Amanda Knox will testify Friday in an Italian courtroom to defend herself against charges that she took part in the killing of her roommate two years ago, her lawyer said.
Knox, 21, an American college student from Seattle, Washington, will be questioned by her attorneys first and her testimony could continue Saturday, said Luciano Ghriga, one of her lawyers. The trial against Knox and her Italian former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, 24, began January 16 in Perugia, a university town about 185 kilometers (115 miles) north of Rome. They are charged with murder and sexual assault in the November 2007 slaying of Knox’s roommate, British exchange student Meredith Kercher, who died in what prosecutors called a “drug-fueled sex game” with the couple. A third person, Rudy Hermann Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was convicted of murder in October and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Kercher was found dead in her bed, half-naked, with a knife wound to her neck. In court papers, prosecutors stated that Sollecito held Kercher by her wrists while Knox poked at her with a knife and Guede sexually assaulted her. Prosecutors say they have physical evidence placing the defendants at the scene, and that they gave investigators confusing and contradictory statements about their whereabouts the night Kercher died.
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Knox first said she was at the house she shared with Kercher, then changed her story, according to court records. Sollecito, meanwhile, said he was never at the house, but was at his apartment, watching a movie on his computer with Knox. Later, he told investigators he did not remember whether Knox was with him the entire night. Defense lawyers are expected to argue that the physical evidence was tainted by sloppy police work. The case is being heard by a panel of eight judges. The trial has drawn more than 140 journalists from 86 news outlets to the courthouse in Perugia, Italy. The presiding judge in the case, Giancarlo Massei, has barred cameras from the courtroom and said he could completely close portions of the trial dealing with the most graphic sexual assault allegations.
