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Post by Admin on Nov 26, 2013 22:04:01 GMT
Lawyers for Amanda Knox filed an appeal of her slander conviction in Italy with the European Court of Human Rights, as her third murder trial was underway in Florence. The slander conviction was based on statements Knox made to police in November 2007 when she was being questioned about the slaying of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher, in the house they shared in Perugia. Knox says she was coerced into making false statements blaming the slaying on bar owner Patrick Lumumba. "The interrogation took place in a language I barely spoke, without a lawyer present, and without the police informing me that I was a suspect in Meredith's murder, which was a violation of my human rights," Knox said in a statement released Monday as the appeal was filed. Knox has returned to Seattle, where she is a student at the University of Washington. She is not attending the third trial being held in an appeals court in Florence.
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Post by Admin on Dec 16, 2013 21:20:41 GMT
A lawyer urged an Italian appeals court on Monday to convict Amanda Knox of murdering British student Meredith Kercher and denounced how the American was soliciting donations in Kercher's memory. Francesco Maresca, in his closing arguments in the third trial of Knox and co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito, urged the panel of two professional judges and eight lay jurors to disregard Knox's claims of innocence and her criticism of Italy's judicial system as 'failed, or fallible'. 'She has become a well-known person. You know she signed contracts for millions of dollars for her book. She has someone who takes care of her public relations. Maresca identified two `'fulcrums" in the case against Knox and Sollecito: Knox's false accusation against a Congo-born bar owner and a staged robbery, both of which Maresca said were aimed at sidetracking the investigation. Knox has been convicted of slander for the false accusation. Maresca also argued that it would not have been possible for one person to inflict the kind of wounds that Kercher suffered: 43 in all, including 'three devastating' cuts to the neck. The other wounds were aimed at threatening the British student, and were found on her face, eyes, mouth, gums and teeth. He argued that two knives were used, the kitchen knife found at Sollecito's apartment that is the presumed to be the murder weapon, and a smaller knife. At the same time, Kercher had no defensive wounds, said Kercher family lawyer Serena Perna, indicating that someone held her back.
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Post by Admin on Dec 17, 2013 21:20:11 GMT
Amanda Knox declared her innocence in her roommate's 2007 murder in a highly unusual email Tuesday to the Italian court hearing the case against her. The former U.S. exchange student also said she was staying away from the trial out of fear of being wrongly convicted. "I am not present at the hearing because I am afraid. I am afraid that the vehemence of my accusers will leave an impression on you, that their smoke in the eyes will blind you," Knox's email was quoted as saying. "I am not a monster," she said. She said Kercher, her housemate and alleged victim, was "a friend". "I liked her, she helped me, she was generous and funny, I never criticised enough," she said, following accusations from prosecutors that a deep rift between the two was the basic motive for the murder. Referring to a partial confession that she made to investigators in the days after the murder, Knox said that she had been "tortured psychologically". Members of the media wait in front of Florence's Justice Palace in Italy Wednesday. "I didn't kill. I didn't rape. I didn't rob. I didn't plot. I didn't instigate. I didn't kill Meredith," Knox wrote. Presiding Judge Alessandro Nencini read the five-page email written in Italian into the court record. He noted that the email, presented by Knox's lawyers before their closing arguments, was not a normal procedure in Italy. He said it highlighted Knox's absence and indicated it did not have the same legal standing as a declaration made in person. "Who wants to speak at a trial, comes to the trial," Nencini said, adding that he had to take the word of her lawyers that the email originated with Knox. "I never saw her, I don't know her." Carlo Dalla Vedova, lawyer of Amanda Knox, third from left, talks to journalists as he leaves Italy's Court of Cassation, in Rome on, March 26. Italy's highest criminal court has overturned the acquittal of Amanda Knox in the slaying of her British roommate and ordered a new trial. Knox, in the email, said she falsely accused bar owner Patrick Lumumba under pressure from the Italian police, who made her sign a false confession "that made no sense and should not have been considered legitimate evidence." She said she was denied a lawyer during 50 hours of interrogation over four days in Italian, a language she said she barely knew at the time. "They lied to me, yelled at me, threatened me, and gave me two slaps on the head," she wrote.
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Post by Admin on Jan 1, 2014 1:13:25 GMT
Amanda Knox has joined Twitter and says she’s accepted Meredith Kercher's family thinks she's guilty as the end of her murder retrial approaches. Moving on: Knox, 26, said that 'common sense' told her not to return to Italy for her trial in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher Knox tweeted a link to her blog: ‘With Respect to the Kercher Family’ on December 18, in which she writes: 'I hope that everyone can understand that this is an issue of perspective, and from mine and those who know my innocence, it’s clear that my actions are an attempt to show compassion and solidarity. 'I have to accept that the Kerchers believe I’m guilty and my attempts to honor her memory can cause them pain. I do not wish to antagonize their grief, even with my best intentions.' In the midst of her retrial in Italy, Amanda Knox has launched a Twitter page Knox has only tweeted 14 times and at the time of writing had just 97 followers – one of which is her co-accused Raffaele Sollecito who has been on Twitter for since November 2011. On her Twitter page she also has the Latin quote: 'Aequam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem,' a quote from ancient Roman poet Virgil meaning: 'Remember to maintain a calm mind while doing difficult tasks.' @amamaknox 24 Dec Happy Holidays and much love. pic.twitter.com/cSLG4OPVxV
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Post by Admin on Jan 3, 2014 8:09:36 GMT
The house in Perugia, Italy, where the British and American were roomies — and in which Kercher had her throat slit — is on the market for over $500,000. Will be ‘some difficulty’ in selling, suggests Italian realtor. Police officers inspect the house in 2007, which is now for sale. The infamous property, in Perugia, is on sale for over $500,000 went on sale just before Christmas, reports The Telegraph newspaper. Realtor Vincenzo Russo admitted there may be "some difficulty" in selling the 10-room property and hoped no "macabre curiosity seekers" would be attracted by the sale. "We have received requests for information, and many, who are probably busybodies, have already visited our web page," he said. "I hope to exclude macabre curiosity seekers because the property has a certain value." U.S. sellers require to disclose if a murder has taken place in a house, but in Italy rules are not the same. Amanda Knox, center, arrives at the Perugia court, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011.
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