Perugia, Italy
Knox appeals: Italian lawyers called Amanda Knox a “she-devil” and a Nazi in court this week as the American college student fought to overturn her conviction in the 2007 murder of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher. Head prosecutor Giuliano Mignini—who was convicted last year of abuse of office and dereliction of duty in connection with an unrelated case he prosecuted—compared Knox to Nazi propagandist Josef Goebbels. Defense lawyers countered by saying that because there was no reliable physical evidence tying Knox to the murder, prosecutors had concocted a false persona of Knox as a diabolical sex fiend when she was actually an ordinary American student studying abroad. A forensics review in July found that the DNA evidence used to convict Knox and her Italian boyfriend had been contaminated. A verdict in the appeal is expected next week.
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