Evidence Against Amanda Knox May Have Been Tainted, Experts Say
Experts say there was no DNA found on the knife or bra clasp.
July 30, 2011 — -- Independent experts say that the evidence against Amanda Knox, the Seattle exchange student convicted of murder, may be tainted.
During the trial, the prosecution had no eye-witnesses and no clear motive, and so the case rested almost entirely on two key pieces of evidence: a knife believed to be the murder weapon and the clasp of the bra strap of the victim, British student Meredith Kercher.
Knox has been locked away in an Italian prison for nearly four years. Court-appointed experts may be the key to her freedom.
It was in November, 2007 when Knox, along with boyfriend Raphaele Sollecito and a third man, were charged in the stabbing death of her roommate Meredith Kirchner. Prosecutors claim it was a drug-fueled evening, a sex game gone wrong.
In 2009, Knox was convicted and sentenced to 26 years in prison. Sollecito was sentenced to 25.
Back in court for her appeal earlier this week, the 24-year-old Knox looked fragile and pale.
In court this morning, the victim's attorneys announced they want each party's forensic experts to re-testify.
"These independent experts came forward, saying there is no evidence on the knife. They can't find any human - DNA on the knife. And this little bra clasp also had no evidence of DNA, of the young man," said Nina Burgleigh, author of "The Fatal Gift of Beauty" about Knox's case.
Not only was there no blood or DNA, but strict international guidelines for collecting DNA were apparently violated.
"Taking away the material evidence destroys the case. And I don't think that they can go very much farther with it," said Burgleigh.
Amanda's freedom may very well not be a question of if, but when.
"I was actually able to speak to the priest in jail. He said you could see the light in her eyes, and she could finally breathe for the first time in three years, in over three years," said Edda Mellas, Knox's mother.
The court now goes on break for the summer. The hearings will likely resume in another month with a verdict expected at the end of September.
