Amanda Knox to Jury: Charges Pure Fantasy

(CBS/AP)  Last Updated 10:06 a.m. ET

Prosecutors requested life sentences Saturday for an American student and her former Italian boyfriend accused of killing a young British woman in Italy.

Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini asked a jury in Perugia to convict Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito on charges of murder and sexual violence for their alleged role in the 2007 slaying of Meredith Kercher.

They deny wrongdoing.

Knox, who is from Seattle, took a deep breath when Mignini made his request. Life in prison is Italy's stiffest punishment.

She then addressed the court, saying that the accusations against her were "pure fantasy."

"Meredith was my friend, I didn't hate her," she said in Italian, fighting back tears.

Mignini argued that Knox, Sollecito and a third man who was convicted in a separate trial killed Kercher during a drug-induced sex game.

The Briton's body was found on the morning of Nov. 2, 2007, in the apartment she shared with Knox.

CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar reports that forensics in the case, including the alleged murder weapon, are sharply disputed. Defense experts said the knife entered as evidence could not have caused the wounds to Kercher's body.

If convicted, it will be because Knox didn't have a strong enough defense strategy in place.

A verdict is expected in early December, MacVicar reports, and both sides have said they will appeal.

Knox's parents, meanwhile, have already bought her a plane ticket home.

In her closing remarks Saturday, prosecutor Manuela Comodi said evidence presented during the trial had shown that the defendants' cell phones were switched off the night of the crime, making their whereabouts impossible to trace.

Comodi also recalled testimony by expert witnesses who said Sollecito's computer had not been used during the hours Kercher was stabbed to death.

According to Knox, who took the stand last June, the two suspects went to Sollecito's place to watch a movie on his computer on Nov. 1 and spent the night there, smoking pot and having sex.

The Briton's body was found on the morning of Nov. 2 in the apartment she shared with Knox.

The 21-year-old woman is believed to have died between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Nov. 1, based on the autopsy and the accounts of friends with whom she had eaten dinner that night, according to court documents.

Prosecutors argued Friday that Kercher was killed during a drug-fueled sex game. They said Knox had a growing hatred for the victim and killed her, together with Sollecito and a third man, under "the fumes of drugs and possibly alcohol."

Rudy Hermann Guede from Ivory Coast was sentenced to 30 years in prison last year for the killing. He is appealing his conviction.

[amanda_the_saint]

amanda knox gets it wrong the only thing that was pure fantasy was the night of the murder, a pigment of her imagination and a madness that only her and her italian lover could understand. rudy well, hw was there at the wrong place at the wrong time, and the bloody scene was the perfect carbon for the killers to have a perfect footprint of a black man with a record of crime, this was the perfect crime, a scence wiped out clean by two malicious individuals. i believe rudy because i am a detective and it takes awhile for a bloody mess to takee place after a knife wound therefore the killers did not leave their footprints. rudy guede said he had heard the scream while je was in the bathroom, ran out and saw meridith body on the floor he said tried to stop the bleeding with a towel, and that is fact the towel was found ontop of the bed. he said he fled to germany out of fear they would pin it on him, no ****! he had a record and his skin color did not do him any favors. however the italian police and justice system refuse to pin the murder on him alone. why, the killers cooked their own goose! they gave contradicting alibi's
but the truth was devastating, when there was a witness who said that amanda was up at 7;45 am buying bleach. amanda's alibi said she was at rafaelle till 10 am in the morning. then she said she was there and heard meridith screams while her boss patrick lumumba killed and raped her. ok, so far rudy has had his sentence cut to half, and he does deserve to do time for leaving a girl to die. but do i think they should get a better verdict, i think yes, i think they should get a better verdict; for the victims family that is, Life without parole.

[Justice4All1210]

First things first I am a Brit living in Coulsdon, Surrey.

I have followed this case since Meredith was discovered.

Surely the American Embassy and US State Department would have intervened during the past 2 years if the Prosecutor, Police or Forensics were in some way flawed or corrupt, this has not happened, I do wonder why if so many people from the US seem to have concluded that they should intervene.

Many people have stated that Rudy Herman Guede is guilty of this crime and strangely point to forensics and police findings as proof, yet when the same forensics and police findings are applied to Amanda there appears to be a howl of complaint, how does that work?

Meredith Kercher was and is the victim and will never return home to her family, not in 10, 15 or 25 years. I do not know what the outcome or the verdict will be. However, I do hope that justice will be served for the victim?s sake because she will never have a voice or a life.

It sometimes appears via US media that the rest of the world hates US, much of the American media has misrepresented this case and how it has developed during the past 2 years, simply Italy has its own Judicial process one of the defendants is an Italian national and is co-accused, if he was being treated differently I could understand some the nationalistic comments but this most certainly is not the case as he has gone through the same process as Amanda.

The body of evidence both factual and circumstantial does not bode well for the co-defendants and it remains to the defence to raise reasonable doubt in their closing arguments, such doubt has to be directed in context of the Jury and the Italian Judicial process, frankly and I can understand how this may be difficult to accept for some people, Italy is a sovereign state with an independent judiciary which will not bend to its political class let alone comments from other countries.

[Berkeley-SkirtLifter]

by timothyjo November 21, 2009 5:23 PM EST
she is guilty and should be found GUILTY and having followed the trial, unless u r a complete stooge with no brian u could see she is GUILTY. Being from americian and knowing how stupid my fellow citizens r no dought a lot of americans will find her innocent because of that, thats one of our problem here
____________________________

What do they say about pots calling kettles names?

lol

there are certain words you just have to spell correctly:

stupid
intelligence
college
Brain
etc

get it Tim?

[special-agent-utah]

by piBen11 November 21, 2009 6:55 PM EST
special-agent-utah, why do you seem to have some bent up anger on Americans. The fact is, as it has been presented by the prosecutor, there is no evidence implicating Knox to the killing. Nothing, I mean nothing has been shown convincingly or even slightly that implicates her to the crime. Therefore, she is innocent as accused. Period. I'm not convinced and I don't think any reasonable and impartial person sitting through the case would be convinced of her guilt or participation in the crime. She is completely innocent!!!

---------------------------------------------------------

Excusez moi? gluon brains telling the truth about this horrible sadistic murder hardly amounts to hating America ...Its dispicable people like you and knox who are an Embarrassment for America,who would lie and try to justify their sadistic action at any cost...Shame on you for defending a murderer and attempting to fool me with your inept and baseless post,that there is no evidence implicating knox for the murder of an innocent british girl ...You wouldn't have the guts to face her parent and say this crapp that you just posted under my post ...What ever happen to the aspect of humanity and fellow ship or does it all revolves around knox being an American girl who has been implicated in murder and must be defended at any cost ...Wrong dubious dingbat let the legal process to take place,and we shall see, if she gets off because of the corrupt italian justice system...Than you can celebrate her release and miscarriage of justice ...Until than keep dragging your knuckles pinhead Ben....

[jbright9]

This whole scenario is too far fetched. I hope Amanda is home again soon with her family. She's already spent almost two years locked up which is stiff punishment for somebody's dreamed up theories.

[askagain]

That is fine if you wish to ignore facts such as they were roommates, they weren't getting along well, and there appears to be enough evidence, real and circumstantial, to convict this gal. Your thinking reminds me of the OJ Simpson trial where the jury chose to ignore the evidence resulting in his acquittal.

[timothyjo]

she is guilty and should be found GUILTY and having followed the trial, unless u r a complete stooge with no brian u could see she is GUILTY. Being from americian and knowing how stupid my fellow citizens r no dought a lot of americans will find her innocent because of that, thats one of our problem here

[piBen11]

timothyjo, would you point to any evidence solid or otherwise presented by the prosecutor that implicates her participation in the crime? Where do you fish out this conclusion of yours that she is guilty? How are we sure that you are really an American as you claimed? How can you assert that Americans are stupid? All Americans are stupid? None sense!!

Some Americans may be stupid like most people in other Countries, but your assertion that Americans are stupid is naive and shows without a doubt that you are a hater of Americans. And stop portraying yourself as an American.

[sshivers]

timothyjo, your comment only proves just how stupid Americans really are: brian? americian? dought? You can't even spell, much less put together a logical and factual argument. You are an embarrassment to the people of the United States of America!

[Dunestrider]

When the judicial proceedings first starts, she was full of coyish smiles. Now her brow is furrowed with worries. What is going on?

[bann65]

I have been somewhat following this case. All I can say is "this Italian town and courtroom are nuts!"

[newarlin]

All this talk about Cell Phones being off is rediculous! If they wanted to committ the crime, Why switch off the phone, Leave it on and leave it at the other Apt. That way they would have some sort of and alibi.

[special-agent-utah]

by special-agent-utah November 21, 2009 12:59 PM EST
Childrens trying to play sadistic games ,always goof up like these retarded morons white trash junkies...

Its was clearly a planed murder by knox and the company of drug addicts...Hang her the pigget ...viva italia...

Excusez moi correction;