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New DNA experts in Knox murder appeal
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New DNA experts in Knox murder appeal
AFP - Sunday, January 23
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New DNA experts in Knox murder appeal
PERUGIA (AFP) - – Amanda Knox went before an Italian court Saturday in her bid to overturn a conviction for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher with new experts reviewing key forensic evidence.
Lawyers for the 23-year-old American have described the appeal as a "key moment" in the case, saying it provides the first opportunity for independent experts to review of the evidence which convicted her.
Knox came into court with her head bowed but turned and smiled at her step-father, Chris Mellas, and mouthed hello to her best friend Madison Paxton, who has moved to Perugia and regularly visits Knox in prison.
The American was sentenced to 26 years in prison last year for the 2007 killing of Leeds University student Kercher, 21, with whom she shared a house in the town of Perugia in central Italy where both were studying.
Raffaele Sollecito, Knox's boyfriend at the time, was sentenced to 25 years for his part in the murder and is also appealing his conviction.
A relaxed looking Sollecito chatted with his guards and smiled at journalists.
Two experts from Romes Sapienza University -- Stefano Conti and Carla Vecchiotti -- are set to be formally appointed to review the evidence later in Saturday's hearing.
Conti and Vecchiotti, called in after the court ordered fresh tests on the presumed murder weapon, are likely to ask for 60 days to re-examine the DNA evidence used to convict the pair.
"This is a key moment. Today, for the first time, independent experts will be asked to examine the evidence," Knox's lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova had said ahead of the hearing.
Knox's defence say the kitchen knife -- found in Sollecito's house and said to have Knox's DNA on the handle and Kercher's on the blade -- does not fit the wounds.
The absence of blood and low level of Kercher's DNA on the knife mean it was probably contaminated in the lab and should be excluded, they say.
They also want a bra clip with traces of Sollecito's DNA disregarded because it was collected days after the murder, had been moved, and is also likely to be contaminated.
Mellas who has been living in Perugia since September to help prepare for the appeal, said "I'm happy the so-called evidence is being reviewed."
"But it's hard to be excited. Things have happened before that sounded good but then you saw how the trial ended. It's a step in the right direction," he said.
Kercher's body was found semi-naked in her room on November 2, 2007. A third person, an Ivorian man called Rudy Guede, was sentenced for his part in the murder in a fast-track trial in 2008.
Knox, Sollecito and Guede were charged with sexually assaulting and killing Meredith in a drug-fuelled attack.
Mellas said he had visited Knox on Friday ahead of the hearing and said she was tired but "cautiously optimistic... She wishes things would move more quickly."
The Seattle native's lawyers have questioned the reliability of the prosecution's key witness, a homeless man Antonio Curatolo, who lives on a bench and who testified to seeing Knox and Sollecito the night of the murder.
Curatolo also claimed that he saw students on a bus that night coming from a discotheque in town, a detail challenged by the defence who say there was no disco open that night.
The court is likely to call on the manager of the disco and the bus driver to testify in later hearings. The outcome of the trial is expected later this year.
Knox has repeatedly protested her innocence and her case has continued to attract large-scale media attention, particularly in the United States and Britain where protest groups have rallied to her defence.
"There's a lot of support in the US. Those who've reviewed the case have come to the same understanding... the evidence doesn't support the verdict. Documentaries in the UK have come to the same conclusion," Mellas said.
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