Mom: Amanda Knox Upbeat as Appeal Progresses

Just 10 months after being convicted of murder in an Italian court, 23-year-old Seattle native Amanda Knox will face a judge again on Friday - not for what she did, but for what she said, reports CBS News correspondent Jeff Glor.

Knox is already in prison for a murder she claims she didn't commit, but this week Italian authorities will try to add more years to her sentence, charging that her claims of being aggressively coerced by police during her interrogation were untrue and amount to slander.

Knox claimed that she was "hit in the back of the head by one of the police officers who said she was trying to ... help me remember the truth" as she was being questioned about the death of Meredith Kercher.

Police say that's a lie - that officers never hit her. On Friday, Knox will face a judge and a possible six years added to the 26 she's already serving.

Knox's parents also face slander charges for repeating their daughter's claims to a British newspaper, but her mother isn't worried.

"The lawyers have told me that the charges, especially mine, to not worry [about]. She has the right under Italian law to defend herself and tell her side of the story, which is what she's done. I don't think they are particularly worried about that. [It's] just one more thing we have to go through," Edda Mellas, Knox's mother, told CBS' "The Early Show" Monday.

Mellas said her family is remaining upbeat as Knox's appeal moves forward, especially with support coming in the form of former FBI agent Steve Moore, who became convinced of Knox's innocence while watching a 48 Hours program on the case. He's certain that Knox was telling the truth about being hit by police.

"Guess what? I believe her," he said. "I believe she is soft-pedaling it because she's afraid right now. I believe it is worse than she's saying it is."

Ellas spent six weeks with Knox over the summer and said imprisonment has been hard on her daughter, but she's staying positive.

"I think now that things are moving and there are court dates coming up and she sees things progressing again, she's feeling better. She reads -- she writes, she works on her studies. She is still taking classes."

Knox's appeal is scheduled to be heard in November.

Ellas also addressed a planed Lifetime movie on the case, with Hayden Panettiere rumored to play Knox. Ellas said reports that the family was fighting production of the film weren't true.

"We heard about the movie in the news like everybody else and, no, our lawyers have never said they are trying to block production," she said."One said it is premature because the story is ongoing but other than that we haven't tried to stop it and don't know anything about the movie other than what we've heard."

Ellas also said Knox can't believe anyone is making a movie about her.

"She's a very private person she can't believe people would try to tell her story and don't know her and haven't talked to her and she finds that just odd. So, yeah, it's bizarre."