Milan, Italy ? The appellate court in Italy that cleared American student Amanda Knox in the slaying of her British roommate has released the reasoning behind its ruling.

The Perugia court said faulty evidence was used to build the case linking Knox and her Italian boyfriend to the slaying of 21-year-old Meredith Kercher, whose body was found in a pool of blood on Nov. 1, 2007.

Knox and Raffaele Sollecito had their guilty verdicts thrown out Oct. 3. Knox immediately returned home to Seattle, after four years in jail.

The appellate court released its 144-page reasoning for reversing the earlier verdict on Thursday.