The murder conviction of American college student Amanda Knox was thrown out in March because of "stunning flaws," Italy's top criminal court explained on Monday.

Prosecutors had tried Knox, along with co-defendant and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, in spite of an "absolute lack of biological traces," the five-judge panel said, according to USA Today. The court of last resort noted that it had no choice but to clear the two youngsters in the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher, Knox's British roommate, in Perugia.

In a 52-page sentence, the court challenged the prosecutors' "hypothesis of [Knox's and Sollecito's] presence in the house" where Kercher was killed, saying the absence of physical evidence indubitably favored the couple's claim of innocence, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The judges were pressed to explain what CNN called a "somewhat unconventional choice to throw out the case without ordering a new trial." The court noted that contaminated evidence made it impossible to go back and find any real truth.

The court blamed the media for putting pressure on authorities in Perugia, causing what the judges called a "sudden acceleration" during the initial stages of the investigation, the news channel noted.

"Certainly, the unusual hype of the story, due not only to the dramatic mode of death of a 22-year-old, so absurd and incomprehensible in its genesis, but also to the nationality of the people involved meant international repercussions," the judges wrote. "That has meant that the investigations suffered a sudden acceleration, which, in the frantic search for one or more culprits to be delivered to international public opinion, certainly did not [facilitate] seeking the truth," they added.

Knox, who today studies at the University of Washington in Seattle, meanwhile, thanked the Court of Cassation and her supporters in a statement posted to her website.

"This has been a long struggle for me, my family, my friends, and my supporters. While I am glad it is now over, I will remain forever grateful to the many individuals who gave their time and talents to help me," the 28-year-old wrote.