Amanda Knox: heading for an extradition fight?

WATCH: Amanda Know says she will not go willingly

WASHINGTON – Roman Polanski. Edward Snowden. Manuel Noriega. Over the years, the famous and the infamous have been caught up in the legal process called extradition, which governs whether one country will turn over fugitives from justice to another country.

It may ultimately be the turn of Amanda Knox, whose murder conviction in the stabbing of her roommate has been reinstated by an Italian court, raising the spectre of a long extradition fight. She says she’ll never willingly go back to Italy.

The Knox case is special because it raises the question of whether the U.S. government would send one of its own citizens to a foreign country to face a long prison term.

READ MORE: Amanda Knox verdict: What happens now?

The answer: It’s been done before, though in less high-profile cases involving the governments of Canada, Mexico and other nations.

The U.S. has extradition treaties with more than 100 countries, including Italy, providing what would appear to be a strong legal foundation in favour of a request for Knox’s return to Italy.

“It’s absolutely not the case that an individual will not be extradited just because they are a U.S. citizen,” says Douglas McNabb, an international criminal defence attorney and an expert in international extradition law.

Time is on the side of Knox’s lawyers. Proceedings could take up to a year to play out in the Italian courts.

If Italy were to file a provisional arrest warrant after the Italian proceedings end, Knox’s lawyers could take the U.S. government through a judicial process in the courts and an administrative process at the State Department, which would make the decision.

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READ MORE: Police find Knox’s ex-boyfriend in hotel near border; take passport

State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf declined comment Friday when asked whether the U.S. has received an extradition request for Knox from Italian authorities, saying that information is “private and confidential.” She said the State Department is monitoring the case as it works its way through the Italian legal system but refused to provide further details, such as whether Secretary of State John Kerry would make the final decision on Knox if Italy asks for her to be returned.

The U.S. has had an extradition treaty with Italy since 1984 and has denied at least several requests since then.

Mary Fan, a former federal prosecutor, suggested that any decision by the State Department on whether to return Knox to Italy is “a matter of both law and politics.” From a U.S. standpoint, the case at first seems to raise questions about double jeopardy — being tried twice for the same offence, something that’s barred by the U.S. Constitution. Knox was first convicted, then acquitted, then, on Thursday, the initial conviction was reinstated.

Some observers dismiss the double-jeopardy argument because Knox’s acquittal was not finalized by Italy’s highest court.

READ MORE: Where in the world can Edward Snowden go?

Questions also have been raised about whether the State Department might conduct a review of the evidence and ultimately decide it doesn’t support extradition. The treaty says the country requesting extradition shall provide a summary of the facts and evidence in the case that establish “a reasonable basis to believe that the person sought committed the offence.”

But Christopher Jenks, a former Army attorney who served as a State Department legal adviser and now teaches at Southern Methodist University’s law school, said that’s a low bar, and that there’s “no reason why Italy wouldn’t be able to put together a sufficient extradition request.”

He also noted that although any request would wind up before a U.S. federal judge, the court’s role would largely be to ensure the paperwork is in order and that basic requirements are met.

“She’s not going to be able to relitigate ‘did she do it’ in a federal court,” he said. “Your chances of anything coming of that are slim to none.”

Some of the best-known extradition battles have been the reverse of what the Knox case would be. Filmmaking legend Polanski, leaker Snowden and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange have been the targets of U.S. efforts to bring them back to this country.

READ MORE: Amanda Knox found guilty in third murder trial

Polanski, a French citizen, fled to France before he was to be sentenced in the U.S. for having sex with a minor. France does not extradite its own citizens. Snowden fled from Hong Kong, which has an extradition treaty with the U.S., to Russia, which doesn’t.

Noriega, once the strongman who ran Panama, was extradited from the U.S. to France to Panama to face various drug-related criminal charges.

Assange fled to the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. Ecuador’s “modern leftist” government is having difficult relations with the U.S., even though the two countries have an extradition treaty. Granted asylum, Assange was avoiding extradition to Sweden where he would face allegations by two women of sexual assault, which he denies.

On Thursday, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said she is “very concerned and disappointed by this verdict” in the Italian court case. “I will continue to closely monitor this case as it moves forward through the Italian legal system.” Knox is from Seattle.