Amanda Knox Has "Nothing To Hide"

(CBS/ AP)  For five months, 21-year-old Amanda Knox has sat silently in an Italian courtroom accused of murder. On Friday, her silence will be broken as she takes the stand to defend herself against the charges.

Knox went to Italy to study abroad for one year. Whether she ever makes it home could rest on her testimony in court.

"She has nothing to hide," Knox's father, Curt, told CBS' The Early Show Thursday.

Knox, a Seattle native and former University of Washington student, has insisted she was not home during the slaying of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher, back in November 2007 in Perugia, after initially giving conflicting statements.

Curt Knox, who spoke to The Early Show shortly after visiting Amanda in prison, described his daughter as nervous, but confident about her testimony. Knox added his daughter would speak Italian during the trial. "She doesn't want anything misinterpreted," he said.

Prosecutors allege Kercher died during what began as a sex game and are seeking conviction on murder charges of Knox, and Knox's former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, an Italian. The two deny wrongdoing.

After a 14-hour interrogation, Knox signed a letter implicating herself in the crime. She described that experience in an audio tape obtained exclusively by CBS News.

"They threatened that I was going to go in prison for 30 years because I was hiding something," Knox is heard saying on the tape.

Curt Knox, however, said he has "100 percent faith in the judicial system" and that the court will find his daughter innocent.

Last week, the court heard emotional testimony from the victim's family. Fighting back tears, her mother, Arline Kercher, said the family will "never get over" the brutal murder.

Knox looked on as the victim's relatives took the stand, and one of her lawyers, Luciano Ghirga, said afterward she was "very moved" as she listened to the Kerchers' testimony. Knox's lawyers chose not to cross-examine any of them.

Kercher was found in a pool of blood in the apartment she shared with Knox. Prosecutors said Sollecito was holding her by the shoulders from behind while Knox touched her with the point of a knife.

The two, jailed since November 2007, are charged with murder and sexual assault. If convicted, they could face life imprisonment, Italy's stiffest punishment.

Sollecito, 25, has said he was at his own apartment in Perugia, working at his computer. He said he does not remember if Knox spent the whole night with him or just part of it. As he left the courtroom after the Kerchers' testimony, he said, turning toward the cameras, "I expect justice, just like them."

The victim's father, John Kercher, said she complained about Knox's bathroom habits. She also expressed surprise that Knox had hooked up with a boyfriend shortly after her arrival, he said.

Kercher was also described as a physically strong person, who exercised and studied karate.

"She could have put out quite a fight," John Kercher said, responding to a prosecutor's question of his daughter would have defended herself if she could have.

The Kercher family has joined the criminal trial as civil plaintiffs.

[jahatton]

Police have tunnel vision when it comes murder cases, they foccus on who lives there and foreget about what the evidence is telling them. How many times have people cut their fingers on knives while washing? The facts that Amanda's DNA or anyother print were not found at the crime scene.. They got the right person in jail but sucked 2 innosent people in as well.
It seems to be the police policy to interrogate for long hours and beat the suspect to get what they want to hear even if it's not true.
I'm so sorry this fell on your daughter, Amanda and her friend. I will keep them in my prayers.
Regards,
jahatton

[staceye23]

You either were there or not there--you don't make up a story about being there and plugging your ears while the victim is murdered. You then don't recreate the sounds the victim made in court--a gurgling sound--how would Knox know there was a gurgling sound unless she heard Kercher drowning in her own blood. If she's innocent, why did she make up these wild stories? Many people have been interrogated by the police who have been innocent--you know what the innocent do? They stick to the truth--ie: "I wasn't there and nothing you say can change that".

[tommasotl]

Too much mud on the Italian justice system. Have a look here to what happens
in the States
http://www.prisonerdavid.com/index.php/Carlo_Parlanti

[sonialynnd]

There's a word for Miss Knox and it's called sociopath. Everything that I've read about this young woman indicates that to me. Here's a woman whose roommate and alledged friend was found brutally murdered and when she was summoned to answer questions at the police station the next day she was, according to her other friends, acting very bizzare. They maintain that while they were all crying over the loss of meredith, Amanda was in the police station turning cartwheels and making out with her boyfriend. She was also said to be in good spirits, laughing and joking with her boyfriend. Draw you own conclusions but I personally think that she's a very disturbed young lady who has been lying and contradicting herself ever since this tragedy happened. Instead of giving Amanda sympathy people should be seeing her for what she is and give their sympathy to the people who deserve it, the Kercher family.

[Truth2]

I belive there both innocent but will be convicted. Mark my words...

[Proximaking]

Look at her for goodness sakes. She's guilty as hell.

[Raenana]

The CBS article neglected to mention four details:

1. Another man- Rudy Guede, was convicted of Kircher's murder after his DNA and fingerprints were found on Kircher's corpse. Guede has refused to testify at Knox's trial.

2. The only piece of physical evidence against Amanda Knox was her fingerprints on a kitchen knife found in her boyfriend's kitchen (no surprise there) which the prosecution claims had Kircher's DNA on it. However, several experts have examined the evidence and concluded that the DNA sample was sufficiently fragmented that- like a partial fingerprint- it could be used to match up large numbers of people. Unlike most DNA evidence, it does not positively identify Kircher.

3. Prosecutor Giuliani Magnini is currently facing charges from a Flourentine judge for having used coercive interrogations to intimidate multiple innocent people.

[sly_64]

I never heard of this story until today. Just goes to show that you can pay attention only to news that make a difference in your life. When there is no big news, the media will make big news.

[casionova]

This whole thing is stupid and insane. This girl did not help kill her roommate! These ITALIANS are PARANOID. They need psychological help!
Posted by goodusa

I'm sure the Italians will be delighted to speak to an eye witness like yourself

[bobnjersey]

[why does CBS defend her when there is a trial going on ! evidence so far says she is guilty I follow it close! why does U.S.try to interfer with a Trial while it is in court I am a american and this is wrong what CBS is doing they are trying to defend someone who may have commited a horrible CRIME shame on them!!!! ]
[Posted by timothyjo at 7:52 AM : Jun 11, 2009 ]

where is 'cbs' defending her? be specific ... what paragraph and sentence.

it's all a conspiracy ... the only problem is it's only in your head.

[harryrag1]

The DNA evidence is proving to be as well-handled and as incriminating as DNA evidence ever is at such trials.

The last two hearings have very publicly exposed several of the key myths which have been aggressively propagated over the Internet and through other media for many months.

Let?s first speak about the double knife DNA. It has now become pretty obvious that:

* It doesn?t match half of Italy as falsely claimed

* It doesn?t have a 20% chance of being Meredith?s as falsely claimed

* Stefanoni never declared herself that the DNA ?was unreliable? as falsely claimed

* The DNA has not been amplified ?500 times? as falsely claimed

Patrizia Stefanoni has not stated that Meredith?s DNA was extracted 500 times from the knife sample, as some people with what seemed a google-level knowledge of molecular biology were claiming to muddy the waters.

The DNA was actually extracted 50 times from Meredith?s specimens and was used to compare it to other biological traces, including the one found on the knife. And it provided the forensic team with good samples to be compared to the traces found on the knife.

Two genetic profiles are identical and therefore belong to the same individual if a) they are in the same position, and b) they have identical shape and dimension. In this case, each peak produced in the original samples exactly corresponds to the peaks yielded by the knife sample, position, shape and dimension? Say so long to the ?matching half of Italy? myth!

Furthermore, Stefanoni excluded any possibility of contamination in the lab, stating that it had never once occurred in her lab for at least the last seven years, and every precaution was taken in order to exclude possibility of contamination so that different traces are not mixed.

Contamination during the collection phase was also excluded: the forensic team that found the knife was a different one from those who searched the cottage, so how could Meredith?s DNA possibly have been ?transferred to the knife??

Furthermore, the knife was put in a shoe box after it was bagged, and it stayed there until it reached the lab. And once again? DNA doesn?t fly, it doesn?t creep, and it sure doesn't penetrate a plastic bag!