Amanda Knox Update: Inaccurate Evidence Used to Convict
Amanda Knox, the former exchange student who was convicted of killing her roommate in Italy, attended the first day of her appeal hearing Monday where forensic specialists claimed that police may have tampered with evidence used to convict her.
Knox, 24, and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted of stabbing Meredith Kircher to death in 2009. After further investigation, forensic specialists compiled a report last month detailing 54 separate incidences where proper police procedure was not used to handle evidence, according to CBS.
Stefano Conti and Cala Vecchotti, the two independent specialists who also serve as professors from La Sapienz University in Rome, created a report after reviewing the evidence.
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The two DNA experts appeared at Knox’s appeal hearing Monday to explain their findings using slides and footage. The specialists pointed out that the sample of DNA found on the knife allegedly used to kill Kircher was not sufficient enough evidence to convict Knox.
Kircher’s bra strap was another piece of evidence that the prosecution used to convict Knox and her boyfriend Sollecito. However, the independent forensic report stated that the bra clasp remained at the crime scene for close to two months before it was collected by authorities with “dirty gloves,” according to CBS.
In the 144-page report, the independent forensic specialists wrote: "It cannot be ruled out that the result obtained...may stem from contamination.”
Vecchiotti claimed that there had been inadequate handling of evidence during the 2009 trial that convicted Knox.
"The collection and sampling of evidence did not conform to international standards," Vecchiotti said, according to The Telegraph.
After attending the first day of her daughter’s appeal proceedings, Edda Mellas, expressed hope for Amanda.
"It's definitely looking better – finally we're hearing the truth - although I'm not celebrating until she walks out of jail," Edda Mellas told The Daily Telegraph. "She's hanging in there, but she's still locked up, it's horrible."
