Amanda Knox's dad: She'll plead for her life
As soon as this weekend, Amanda Knox, an American student imprisoned in Italy for murder, may know whether she will be set free and allowed to come home to the United States.
On Tuesday, closing arguments in the appeal of her murder conviction in Italy focused again on Knox's character as defense attorneys claim there is not enough real evidence to keep her in prison.
Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty of murdering Knox's roommate, British student Meredith Kercher, in 2007.
CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata reported from Perugia, Italy, that Knox's family had a chance to visit her Wednesday in prison. D'Agata said the next time they go, they are hoping to take her home.
On "The Early Show" Wednesday morning, Curt Knox, Amanda's father, said his daughter is anxious as the appeal proceedings conclude. He said, "We want to be strong for her, to try to keep her spirits up. You know, she knows she is innocent and we know she is innocent. It's a matter of having the court say that and, hopefully, we get to bring her home soon."
Defense teams for Knox and Sollecito say the prosecution's case is quickly unraveling.
A defense lawyer for Knox's team told the press, "There was no evidence against Raffaele and Amanda. Everything in the investigation is based on nothing."
D'Agata reported the defense teams contend that Amanda Knox is not the "she-devil" prosecutors make her out to be.
Amanda Knox called "she-devil" in court
One of Knox's defenders said in court this week, "I think Amanda Knox could be compared to Jessica Rabbit. You know, Jessica Rabbit's line: 'I'm not bad. Just drawn that way.' She is not like that, just portrayed that way."
Curt Knox shared a similar sentiment, telling "Early Show" co-anchor Erica Hill it's hard to hear the things said about her in court.
He said, "The people that are just doing an all-out, you know, character assassination and assault on her have never even met her, never even talked to her, and, you know, to have them say that, it's very hurtful to us, but it's even more hurtful to her. And we're thankful that those days are now over and we can move on to defense arguments and hopefully, the right verdict."
Knox, in the upcoming proceedings, plans to address the court, her father said .
When asked about what she will say, he said she's been thinking about it for three months.
He said, "We have discussed it, but, you know, it's going to be tough - it's going to be very painful, just from the perspective of, you know, essentially pleading for your life and that is a tough thing to deal with as a 24-year-old."
Hill said, "Meredith Kercher's family has been speaking out, saying their daughter is really getting lost in a lot of the attention that focused on Amanda and on this trial. There are also reports they may attend the verdict. Anything you'd like to say to them? Have you reached out to them at all in these recent months?"
Curt Knox replied, "You know, the Kercher family and their comments related to Meredith being lost is really a true statement. It's so unfortunate. I mean, they have experienced the worst thing that any parent could ever experience, and to have it continue and not be allowed closure is extraordinarily difficult. You know, we have extended our deepest condolences during interviews such as this, but until they know what we believe the truth to be, and that Amanda and Raffaele had nothing to do with it, I'm not certain how they would accept our condolences in person and I'm hopeful we are allowed to do that very, very soon."