New DNA experts in Knox appeal

Amanda Knox was back before an Italian court yesterday in her bid to overturn a conviction for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher with new experts reviewing key forensic evidence.

Lawyers for the 23-year-old American have described the appeal as a “key moment” in the case, saying it provides the first opportunity for independent experts to review the evidence which convicted her.

Knox came into court with her head bowed but turned and smiled at her stepfather, Chris Mellas, and mouthed hello to her best friend Madison Paxton, who has moved to Perugia and regularly visits Knox in prison.

She was sentenced to 26 years in prison for the 2007 killing of Leeds University student Kercher, 21, with whom she shared a house in the town of Perugia in central Italy where both were studying.

Raffaele Sollecito, Knox’s boyfriend at the time, was sentenced to 25 years for his part in the murder and is also appealing his conviction.

A relaxed looking Sollecito chatted with his guards and smiled at journalists.

In the first hearing this year, two experts from Rome’s Sapienza University – Stefano Conti and Carla Vecchiotti – were formally appointed to review the evidence.

Conti and Vecchiotti, called in after the court ordered fresh tests on the presumed murder weapon, asked for 90 days to re-examine the DNA evidence used to convict the pair and will present their findings at a hearing on May 21.

“This is a key moment. Today, for the first time, independent experts will be asked to examine the evidence,” Knox’s lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova had said ahead of the hearing.

Knox’s defence says a kitchen knife – found in Sollecito’s house and said to have Knox’s DNA on the handle and Kercher’s on the blade – does not fit the wounds on Kercher.

The absence of blood and low level of Kercher’s DNA on the knife mean it was probably contaminated in the lab and should be excluded, they say.

They also want a bra clip with traces of Sollecito’s DNA disregarded because it was collected days after the murder, had been moved, and is also likely to be contaminated.

Conti asked the judge for permission to remove the knife handle to test for DNA traces on the lower part of the blade but was told he and Vecchiotti would have to make a formal request to the court.

Mellas, who has been living in Perugia since September to help prepare for the appeal, said “I’m happy the so-called evidence is being reviewed.”

“But it’s hard to be excited. Things have happened before that sounded good but then you saw how the trial ended. It’s a step in the right direction,” he said.

Kercher’s body was found semi-naked in her room on November 2, 2007. A third person, an Ivorian man called Rudy Guede, was sentenced for his part in the murder in a fast-track trial in 2008.

Knox, Sollecito and Guede were charged with sexually assaulting and killing Meredith in a drug-fuelled attack.