Amanda Knox's Family Wanted Hayden Panettiere to Meet Knox in Prison

PERUGIA, Italy Feb. 4, 2011— -- The family of Amanda Knox tried to get actress Hayden Panettiere to meet with the imprisoned American woman before starring in the new Lifetime movie "Amanda Knox: Murder On Trial In Italy."

A trailer for the Lifetime channel movie, which airs Feb. 21, debuted on the Internet this week and has upset both Knox's family as well as the family of Meredith Kercher, the British woman who Knox was convicted of killing on Nov. 1, 2007.

The trailer indicates there are graphic scenes in the movie. One quick segment shows Kercher stripped down to her bra, pinned to the floor and screaming as she is groped by Raffaele Sollecito and Rudy Guede, two men convicted along with Knox in the killing.

Another scene shows Knox in bed with Sollecito in a steamy sex scene.

Amanda Knox's stepfather, who visited with her in her Italian prison today, said the family objects to the portrayal of Amanda in the movie.

"We, quite some time back, asked Hayden to visit Amanda, but they never got back to us after several conversations," Mellas said.

The stepfather said the family has made their objections known to the movie's producers.

"We have formalized our complaint against Lifetime," Mellas said.

"We have to act to protect Amanda, given the biased nature of the content in the trailer, and the unknown, and potentially harmful content of the actual film. The movie harms Amanda's presumption of innocence as afforded her by the Italian constitution," he said.

"It is ill timed and inappropriate in many ways, so we have no other choice but to protest its airing," Mellas said.

Knox was sentenced to 26 years and Sollecito to 25 years; they are appealing their convictions. Guede's appeals have already been rejected, and he was sentenced to 16 years.