Amanda Knox, the American student arrested four years ago on the suspicion of killing her British roommate, pleaded with a jury Monday for her freedom. Knox is being charged along with Raffaele Sollecito, her boyfriend at the time, of sexually assaulting and murdering Meredith Kercher. Prosecuters are fighting to increase the pair’s sentences to life. Defense lawyers for Knox and Sollecito have argued that the DNA evidence for the case was mishandled and contaminated, and should be considered inadmissible.
A third person convicted was Rudy Hermann Guede, in separate proceedings. Knox and Sollecito have denied association with him. The case verdict is in the hands of two judges and six jurors, who retired after Knox’s final statement.
