Amanda Knox, the University of Washington student who was released from an Italian jail in October after being exonerated of the murder of her roommate, has hired Robert Barnett, the superstar Washington agent, to represent her in a possible book deal.
David Marriott, Knox’s publicist, said she had been approached by several publishers about writing a book, but he declined to provide details about whether she had started work on such a project or when it might be published.
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Barnett will also represent Knox “in evaluating other opportunities,” presumably that includes the details of her first television interview and a possible movie deal. Major network TV anchors have been assiduously courting Knox in the hopes of landing her first TV interview.
The pairing of Knox and Barnett had been rumored for several weeks. Marriott’s firm Gogerty Marriott, which has represented Knox and her family since was she was first arrested in 2007, has strong Washington ties. A lawyer by training, Barnett has carved out a niche representing high-profile authors, including President Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush, Bob Woodward, and Sarah Palin. Non-political clients include Shania Twain, James Patterson, Daniel Silva and Barbra Streisand.
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Knox was convicted in 2009 along with then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for sexually assaulting and murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher in 2007. Knox and Kercher, a British student, were in a study abroad program in Perugia, Italy. In October, an Italian court overturned Knox’s conviction and freed her after serving four years of her 26-year sentence.
