Amanda Knox in Court for Italy Cop Slander Case

American college student Amanda Knox- already imprisoned in the mountain town of Perugia after a murder conviction - appeared Friday before an Italian judge who will soon decide whether she can be tried in a separate case of slander against the Italian police, who she claims beat her during interrogation.

Knox's lawyers say the 23-year-old Seattle student is already nervous about her appeal next month against her 26-year sentence for murder.

CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey reports that Knox arrived in a closed penitentiary police van Friday for the preliminary hearing.

If the charge of slandering eight police officers is thrown out, it will draw into question the conviction for murder, but if the judge rules against her and allows the slander case to proceed, Knox faces more time in prison. If the case goes ahead, the prosecution is likely to demand she be given a life sentence.

Witnesses in the courtroom Friday said Knox, who cut her hair during the hot summer in jail, appeared "drawn and pale," and that she had gained weight.

The slander charge is based on statements she made while being interrogated as a possible witness after the discovery of her housemate, British student Meredith Kercher, in a blood-spattered room.

"I was very, very scared because they were treating me so badly and I didn't understand why," Knox previously told the court. She said she only confessed to being in the house at the time of the murder after she was hit by police.

The scene in court today was almost d?j? vu. The judge is the same one who originally committed her to trial…the prosecutor was on the state's team, and the lawyer representing the police is also representing Kercher's family in a civil suit against Knox.

Outside the courthouse, the media circus continues to grow.

Two movies, one of them starring "Heroes" actress Hayden Pennettiere as Amanda Knox, are in the works, and two books have already been published.

A former jail-mate wrote that Knox was originally not treated well by the other prisoners, but was accepted once she had been convicted of the murder. Two more books are due out soon, and the slander hearing reconvenes in a week's time.

Knox's parents, Curt Knox and Edda Mellas, spoke with "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith Friday. Curt siad, "I almost look at these slander charges (against Amanda) as harassment." And he and Mellas described how they keep their spirits up despite all the family's been through:

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GinaDC1 says:: I see that the anti-Knox commenters are out in force again. Those who see this case as a miscarriage of justice do not spout anti-Italy hate: this is another attempt to smear honest people. Pathetic.; reply

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MickeyMouseSully says:

What is really behind so much of this Internet hate campaign is anti-Americanism. These people posting on here and all over the Internet against Amanda and her supporters are from Europe where Americans are hated. Americans need to wake up and realize how much anti-Americanism can hurt us, especially if traveling to countries like Italy and Britain where these posters are from. The State Department needs to do a whole lot more to educate and inform Americans about the dangers of anti-Americanism. Readers, Google "anti-Americanism" and "British anti-Americanism" and open your eyes! And while you are at it: BOYCOTT ITALY!


Justice4All1210 replies:: linkicon reporticon emailicon; MickeyMouseSully interesting opinion you have of Europe and in particular Italians and Brits, by the way I am the latter. British, Italian and American armed personnel are fighting and dying in Afghanistan and Iraq so that you can sit in from your PC and denigrate entire countries because of this case and you selectively ignore the simple fact that an Italian citizen Raffaele Sollecito is getting exactly the same sentence as Amanda and is subject to exactly the same judicial process.

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lkinsall says:

I am totally appalled at the level of ignorance that people in this country are judging Amanda Knox. There is not a shred of evidence that she had anything at all to do with the murder of her roommate, Meredioth Kercher as it has 'already' been proven that the thug from the Ivory Coast named Rudy did the crime! Amanda Knox & her then boyfriend, Raffaele are the victims of proscutors and an Italian justice system verging on hysteria to make their case. Anyone with any common sense, if they read, can clearly see that she is & was at that time very immature, but that does not in any way show her guilt! She did not commit this murder and the Italian justice system knows it and they know who committed the crime, but refuses to acknowledge those facts! What bothers me the most is the ignorant crap leveled at her from idiots in this country...her own country. She would not have been prosecuted in this country because she did not commit the crime! I don't care how stupid she acted at police headquarters & jumped around or showed her immaturity after the crime. It is truly a shame that the majority of people who blog or respond to these articles write like they are only reading the Italian newspapers??? Why can't anyone understand that she is being railroaded by the prosecutors there!! Get the facts or do not comment at all.


MickeyMouseSully replies:: linkicon reporticon emailicon; Amanda Knox is innocent as any thinking fairminded person can see. What is very curious is this campaign on the Internet against her by posters from England and Italy, posing as Americans. The hate and venom they spew towards Americans is most disturbing. And poor Amanda gets the brunt of it all. There needs to be an investigation as to who is behind this Internet harassment campaign and whether it is connected with anyone in the prosecution.

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theodonnykerabatsos says:

You know, Amanda confessed as soon as the cops told her that her boyfriend rolled over on her. That was less than 2 hours in to the interview. Plus she even admits they gave her tea, cakes and bathroom breaks. That's not "water-boarding" or electrocution! She confessed because she was guilt and panicked when her accomplice cave in.


MickeyMouseSully replies:: linkicon reporticon emailicon; The interrogation techniques used against Amanda were disgraceful. A young girl, all alone in a foreign country, not allowed to call her mother or a lawyer, her cell phone taken from her, not fluent in the language, interrogated by 8-12 cops, during an all night interrogation. Even an adult would be terrified under such circumstances. She was an innocent lamb taken to the slaughter. Now they threaten and prosecute anyone who speaks out. I will never spend one tourist dollar in the fascist state of Italy.


larthia2 replies:: linkicon reporticon emailicon; Amanda never said she was water-boarded or electrocuted. She said she was hit on the back of the head twice.

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theodonnykerabatsos says:

Why can't Amanda provide a name, badge number or even a basic physical description of the female cop who "cuffed" her on the back of her head like school teacher? I can remember the face of the mean cop that gave me a traffic ticker 15 years ago.


MickeyMouseSully replies:: linkicon reporticon emailicon; Amanda was in a state of terror and panic while 8-12 cops were interrogating her all night in a foreign language about a murder. If it were me, I wouldn't have been able to think straight either. How despicable that these people took such advantage of a young innocent American girl like that. Now they harass and intimidate people who speak out. It is clear that there is no right of free speech in Italy, and that the Italians are even trying to interfere with rights of Americans to speak out on American soil. They are even prosecuting the parents for SPEAKING OUT IN SEATTLE. No First Amendment rights in America when the topic is the fascist state of Italy!


larthia2 replies:: linkicon reporticon emailicon; Why can't the police provide a tape of the interrogation? Why didn't the police see that Amanda had a lawyer before they kept her for an all-night interrogation? Why did the police destroy Amanda, Raffaele, and Meredith's hard drives? Why are only 8 of the 12 police officers pursuing the slander charge? Why did Stefanoni lie in court about the luminol test results? Why did they fail to pick up the bra clasp when they did their initial search of the room? Why did they let Rudy Guede go free after he had broken in to three different places, armed with a knife, and was found with stolen property? Why do the Italians allow a prosecutor convicted of abuse of power keep his seat?

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GinaDC1 says:: Ttank: you are simply repeating the "the cops said so it must be true" line.

Amanda Knox did not confess: she was coerced into implicating an innocent man the evening before her mother was to arrive in Italy because the cops needed a quick arrest. They did not properly investigate the crime scene and the so-called physical evidence against Knox and her boyfriend is HIGHLY suspect. In addition, the court relied on an incorrect time-of-death in order to accommodate the dubious testimony of witnesses who were 'found' by the media well after the story hit the press.

Knox and her boyfriend are victims of a prosecutor who refuses to admit mistakes. Oh yes, and who has been convicted of abuse of his office in another case.; reply

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ttank says:

I love this case every one says she is not guilty, but she is. I know that an "FBI agent" said he investigated and found not evidence. She confessed and had details that was not released to the press which means, at the very least she was there. As for the FBI agent, just because you say your a FBI agent doesn?t mean you are an investigator. What he said on the early show about forcing a confession is a felony. Now any person he might have got confessions out of has grounds for the confession being thrown out and their convection over turned. He is a liar looking for his fifteen minutes of fame. In the US she would have got a life sentence, and depending on what state she committed the murder in, the prosecutor would have gone for the death sentence. In TX or VA she might be sitting on death row.


Alyssa1982 replies:: linkicon reporticon emailicon; ttank:
Totally great points, I'd forgotten that FBI people run the whole gamut of jobs; For all we know, he could have been in charge of mail fraud, bank fraud,etc.. for all we know! Just like John Q Kelly, who is the lawyer for Natalee Holloway's mom - he's a business lawyer, not a criminal lawyer :P

Amanda is "feeling down" because she realizes finally she can't buy her way out of trouble.

A young girl was beaten to death in Vancouver last week, possibly by another young man, and a native girl was bludgeoned to death by a 14 and 15 year old girls in Thunder Bay; Nothing shocks me anymore. I don't doubt that Amanda was capable of participating in this murder, and the evidence is stacked against her.

Lock her up and throw away the key!