AMANDA KNOX and her former Italian boyfriend will make a last attempt to persuade the court hearing their appeals that they had nothing to do with the murder of Knox’s ex-flatmate, British student Meredith Kercher, today.
Members of Ms Kercher’s family will fly into Perugia for the keenly awaited outcome, but were expected to arrive too late to hear the final pleas of her convicted killers.
Their presence, just feet away from the relatives of the two appellants, will add an extra layer of tension to a case already brimming with drama and expectation.
The Kerchers’ legal representatives at the appeal have unequivocally aligned themselves with the prosecution’s case, that Knox slashed the British student’s throat as she was held immobile by Knox’s then boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, and Rudy Guede, a small-time drugs trafficker from Ivory Coast. The family’s lawyer, Francesco Maresca, said: “Just as they respected the verdict at the trial, so they will respect the outcome of the appeal.”
Knox attended Mass on Saturday in the prison near Perugia where she has been held for almost four years since her arrest. The prison chaplain, Fr Saulo Scarabattoli, said she had played guitar during the service, as she did every weekend.
“You can imagine how she is,” he said, “but Amanda evinces great strength and hope.”
In June, two independent court-appointed experts dismissed as unreliable key forensic evidence against the University of Washington student and her former lover. Since then, a widespread expectation has built up in the US that their appeals will be upheld.
In Italy, public opinion – once largely hostile to Knox – has become more divided. One of the country’s most widely read magazines, Oggi, has campaigned to draw attention to the weaknesses in the prosecution case. An MP for Silvio Berlusconi’s party, Rocco Girlanda, who visited her on Saturday, has become an important advocate of her cause.
But evidence suggests most Italians believe Knox and Sollecito were involved in Kercher’s murder. In a viewers’ poll conducted by Sky Italia after the prosecution wound up its case, only 27 per cent of respondents thought the couple were innocent.
If that balance of sentiment is reflected among the six lay judges who will help to reach today’s decision, it could tell against Knox and her former boyfriend, even if the two professional judges are convinced of their innocence.
The court president, Claudio Pratillo Hellman, has two votes to cast, the other full-time judge, Massimo Zanetti, one, but the lay judges also have a vote each and can therefore decide the outcome.
According to a local paper, Corriere dell'Umbria, clandestine bookmakers – betting is a state monopoly in Italy – were so uncertain of the outcome that many were refusing to take bets.
Knox, who arrived in Italy less than a month before the killing, was sentenced to 26 years at the trial two years ago. Sollecito, who had known Knox for just six days, was given a 25-year sentence. – (Guardian service)