Amanda Knox, the American student accused of murdering her flatmate Meredith
Kercher in Perugia last November, is reportedly planning to address the
judge during the pre-trial hearings which began this week, in an attempt to
"clear her name" and "prove she is not a maneater".
Ms Knox remained silent throughout the first pre-trial hearing on Tuesday,
which lasted for eight hours, apart from quietly humming Beatles songs at
times under her breath "to ease the tension". At the hearing Paoli Micheli,
the presiding judge, gave permission for Rudy Guede, 21, an immigrant from
the Ivory Coast with joint Italian nationality, to undergo a fast track
trial separately from the other two accused, Ms Knox, 21, and her Italian
former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 24.
Six pre-trial hearings are to be held overall, with the next two in just over
a week, on 26-27 September. It is thought Judge Micheli hopes to set trial
dates - assuming he is convinced by the prosecution evidence - before 7
November, when the three suspects will have been held for a year, the
maximum period they can be detained without charge under Italian law.
Corriere della Sera said Ms Knox has asked her lawyers if she can address the
court next month as part of a defence strategy designed to "correct" the
image of her as an "angel faced killer with ice cold eyes". Italian media
today said her "subdued, fresh faced and demure" appearance at the pre-trial
hearing on Tuesday, where she arrived looking pale and drawn with little
make up and her hair tied back, was also part of this strategy. She had
clearly lost weight in prison, ascribed to her regime of jogging and
exercises in the prison gym.
Luciano Ghirga, one of Ms Knox's lawyers, said she had sung songs by the
Beatles - including "Let it Be" and "Michelle" - as well as songs by the
Canadian singer Leslie Feist under breath to keep her spirits up and force
herself to relax.
If she does address the court, Ms Knox is expected to claim that the media
portrayal of her as a "man-eater" who had a "long list of lovers" is
misplaced, since in reality she had had "only two lovers" in the month or so
she spent in Perugia before the murder of Ms Kercher.
She will also challenge the prosecution allegation that she stole cash from Ms
Kercher, arguing that since she had $4500 in her Italian bank account she
had no need to steal from her flatmate. Ms Knox will also deny reports that
she and Ms Kercher had fallen out, claiming that they were on close terms
and had had lunch together shortly before the tragedy took place.
Finally she will accuse Mr Guede of lying when he told police he had seen her
and Mr Sollecito at the scene of the crime. Ms Knox initially told police
she was there but later changed her mind, insisting that she and Mr
Sollecito spent the night at his flat.
Mr Sollecito unexpectedly failed to attend Tuesday's hearing. His lawyers said
he had wanted to avoid the "media circus", although Italian neswspapers
today suggested he may also have wanted to avoid being in the same courtroom
as Mr Guede, who claims he grappled with a man armed with a knife who
"resembled" Mr Sollecito on the night of the killing.
Tuesday's hearing was attended by Ms Kercher's parents, John and Arline, and
her sister Stephanie. The Kercher family studied Ms Knox and Mr Guede - the
first time they had seen two of Ms Kercher's alleged killers - across the
small courtroom. However neither of the suspects looked back at the family,
both facing the judge instead. Ms Knox and Mr Guede also avoided each
other's eyes, even though they were only three metres apart.
Judge Micheli admitted new evidence in the case, including the testimony of
Abukar Mohamed Barrow, a Somali who played basketball with Mr Guede on
Piazza Grimani, a basketball court and small public park just uphill from
the cottage which Ms Kercher shared with Ms Knox, and where she was found
with her throat cut.
In his evidence Barrow, known as "Momi", accuses Mr Guede of being repeatedly
drunk and drugged, and of trying to steal valuables from the handbags of
young women during nights out. "Rudy was often drunk", his statement said. "
I know he took cocaine. Often he was out of his head with the drugs that he
was taking. And when he was like that he bothered the girls, he would block
their path and harass them."
Walter Biscotti and Nicodemo Gentile, Mr Guede's lawyers, said this gave a
false impression and the evidence "changes nothing. We have other witnsses
who are ready to swear that Rudy always behaved correctly."
During the five remaining pre-trial hearings defence lawyers are expected to
try and demolish DNA evidence linking all three suspects to the murder,
including traces of Ms Knox's DNA found near the handle of the alleged
murder weapon, a kitchen knife found in Mr Sollecito's flat, together traces
of Ms Kercher's DNA on the blade.
A police reconstruction of the murder presented to Judge Micheli at the
hearing and released to the Italian media today claims that Ms Kercher was
murdered after being forced to her knees in front of the wardrobe in her
bedroom. It suggests that Ms Kercher's assailants, after using a sheet and
duvet to cover her bloodied body, repositioned books and an open leather
handbag on the bed in order to make it appear that the motive was theft.
Giuliano Mignini, the Perugia prosecutor, said forensic police believe that
"it is reasonable to assume that the aggressor or aggressors, after using
the sheet and duvet to cover the body, repositioned all the items on the
bed. " This appeared to be "an attempt to divert the investigation, also in
relation to mobile phones and receipts found on the body and in other parts
of the room, with the intention of faking a burglary."
Judge Micheli gave defence lawyers for all three suspects permission to cross
question an Albanian who claims he saw Ms Knox, Mr Sollecito and Mr Guede
near Miss Kercher's house on the night of the murder. If accepted, the
evidence could suggest the three were not only all present but colluded in a
pre planned assault.
The Albanian, Hekuran Kokomani, 34, has said he was parking his car near the
house when he spotted the three accused. He told investigators Ms Knox
threatened him with an eight inch knife, screaming at him as she pulled it
from her bag, and that Mr Sollecito punched him when he confronted them.
Defence lawyers hope to demolish this evidence as untrustworthy, together with
that of Antonio Curatolo, a tramp who also alleges he saw all three near the
murder scene. He has admitted however that his memory is hazy.
