Amanda Knox pleads her innocence

As reported at 13:18 today Italian time by the Italian news service ANSA:

“If I had been at that house I would have also died with Meredith. I did not kill, I did not rape, I was not there at this crime.” Knox said she has suffered for the past four years, also claiming she had been treated unfairly by Italian police and had been “manipulated.”

“I have had to deal with unfair and unfounded charges. I have paid with my life for things that I did not commit,” she said. “Four years ago I did not know what tragedy was. I have never faced so much anger before.”

Also, the prosecutors, Giuliani Mignini and Manuela Comodi, have announced that they will appeal if the verdict is overturned. That they intend to do so shows both their vindictiveness and their need to protect themselves from the truth that they have railroaded two innocent persons. That they can do so gives you an idea of the anti-defendant, pro-prosecutor system that exists in Italy. It appears that in Italy, no defendant is ever innocent, because the prosecutors can keep appealing forever.

I have heard that there will be a verdict by 2 p.m. Eastern time. UPDATE, 3:37 p.m.: Amanda and Raffaelle have entered the courtroom to hear the verdict.

Here is the article.

(ANSA)—Perugia, October 3—An emotional Amanda Knox told an Italian appeals court in Perugia on Monday that she did not kill her British roommate Meredith Kercher and pleaded for her freedom. “I am paying with my life for things that I did not commit,” Knox said in fluent Italian. “I want to go home, I want my life back. I am innocent.”

Prosecutors on Friday said that Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito should face life imprisonment for senselessly killing Kercher who died in November 2007.

Knox was sentenced to 26 years in jail and Sollecito to 25 years in December 2009 for Kercher’s murder.

On the final day of their appeal Knox was on the verge of tears as she said she was never at the scene of the crime and asked for justice.

“I lost a girlfriend in the most brutal and inexplicable way,” Knox said. “I was not at home, I was at Raffaele’s place.

“If I had been at that house I would have also died with Meredith. I did not kill, I did not rape, I was not there at this crime.” Knox said she has suffered for the past four years, also claiming she had been treated unfairly by Italian police and had been “manipulated.”

“I have had to deal with unfair and unfounded charges. I have paid with my life for things that I did not commit,” she said. “Four years ago I did not know what tragedy was. I have never faced so much anger before.”

When prosecutors demanded life sentences for the American student and her Italian ex-boyfriend, they claimed Knox would flee Italy if the court did not uphold a guilty verdict for murder and subsequently set her free, meaning that any appeal or re-trial would have to take place in Knox’s absence.

Winding up Knox’s appeal Thursday, defense lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova said she had been “crucified” and “impaled” by the media.

“The only possible verdict is to acquit Amanda Knox,” he said, speaking of “very serious mistakes” in the first trial. Referring to DNA evidence seen as key to the convictions, which court-appointed experts recently found to be unreliable, Dalla Vedova highlighted “the uncertainty of elements” in the prosecution’s case. Knox’s other lawyer, Luciano Ghirga, said that traces of starch, not blood, were found on the alleged murder weapon, a knife found in Sollecito’s kitchen, “confirming its domestic use.”

The original findings indicated there was DNA from Knox on the handle and from Kercher on the blade, as well as Sollecito’s DNA on Kercher’s severed bra clasp.

A verdict on the appeals is expected late Monday.

Prosecutors have said they will appeal if the verdict is overturned.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at October 03, 2011 12:48 PM | Send