People who accuse me argue that justice cannot be done for Meredith unless I am convicted. It's a mind-set where there are criminals and there are victims, and if you're accused of being a criminal, there's no way you can be a victim.
14.50 if Knox is convicted again for the murder of Meredith Kercher could create a complicated diplomatic dispute between Italy and the US, our New York correspondent Jon Swaine writes.
Italian authorities must now decide whether to ask President Barack Obama's administration to deport Ms Knox to Italy under the 1983 extradition treaty between the two countries.
Yet the US-Italy extradition treaty only protects Americans against extradition to face prosecution again in Italy for an offence that was already dealt with by the US legal system.
In any case, Italy would be likely to argue that under the definitions of its legal system, Ms Knox was not actually tried twice, but rather found guilty at the end of one extended trial process, which saw her earlier acquittal reviewed.
14.49 Not quite the media scrum it was for the first two trial in 2009 and 2011, but there is still over an hour to go before the court returns. Our correspondent in the courtroom, Nick Squires, has taken this picture:
So the wait continues. The jury went out this morning and the large courtroom here in the court complex on the outskirts of Florence is now occupied mostly by journalists awaiting the verdict.
Lawyers pass through from time to time and members of the public are sitting towards the back of the room. Outside the court complex, TV cameramen are trying to stay dry in pouring winter rain and correspondents are doing live two-ways with their networks. Miserable weather.
TV crews shelter from driving rain outside the court complex in Florence
15.46 Knox's absence does not formally hurt her case since she was freed by a court and defendants in Italy are not required to appear at their trials. However, Nencini reacted sternly to her emailed statement, noting that defendants have a right to be heard if they appear physically before the panel.
Amanda Knox, pictured yesterday in her hometown of Seattle, has cut her hair short
Sollecito, on the other hand, has made frequent court appearances, always in a purple sweater, the color of the local Florentine football club. He was in court again today wearing sunglasses and looking rather confident, accompanied by his father and othe relatives
.
14.45 Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, now household names thanks to the three very public trials over the murder of British student Meredith Kercher - face another verdict this afternoon.
Prosecutor Alessandro Crini, who has demanded 26 years on the murder charge for each of the defendants, has asked the court to take measures to ensure any verdict could be enforced. He also asked the court to raise Knox's sentence on the slander conviction, which has been finalised, from three to four years because he alleges she accused the wrong man to remove suspicion from herself.
If convicted, Sollecito, who like Knox spent four years in jail, risks immediate arrest. The situation for Knox remains complicated by her absence. In the case of a guilty verdict, experts have said it is unlikely Italy would seek her extradition until a verdict is finalized, a process that can take a year.
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