The retrial of Amanda Knox over the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher is due to open in Italy, but the American will not be in court.
Ms Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty in 2009, but acquitted on appeal in 2011.
In March, Italy's highest court overturned both acquittals, ordering a fresh appeals process.
Ms Knox spent four years in prison before her acquittal. She has always insisted that she is innocent.
'So scary'The retrial is due to open in the central Italian city of Florence, and the first session is expected to discuss procedural issues such as dates for further hearings.
Raffaele Sollecito: "I'm fighting and striving to see the light"
The retrial was ordered after the prosecution had taken the case to Italy's Supreme Court.
The court strongly criticised the way the appeals court had dismissed important DNA evidence, ordering the whole process to begin all over again.
Ms Knox, 26, is not required to be present for the retrial.
Earlier this month, she said she expected to win another acquittal, but that "common sense" told her not to return to Italy.
"I was already imprisoned as an innocent person in Italy," she told America's NBC television. "I just can't relive that."
"I thought about what it would be like to live my entire life in prison and to lose everything, to lose what I've been able to come back to and rebuild.
"I think about it all the time. It's so scary. Everything is at stake.''
However, if her previous conviction is confirmed, Italy would be expected to request her extradition.
Meredith Kercher, from Coulsdon, south London, was found dead in a flat she shared in Perugia with Ms Knox, a fellow exchange student.
Prosecutors said Miss Kercher, who had been repeatedly stabbed, died in a sex game that went wrong. She was 21.
Both Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito maintain their innocence. Mr Sollecito is expected to attend some of the hearings, reports in local media say.
Ms Knox insists that on the night of Miss Kercher's death she was at Mr Sollecito's flat, smoking marijuana and watching a film.
Another man - Rudy Guede from Ivory Coast - was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to 16 years for the killing.
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