Knox to take stand in Kercher trial
Wednesday December 02 2009
AMANDA Knox is expected to take the stand today to insist she is innocent of the murder two years ago of Meredith Kercher, her British housemate.
With a verdict expected at the end of this week, the American student's defence team began its two-day closing arguments yesterday. Carlo Dalla Vedova told the jurors that there were "more doubts than certainties" in the case against Ms Knox (22) and Raffaele Sollecito (25), also charged with murder.
Ms Kercher's body was found in the bedroom of the cottage she shared with Ms Knox in November 2007. The 21-year-old's throat had been slit.
Prosecutors have called for life sentences for Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito. They said that Ms Kercher was the victim of a drug-fuelled sex game involving Ms Knox, Mr Sollecito and Rudy Hermann Guede, an Ivory Coast immigrant who was convicted last year in a separate trial and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Defence lawyers are seeking to convince the jury that Guede acted alone. They are also attempting to cast doubt on DNA evidence linking Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito to the crime.
Mr Dalla Vedova said there had been a "rush to judgment", with prosecutors declaring "case closed" the moment they arrested Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito. (© The Times, London)
- Richard Owen in Perugia
Irish Independent
