Lawyer: Knox Not 'Amanda the Ripper'

Meaning she's not actually bad, says attorney

(NEWSER) - Yesterday she was a " Satanic she-devil" ; today, Amanda Knox is Jessica Rabbit—according to a defense lawyer. Giulia Bongiorno told the court today that Knox isn’t the "femme fatale" prosecutors are describing, but a loving and faithful woman—like the cartoon character from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, the AP reports. Bongiorno, lawyer for Raffaele Sollecito (Knox’s ex-boyfriend and co-defendant in Meredith Kercher’s murder), explained that Knox—like Rabbit—"is not bad, she’s just drawn that way." Click for more on the murder conviction appeal . A verdict is expected next week. More»

Judge who oversaw appeal says Knox 'could be responsible'

(NEWSER) - One of the two judges who oversaw the Amanda Knox appeal has spoken out, and his comments are hardly a resounding confirmation of her innocence. In remarks the Telegraph describes as "surprisingly frank," Claudio Pratillo Hellmann said in a TV interview yesterday that Knox and then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito "maybe know" how Meredith Kercher died, and could actually be the killers. More»

Case 'was always too far-fetched'

(NEWSER) - Amanda Knox has been freed and while the case may continue to be hotly debated in the Italian press, commentators in the US and Britain are overwhelmingly of the opinion that justice has been done.

• The Knox case, "was a textbook example of our never-ending fascination with the supposed femme fatale," Nina Burleigh writes at the Los Angeles Times . Knox became a scapegoat and was subjected to "all manner of outlandish, misogynistic behavior" because of the focus on Knox herself—"her femaleness, her American-ness, her beauty"—instead of the facts.

She addresses court in advance of verdict expected tonight

(NEWSER) - Amanda Knox gave an emotional appeal to an Italian court today, insisting, "I did not kill, I did not rape" Meredith Kercher. "I am paying with my life for things that I did not commit," said a shaking and tearful Knox in fluent Italian. "I am not who they say I am. The perversion, the violence, the lack of respect for life—I did not do the things they are saying I did. I did not kill, I did not rape, I did not steal. I was not there." She worked on the speech for three months, her father tells the BBC , and the Telegraph adds that she did not use any notes while speaking. A verdict is expected late today, Reuters reports. More»

'It's going to be a heartfelt statement': father

(NEWSER) - While Amanda Knox plans a final plea for her life tomorrow, her father says he's not worried that her words may work against her in an Italian courtroom. "I really don't think so," Curt Knox said on Today (see the video in our media gallery). "It's going to be a heartfelt statement she's going to make. I think she just wants to have the judge and jury hear one more time that she had nothing to do with this horrific case and that she is innocent of the charges and hopes for an acquittal." More»