times with neighbors. >> knowing all of that and when he finally got extradited from germany back down to italy, we thought thank god this is over. >> it wasn't. prosecutor mignini simply swapped suspects. amanda knox, raffaele sollecito, and now rudy guede had come to meredith kercher hoping to include her in an orgy. when kercher refused, they pulled out knives and killed her. giuliano would stick to his instincts despite forensic evidence. you were fixated, according to the defense, on amanda knox and raffaele sollecito and kept imagining new scenarios that made these two people guilty. >> translator: no, absolutely not. i did what i did b

for the murder. >> rudy guede's dna is all over the place. at crime scene for two months and they were not able to find amanda knox's dna. >> reporter: still guede could actually walk free at the very moment authorities are trying to put knox back in prison. >> with good behavior, he is eligible and will probably receive daytime release this year. >> reporter: if italy does seek knox's extradition legal experts believe she will have a tough time fighting it unless u.s. thorities make the unusual move of resisting italy and a treaty americans rely on to work both ways. >> i understand that there is a legal process we go through here depending on whether there's an extradition treaty or not. >> reporter: until then amanda knox will remain a woman caught between two countries, convicted of murder in italy while free here at home. for "good morning america," neal karlinsky, abc news, seattle. >> such an interesting story and so many questions about whether she will be dragged back to italy. we will, of course, continue to cover it here on abc news

for the murder. >> rudy guede's dna is all over the place. rime scene for two months and they were not able to find amanda knox's dna. >> reporter: still guede could actually walk free at the very moment authorities are trying to put knox back in prison. >> with good behavior, he is eligible and will probably receive daytime release this year. >> reporter: if italy does seek knox's extradition legal experts believe she will have a tough time fighting it unless u.s. authorities make the unusual move of resisting italy and a treaty americans rely on to work both ways. >> i understand that there is a legal process we go through here depending on whether there's an extradition treaty or not. >> reporter: until then amanda knox will remain a woman caught between two countries, convicted of murder in italy while free here at home. for "good morning america," neal karlinsky, abc news, seattle. >> such an interesting story and so many questions about whether she will be dragged back to italy. we will, of course, continue to cover it here on abc news.