Amanda Knox's Sisters Speak Out

(CBS)  Amanda Knox spent another birthday behind bars.

The Seattle native and former University of Washington student celebrated her second birthday in jail last Thursday in a Perugia, Italy. She is 22.

In an exclusive interview with Amanda's sisters, 14-year-old Ashley, and 20-year-old Deanna Knox, said on "The Early Show" Tuesday, Amanda was hoping that she wouldn't spend another birthday in jail, but she made the most of the celebration.

"She always finds a way to be happy. She was still smiling," Deanna said.
According to Knox's sisters, Amanda made a cake for her family because she couldn't have one brought to her by her family from outside the jail.

"We sang her happy birthday as she walked in and ate cake with her," Deanna said. "It was only one hour, but we got to spend her birthday with her."

Knox received presents from her family, but only the ones that were sent to her, Deanna said, because the family can't bring gifts directly to the jail.

The sisters described to "Early Show" co-anchor Julie Chen their last visit to the jail on Tuesday. Deanna said Amanda described herself as "tranquil" during their visit.

"The only sad part," Deanna said, "was the fact that we had to say goodbye."
The sisters are returning home Thursday, while there is a two-month summer recess in Knox's murder trial.

Amanda has been on trial since January, along with her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollectio. The two are charged with sexually assaulting and murdering Knox's 21-year-old British roommate, Meredith Kercher.

Amanda has maintained her innocence throughout the trial.

Last week, she seemed to catch a break in her defense when a coroner testified that the knife believed to be the murder weapon is not compatible with the victim's stab wound. He also testified that there is no evidence that Kercher was assaulted by more than one person.

Rudy Hermann Guede, an Ivory Coast national, who had also denied wrongdoing, was convicted last year and sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder and sexual assault of Kercher.

Amanda's hearings will be held Friday and Saturday. Her trial will then resume this fall.


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[prince58--2008]

I realize she is trying to keep a positive outlook considering everything thats going on...but i really think she should have been told a long time ago to not let herself be seen smiling, it really gives the impression she isn't taking the whole thing seriously, although i must admit she doesn't smile as much as she used to. Also the person that may have suggested she cut her hair and look more impacted by the severity of the case is doing her a world of good...but is it too little too late?

[ddevans999]

I agree that it was not the smartest thing her sister could say but it is clear to me that she is inoccent and the case is a total fabrication. They should drop all charges and send her home. I don't think she would be a threat to italian citizens (not that she ever was), because I'm sure she would never return to italy if she gets out.

[pinkglitterystars]

ISTM that the Pr efforts of the Knox family have certainly worked on the US media. CBS have drunk the "Railroad job from hell" Kool Aid and gone back for more. You do not need to be a genius to understand that there are very very good reasons to send Knox to trial. It doesn't mean she is guilty, but it does mean she has a case to answer. If an Italian was on trial in the USA for murdering a British girl, they would be held in prison for up to three years before a trial started, a trial that takes two weeks granted but the remand period is the same. The Italian would be at risk of the death penalty, unlike Amanda, even if she is found to be the ring leader. If she is found guilty she will have 30 years of rehabilitation and the chance to start her life again albeit at 55 years old. Meredith will never get that chance, neither will most US prison inmates for much lessor crimes. The commentators who think she is on trial for being American need to climb of that nationalistic high horse, open their eyes and get a grip. Yes the world hates George W Bush & his illegal wars (and for dragging in most of Europe) but it doesn't tend to have beef with 20yr old college girls on their gap year.

[Oregongirl23]

Keoke, you REALLY REALLY need to get your facts strait! 99% of what you said is a bunch of Rubbish!

The reporting and media on this case has been aweful and down right irresposible!

First, the prosecution has ALWAYS said that there was more then one knife involved, second the defense "expert" didn't prove that the knife couldn't have made the fatal wound but tried to explain how a smaller knife could have possibly done it, but in order for it to have been a smaller knife it would have had to been plunged in and out of the same hole in a sawing motion. PLUS if Merediths DNA wasn't on the knife why would RS say that he pricked her with it once when she was cooking with him and Amanda at his house? Especially because even Amanda states that Meredith NEVER went to RS's house. The DNA actually had very little "noise" and the process used is a respected one. It DEFINANTLY could not be an animals DNA. Also Amanda's represenitives WERE invited to the test and didn't go THIER CHOICE, I think so they could do exactly as they are doing now, claiming that since they didn't see it it didn't happen.

Foot prints, we don't know that the foot print on the pillow case was Amandas but we do know FOR SURE that it is not Rudy's. The bare foot prints are also NOT Rudy's. Also the foot prints takin of Amanda in prison were not moving prints, they also were not made by someone walking in a lot of blood, people tend to scrunch thier toes when they walk and are trying not to get whatever is on their feet on the floor, try it.

I do not believe the orgy gone wrong senerio. I think the lack of "party" stuff left behind is moot. Plus your lack of knowledge is showing seeing as there was a ciggerette butt with RS's DNA on it that besides the bra clasp and Merediths door was the only place his DNA was found.

We DO NOT know the window was broken from the inside, the video shown also ignored the existence of shutters on the window. Also there was glass found ON TOP of the thrown about clothes, also the lawyers office that it wasn't even proven that he broke into had a fire escape to help with the climb and wasn't a strait vertical climb without any foot or hand holds, they still have yet to show that it is possible to get threw the window the way that say Rudy did only that you could climb high enough to just touch the ledge. PLUS there was NO DNA of Rudy on the wall outside, the window sill...ect....

I can't even respond to the rest, I am sure I am wasting my time any way.

I don't KNOW she is guilty but I think she SHOULD be on trial!

[Keoke]

It?s Time to Release Amanda

For me it?s all about the knife, always has been. I don?t believe the Italian Judges who have heard Amanda?s case through various steps in the process are crazy or stupid. They?ve made some very weak arguments on various ?non-knife? issues. But back stopping their decisions to put Amanda in jail, keep Amanda in jail, and send her to trial was the knife found at Raffaele?s flat. Amanda?s DNA is on the handle and Meredith?s is on the blade. As long as that was a true fact Amanda had to be held, and the slowness of the Italian process meant that her defense team didn?t even see these test results until more than a year after they were produced. They simply had no ammunition to fight with, so the Courts held Amanda and the tabloid press went nuts attacking her character and exaggerating her beauty and lifestyle.

Everyone I talk to in Perugia (legal folks) say that the knife is out and for several reasons. Dr. Torre did a great job explaining why the knife does not match the wounds; even the prosecution now claims that multiple knives had to be used because the big one taken from Raffaele?s flat (that Amanda cooked with) could not have made two of the three neck wounds. The big knife does not match the knife outline blood stain on Meredith?s duvet, that outline is of a smaller knife, the actual murder weapon.

And then there?s Meredith?s DNA. As Sarah Gino detailed, it?s not Meredith?s DNA and the material analyzed is most likely not even human. It is likely just noise from the reagents used in the test, something that a control run on the reagents would have proven.

The DNA test performed on the ?Meredith sample? was the LCN method, used in only a few countries, not admissible in the US, discredited by its own UK inventors for use in criminal proceedings because it is inherently unreliable. Readings of peaks of more than 100 RFUs are considered standard to create a LCN match. There were very few peaks from the ?Meredith sample?, the highest one was a 42 RFU result, all the other peaks were less than this. And the sample was only tested once, instead of twice as required by law. And Amanda?s representatives were not allowed to observe the test, as is required by law. And no control was run on a part of the knife free of ?Meredith DNA? to show that the peaks found were not just noise from the gel (reagents).

How about footprints? Dr. Torre and Gino explained these as well, they are not Amanda?s. The barefoot prints don?t match her long toe pattern, but they do match Rudy?s. Even the footprint on the pillow case is not Amanda?s but a partial of Rudy?s.

The timeline doesn?t work either. Amanda and Raffaele were placed at Raffaele?s flat as late as 8:45 pm. They were planning to take this witness to the train station until this witness came by to cancel. We know from Dr. Introna?s testimony that Meredith could have been dead as early as 9:30 pm, not enough time for an orgy and murder. We know from the couple whose car broke down that as of 10:20 pm there was nothing going on at the cottage, no screams, no comings and going. And we know there were no signs of a party, no bottles, no cigarettes. We know Meredith didn?t arrive home until 9:15 pm.

We know the window was not broken from the inside. The cops concluded this because there was broken glass on the window sill. But video evidence has been produced showing that a rock thrown from the outside would leave the exact glass pattern found at the cottage. And we know Rudy used a rock to break into a law firm just weeks before he murdered Meredith, climbing up an even higher window than at the cottage to get in. Filomena claims that there was broken glass on top of her clothes, but there?s no proof of this in the hours of video and hundreds of pictures shot by the police of the crime scene. We do know that Filomena was studying to become a lawyer, and that Amanda told the police she sometimes smoked pot with Filomena. Perhaps Filomena has motivation to cast Amanda in a poor light.

It?s all clear. Nothing ties Amanda to the crime. Many elements tie Rudy to the crime. We have sloppy police work, a prosecutor who allowed a sweet girl to be hit and intimidated, a press core that fulfills every element of the Eagles song ?Dirty Laundry?. Two young people struggling to survive in a hell hole and at least one family in financial ruin.

Sooner or later this will all percolate up to decision makers who can walk and chew gum at the same time. It is obvious that Amanda is not going to jail for 30+ years. The American media is all over this story and the press in the UK no longer beats on Amanda, indicating their hedge against making further mistakes and taking on even more legal liability.

There is no point in prolonging her suffering any longer. It?s time to let her go, today, right now.

[jcdugger1234]

I wonder...what would a girl like Amanda want with a simple Nebraska boy like me? I don't know nothin' about fancy cars and fancy restaurants. Still, I would love to show her a moonlit night out by the hay stacks when she returns home! :)

[oliabby]

Julie Chen,
You are the worst! Stupid questions and robotic technique. Take an early pregnancy leave. Please!

[oliabby]

Julie Chen,
You are the worst! Stupid questions and robotic technique. Take an early pregnancy leave. Please!

[arkieguy]

I think that she is being railroaded. Can you imagine the outcry if an American court took a two month vacation from a trial while the defendent sat in jail. I don't think that the circumstancial evidence that they have, and that is all they have, should be enough to convict her. You can't tell what a foreign court will do, however.

[ajjaxtheleast]

"She always finds a way to have fun."

An unfortunate statement since at present
the courts are trying to discover if some of her
friends'WAYS of finding "fun" was also one of
her ways of finding "fun".

The best that can come out of this is that
she wasn't with the company of psychopaths that
she considers great company to search for her fun
with during this particular "funtime event."