U.S. Student Indicted In Italy Slay Case

An Ivory Coast national was convicted Tuesday of murdering a British woman in central Italy, while a judge ruled that an American student and her former Italian boyfriend must stand trial for the same crime, lawyers said.

The judge indicted Amanda Knox of Seattle and Raffaele Sollecito on charges of murder and sexual violence in the slaying of Meredith Kercher in Perugia last year, said Francesco Maresca, a lawyer for the victim's family. The trial will start Dec. 4.

A third suspect, Rudy Hermann Guede of Ivory Coast, was sentenced to 30 years in jail after his defense requested a fast-track trial, Maresca said. Prosecutors had asked for life in prison, but such a sentence is normally reduced to 30 years in a fast-track trial.

All suspects deny wrongdoing.

Kercher, a 21-year-old student from England, was found dead Nov. 2 in the apartment she shared with Knox. She died from a stab wound to the neck.

Judge Paolo Micheli emerged with a verdict after almost 12 of hours of deliberations. All the proceedings were held behind closed doors.

Lawyers for Knox and Sollecito, who were jailed shortly after the slaying, had asked that their clients be granted house arrest if indicted. Lawyers leaving the court house in Perugia said Micheli did not rule on the request and a decision is expected in the coming days.

Prosecutors allege that Kercher died during what began as a sex game, with Sollecito holding her by the shoulders from behind while Knox touched her with the point of a knife and Guede tried to sexually assault her. Prosecutors say Knox then fatally stabbed Kercher in the throat.

CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey reports the most damning evidence appears to have been the fact that both Knox's and her boyfriend's DNA were found on the clasp of Kercher's bra.

Sollecito's defense team says the bra bore multiple DNA traces and charge the evidence might have been inadvertently contaminated during the investigation.

"One issue on which no one disagreed was that the 21-year-old British student Meredith Kercher was decent, well liked, and an innocent victim," reports Pizzey.

Kercher's family is seeking some $32 million in civil damages which they almost certainly cannot collect but, Pizzey says, if awarded it would deny the accused any profits from books or movies.

Guede has acknowledged being in the house, saying he was in the bathroom when Kercher was attacked and that he rushed into the bedroom to try to rescue her. Scared, he immediately fled the scene, he said.

Sollecito, 24, has said he was in his own apartment in Perugia and that he doesn't remember if Knox spent part or all of that night with him.

Knox, 21, initially told investigators she was in the house when Kercher was killed, and covered her ears against the victim's screams. Later, Knox said she wasn't in the house.

Prosecutors say Knox's DNA was found on the handle of a knife that might have been used in the slaying, while Kercher's DNA was found on the blade.