Amanda Knox Appeal Trial: Will American be Released?
In court to appeal her 2009 conviction of killing her roommate, Amanda Knox was called a “witch of deception” Monday.
"Who is Amanda Knox?" said lawyer Carlo Pacelli, an attorney for bar owner Diya Patrick Lamumba said during a grueling day in an Italian court. "Is she the mild-looking, fresh-faced person you see here, or the one devoted to lust, drugs and alcohol that emerges from the court documents?"
Knox, 24, is seeking to overturn her conviction of murdering 21-year-old British student Meredith Kercher came under attack at the appeals hearing by Pacelli and other civil lawyers.
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A lawyer showed dozens of autopsy photos showing extensive gashes and bloody wounds from Kercher’s body.
According to court documents, Kercher, 21, was stabbed to death, with her throat slit, in the apartment she shared with Knox in Italy during a study abroad trip. The American student at one point told investigators she was home during the killing and had to cover her ears to drown out Kercher's screams while Lumumba was murdering her, according to court documents.
According to New England Cable News, Knox’s family was hopeful about her potential release. Her father, Curt Knox was particularly hopeful about his daughter’s chance to return home.
He said, "It has been a struggle this entire time being in prison, having your freedom taken away for something you haven't done," he said. "But, these past few months have really been a struggle for her just because the light is really on at the end of the tunnel as a real opportunity to have a chance to come home.”
Curt Knox insisted his daughter was always serious and that "you just don't go abroad and freak out in a short period of time".
The source of the family’s optimism comes from new expert evidence indicating that the DNA evidence used to convict Knox, which was found on the suspected murder weapon and on Kercher’s bra clasp, are “unsound.”
In closing arguments, the prosecutor sought to discredit the expert DNA defense testimony as selective, ignoring blood and bloody footprints found in the bathroom.
Recognizing the possibility that the co-defendants could go free due to problems with DNA evidence, prosecutors urged the court not to release them. Instead, in closing arguments over the weekend, they requested that Knox's sentence be extended to life behind bars, which is Italy’s stiffest sentence.
Knox's defense team is up Thursday. Friday and Saturday is scheduled for rebuttals. The verdict should come Saturday or Monday. If her appeal is successful, Knox could be free by January.
