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PERUGIA, Italy — She
grins and chats. On Valentine’s Day, she sported
a T-shirt that read “All You Need Is Love.” And
one of the first things she said in court was
about a rabbit shaped sex toy.
Amanda Knox faces life in prison if convicted of
killing Meredith Kercher, a British exchange
student who was her roommate in this picturesque
university town. However, her breezy behavior in
hearings over the last three months has set
tongues wagging in Italy and abroad.
Knox’s family insists she has always been
respectful in court and knows full well the
weight of the charges against her.
The 21-year-old former University of Washington
student is being tried with her ex-boyfriend
Raffaele Sollecito for the 2007 killing that
mesmerized Italy with its tales of sex and drugs.
Both deny wrongdoing.
Knox was in an exchange program in Perugia and
sharing an apartment with Kercher, a 21-year-old
student from Leeds University in England, when
the Briton was found stabbed to death in the
house on Nov. 2, 2007.
Prosecutors allege that Kercher was killed
during what began as a sex game, with Sollecito
holding her by the shoulders from behind while
Knox touched her with the point of a knife.
They say a third man, Ivory Coast national Rudy
Hermann Guede, tried to sexually assault Kercher
and then Knox fatally stabbed her in the throat.
Guede was convicted of murder in a separate
trial last year and sentenced to 30 years in
prison.
The case, and particularly Knox’s alleged role,
has made headlines in Italy and abroad and media
outlets still converge here for hearings held
most Fridays and Saturdays.
Photo and TV coverage of the trial has focused
on Knox’s calm demeanor, her chats with the
interpreter during breaks and in one case even
her fashion sense, when she wore a bright
T-shirt with “All You Need Is Love” scrawled in
large pink letters on Valentine’s Day.
In contrast, co-defendant Sollecito, 25, has
appeared more tense and kept a lower-profile; he
faces the cameras only when briefly waving to
his family sitting in front of them.
Italian and European reports have buzzed with
remarks.
“She is defiant and he, fearful,” summarized
Italy’s respected daily Corriere della Sera the
day after the opening hearing.
“The Foxy Knoxy show: Smiling murder suspect
makes grand entrance as trial begins,” read a
title on the online version of Britain’s Daily
Mail, which also described Knox as walking “like
a Hollywood diva sashaying along the red carpet.”
Knox’s behavior also raised eyebrows before the
trial opened, with a witness recently testifying
in court that the American turned cartwheels and
did splits at the police station in the hours
that followed the murder.
Other witnesses have told the court that Knox
made faces at Sollecito at the police station,
crossing her eyes and sticking her tongue out,
while also giggling and kissing him.
“Her behavior has never been adequate, given the
seriousness of what happened,” lawyer Francesco
Maresca, who represents Kercher’s family, said
Wednesday. “I criticize a superficial and
inappropriate behavior. There’s a girl who died
brutally, we could use some respect.”
However, criminologist Saverio Fortunato says
Knox’s apparently carefree behavior could be a
psychological “reaction to the pain” of being
involved in a murder case.
“It could be a sign of malaise and confusion,”
Fortunato said. “Facing the wounds of a trial
can push you to adopt a certain behavior to
fight off the fear, which can be interpreted
from the outside as inappropriate.”
In recent addresses to the court, Knox spoke in
Italian and sounded confident, even in her first
public statement when she casually explained the
presence of a pink rabbit-shaped vibrator in her
Perugia house, saying it was “a joke” and a
present from a friend.
In a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press,
Knox’s family described the American as
“generally a positive person,” who tries to “see
something positive in everybody and every
situation.”
“When she comes to the courtroom, she is
generally happy to see familiar faces,” the
statement said. “The media seems more interested
in what she’s wearing or how she acts for brief
moments ... than in the lack of evidence against
her or her respectful, attentive manner during
the court proceedings.”
Indeed, both Knox and Sollecito sit quietly near
their lawyers and follow proceedings intently,
taking notes and referencing in Italian law
books. Two prison guards are stationed behind
them at all times.
Today, coroner Luca Lalli confirmed his earlier
findings by testifying that the Briton died from
a stab wound to the neck. He said it cannot be
determined if she was raped, though bruises and
cuts on her face, neck, hands and legs suggest
violence during intercourse.
Maresca said photographs taken during the
autopsy were shown during the closed-doors
session and Knox “looked away, while Sollecito
occasionally looked up.”
Knox’s mother, Edda Mellas, said her daughter
was “upset” and “just couldn’t watch.”
Later today, local shop owner Carlo Maria Scotto
di Rinaldi testified he saw Knox and Sollecito
kissing and hugging in his lingerie shop the day
after Kercher’s body was found.
He said Knox bought “a top and a G-string” and
the couple talked about having “hot sex” once
they got home.
The two defendants have largely ignored each
other since the trial opened Jan. 16, but
recently they exchanged smiles and whispers and
gestured from a distance.
Prosecutors say Knox’s DNA was on the handle of
a knife found at Sollecito’s house that might
have been used in the slaying and the victim’s
DNA was found on the blade.
It’s not clear how, if at all, Knox’s behavior
will influence the eight-member jury, which is
expected to reach a verdict after the summer.
“Juries can be influenced by the media, but
there is also the presiding judge,” who as an
expert should be able to see through a
defendant’s behavior in court, Fortunato said.
“I don’t think that the trial should revolve
around this frivolity”. |
