He was acquitted on appeal in 2000 after the statute of limitations had expired.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Watson was acquitted on appeal, and his ship was returned to him.

NEWYORKER: Neptune��s Navy

His conviction was later quashed on appeal and he was acquitted at a retrial in 2008.

BBC: Rachel Manning 'strangled and dumped at golf course'

James Gray Jnr, 17, was acquitted on two further charges following the appeal, but all other convictions against him, and his relatives, were upheld.

BBC: James Gray

In 2011 Miss Knox and Mr Sollecito were acquitted on appeal, largely on the grounds that DNA evidence was flawed.

BBC: Kercher case: Knox to fight 'wrongful' allegations

By chance, a court in Milan is due to begin hearing just such an appeal, of a case in which Mr Berlusconi was acquitted on four charges of bribing judges.

ECONOMIST: Italy's prime minister and the law