PERUGIA, Italy - Amanda Knox's family had been hoping to bring her from Perugia to Seattle in time to celebrate Christmas. They were stunned by her conviction, but within hours had moved from sadness to anger, and were planning her appeal.
"This is a travesty of justice, and it needs to get fixed," said Amanda's father, Curt Knox.
"We had to kind of yell that we love her, and we could hear her when she left the door, literally break down," he said.
The Saturday headlines across Italy screamed out the news. Amanda Knox, guilty, condemned to spend 27 years locked behind bars.
Judgment day was harsh and swift. The jury spent just one day deliberating in a case that began with Amanda's arrest more than two years ago.
It was not the news the family was ready to hear.
"They didn't have the courage. They failed their legal system," said Curt Knox.
"We just lost it and we just broke down because we saw her crying and it just broke our hearts," said Amanda's 11-year-old sister, Delaney.
Mixed reaction as prison vans raced through the crowded streets. some onlookers cried; others yelled "assassin."
The shell-shocked Knox family fled through the streets of historic Perugia, pursued by relentless cameras.
But within hours they were at the Capanne prison, telling their daughter their plans for an appeal, encouraged that the jury didn't deliver the life sentence prosecutors were asking for, and by signs of political pressure at home.
"We will find a way," said Curt Knox. "She's not going to be left here alone. I mean it's just not going to happen and we'll do whatever it takes to bring her home."
The defense team is now waiting for the jury motivations. These are the explanations of how they reached their decision. But the Knox family has been warned it could be next September before the official appeals process would begin. By then Amanda would have been in prison for nearly three years.
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