Knox will be freed, says prosecutor

Appeal hope: Amanda Knox at court
Nick Pisa12 April 2012

A prosecutor in the Amanda Knox case has predicted the American will be acquitted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.

Knox's appeal lawyers again contested crucial DNA evidence yesterday and Manuela Comodi told the Standard she is convinced Knox will be freed.

Knox, 24, is serving 26 years for the murder of Miss Kercher, 21, of Surrey, who was found semi-naked with her throat slashed in the bedroom of the house she shared with Knox and two other women in November 2007.

Knox's former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 27, was also convicted of murdering and sexually assaulting Meredith and he is serving 25 years. Both say they had nothing to do with the killing.

Ms Comodi said: "There is an ill wind blowing in this case. The judge and his assistant are clearly against us. I can see both Knox and Sollecito being freed which will be a shame as they are both involved."

Today Ms Comodi is expected to ask for a second review of the DNA evidence after court-appointed experts condemned the original forensic investigation.

Carla Vecchiotti and Stefano Conte of Rome's La Sapeinza University questioned the reliability of the findings by forensic scientists. The original conviction rested heavily on DNA evidence.

The experts said the level of Miss Kercher's DNA on a knife blade which also had Knox's DNA on the handle was so low it should not have been admitted as evidence in the first trial. They also said other evidence had risked contamination because of poor handling.

Ms Comodi said: "We are going to ask for a second review of the evidenceut I'm not confident that the judge will grant the prosecution request - it's very obvious they are against us."

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