Amanda Knox's Lawyer Tears Up in Court

(CBS)  This story was written by Allen Pizzey in Perugia

The final summation of Amanda Knox's defense was this: She was targeted as guilty from the moment the police took her in for questioning.

Her Perugia, Italy-based lawyer insisted that there was plenty of proof that Knox is innocent and none that she is guilty.

"Amanda," attorney Luciano Ghirga told the court, "has to be given her life back."

In the hours after she was taken in for questioning Knox had been "crushed by the system," he said.

The police, in his words, "acted like part of the prosecution," even though they were dealing with what he described as "a shocked, exhausted, emotionally destroyed, psychologically-abused girl."

At the time of her arrest Knox spoke minimal Italian.

Her defense team alleged that translators assigned to her in the police station were allowed to pick and choose what they thought was important rather than translating what Knox said verbatim.

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The claim that the victim British student Meredith Kercher died in a drug-fueled sex game was, the lawyer said, "born in the police station."

The closing arguments are the best chance the defense has to focus juror's minds on key pieces of evidence presented over months with long breaks between court sessions.

"In a U.S. trial, they're so compact, you go every day and in the end they do a fairly quick summation and you move on where all the evidence is laid out continuously and they get to hear it and they immediately go make decisions," said Knox's mother Edda Mellas. "Here in Italy, this has gone on for … nine months."

The jury was the primary target for the summation. There was, the lawyer told them, a rush to find a guilty party.

He also took issue with the way Knox had been described by the media and said she had been defamed at least 18 times during the course of the nearly year-long trial.

(AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

At the end of it all Luciano Ghirga, seen at left, broke down, apparently overcome by the emotion of his final appeal for an acquittal on the charges of murder and sexual violence that carry a life sentence.

The whole event had pretty much the same effect on Knox's mother Mellas, who along with her younger daughter Deeana was in court to hear it.

The two judges and six-member jury will deliberate on the verdict together. Even if the jury decides Knox is innocent, under Italian law the judge can overrule them.

[rykatspop]

Guilty or not, if you hang with the wrong crowd, live the party life, then this is the way things can go.

[mtravali]

She's as guilty as they come. If she were being tried here, she'd have been on death row already.

[gosstom]

At the end of it all Luciano Ghirga, seen at left, broke down, apparently overcome by the emotion of his final appeal for an acquittal on the charges of murder and sexual violence that carry a life sentence.
Spaghettisnapper, you better do a lot better than shed a few crocodile tears to this killer off...She is going DOWN,DOWN,DOWN......

[mejordelahistoria]

I would love to bang this ho knox but i still think she should serve at least 60 years in the penitentiary (and she probably will, since the evidence is overwhelming, even her boyfriend has stated that she is a liar), the same goes for her boyfriend.

[KelleyOnLooker]

She has herpes you idiot.

[rjohnson40]

Where do you people get your news at?

[rjohnson40]

Wow Dannette. In all actuality I think Amanda is just okay looking. Pretty plain. Do you even know anything surrounding her interrogation and the statement she made. She did not change her story. She has said the same thing since day one, although she did accuse her boss when they were asking her to imagine what happened. Wow, she did head stands. Guilty. She bought underwear. Maybe because police would not let her get things from her house. Ever think about that. What photos of her laughing and joking? Never seen them. But I guess this makes her guilty too. And a knife found with her DNA at her boyfriends. Unreal. And DNA of Meredith that is so miniscule that it cannot be tested again, and has a 20% chance of being hers. And it is not even blood DNA. It has already been proven not to be the murder weapon. I think you are judging her by her behavior and not the evidence. Hope to God you are never on a jury.

[KelleyOnLooker]

rjohnson40, Amanda has changed her story so many times I doubt if even she remembers every version. What I found particularly interesting when she says Raffaele her boyfriend murdered Meredith.

[Dannette21]

You are living in a dream world rjohnson - if you'd followed the case you'd know she changed her story a multitude of times. You even just said she accused her boss - how could someone come up with that if they were "to imagine what happened". that's ridiculous. you don't point the finger at an innocent person, you say "i can't imagine it, because I wasn't there". She then said she must have saw Rudy kill Meredith. She then said she was at her boyfriends all night. And yes, I think to any person on the planet, doing head stands in a police statement after your friend is murdered would be incredibly inappropriate. Lingerie shopping with your boyfriend the next day, telling him you can't wait to get back and f*** him (which she was heard saying) seems odd, doesn't it? if thats normal to you, you need help. And as for the pictures - i don't imagine you've seen them because the American news broadcasters won't show anything that makes her look guilty. Why don't you go back and do some actual research on this case instead of the completely one sided infromation America seems to be giving and perhaps you'll get a real sense of what went on.

[rjohnson40]

dvargas - so you are saying this girl deserves the death penalty because she smiles at her family in court? And Merediths family already received their conclusion. The man that killed their daughter is locked up in prison serving a 30 year sentence. And I think you are the embarassment with your quick to judge attitude and your glorious career at McDonalds.

[Dannette21]

rjohnson40 - it's laughable that you would call dvargas quick to judge. the only reason why you think amanda knox is innocent is because she's an attractive, young, american girl. This girl is guilty as sin - she lied and accused an innocent man, her boss, of killing Meredith. She said she SAW HIM. Once that proved to not work, she then changed her story TWICE more. she was doing head stands in the police station, she was spotted lingerie shopping with her boyfriend the day after the murder was discovered. There are photographs of her laughing and joking with Rafaele outside her house as the police search it. A knife was found in Rafaele's house with Amanda's dna on the handle, and Meredith's on the tip! Yes, that sure looks like the behaviour of an innocent women.

[dvargas2000]

That was an Academy Award winning performance by the defense, tears included.

This girl deserves nothing short of a life sentence. End of story. Her smugness in court just demonstrates her character and the type of person she is.

It's unfortunate the death penalty is not an option.

I wish the press would stop referring to her as an American, as she is an embarrassment to Americans in general, and not something the American public wants to be associated with. We disown this creature.

Here's hoping poor Meredith's family has the conclusion they are looking for.

[dvargas2000]

That was an Academy Award winning performance by the defense, tears included.

This girl deserves nothing short of a life sentence. End of story. Her smugness in court just demonstrates her character and the type of person she is.

It's unfortunate the death penalty is not an option.

I wish the press would stop referring to her as an American, as she is an embarrassment to Americans in general, and not something the American public wants to be associated with. We disown this creature.

Here's hoping poor Meredith's family has the conclusion they are looking for.