Italian lawyer calls US student Knox a 'she-devil'

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By ALESSANDRA RIZZO

The Associated Press

PERUGIA, Italy — Amanda Knox, the American student convicted of killing her British roommate, is a "she-devil" who deliberately accused an innocent man to cover her own crime, a lawyer for the man unjustly implicated in the case said Monday.

Amanda Knox attends an hearing of her appeals trial at the Perugia court, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011. Italian prosecutors have urged an appeals court to uphold the murder conviction of Amanda Knox despite what they called a media campaign in support of the American student, asking the jurors to think instead of the young victim whose life was brutally ended. In the first round of closing arguments that took seven hours Friday, the prosecutors summed up circumstantial evidence, testimony and other clues they believe point solely to Knox and Raffaele Sollecito (AP Photo/Stefano Medici)

Amanda Knox, center, is escorted to the Perugia court, Italy, Monday, Sept. 26, 2011. Amanda Knox can't sleep or eat properly as she waits to know if an appeals court in Italy will uphold or overturn her murder conviction, a friend of the jailed American student said. A verdict is expected in early October, capping an appeals trial that began almost a year ago. Knox was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering Meredith Kercher, her British roommate in Perugia, and sentenced to 26 years in prison. Knox's boyfriend at the time of the 2007 murder, Raffaele Sollecito of Italy, was convicted of the same charges and sentenced to 25 years. (AP Photo/Stefano Medici)

Amanda Knox, center, is escorted into the Perugia court, Italy, Monday, Sept. 26, 2011. Amanda Knox can't sleep or eat properly as she waits to know if an appeals court in Italy will uphold or overturn her murder conviction, a friend of the jailed American student said. A verdict is expected in early October, capping an appeals trial that began almost a year ago. Knox was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering Meredith Kercher, her British roommate in Perugia, and sentenced to 26 years in prison. Knox's boyfriend at the time of the 2007 murder, Raffaele Sollecito of Italy, was convicted of the same charges and sentenced to 25 years. (AP Photo/Stefano Medici)

Raffaele Sollecito is escorted to the Perugia court, Italy, Monday, Sept. 26, 2011. Amanda Knox can't sleep or eat properly as she waits to know if an appeals court in Italy will uphold or overturn her murder conviction, a friend of the jailed American student said. A verdict is expected in early October, capping an appeals trial that began almost a year ago. Knox was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering Meredith Kercher, her British roommate in Perugia, and sentenced to 26 years in prison. Knox's boyfriend at the time of the 2007 murder, Raffaele Sollecito of Italy, was convicted of the same charges and sentenced to 25 years. (AP Photo/Stefano Medici)

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Knox was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering Meredith Kercher while they were studying in Perugia in 2007, and sentenced to 26 years. She denies wrongdoing and has appealed the lower court's verdict, issued in 2009.

Early in the probe, Knox accused Diya "Patrick" Lumumba of being the murderer. As a result of that claim, Lumumba was jailed for about two weeks — and then cleared and freed.

On Monday, Lumumba's attorney addressed the court hearing Knox's appeal. Lumumba is a civil plaintiff in the case, and in Italy civil portions of cases are heard at the same time as the criminal matter.

"Who is Amanda Knox? Is she the mild-looking, fresh-faced person you see here, or the one devoted to lust, drugs and alcohol that emerges from the court documents?" Lumumba's attorney, Carlo Pacelli, asked the appeals court.

Pacelli maintained that a double soul co-exists in the 24-year-old American.

"Both a (saint) and a demonic, satanic, diabolical she-devil, which leads her toward borderline behavior. This was the Amanda of Nov. 1, 2007," the night of the murder.

He insists that, at the time of the crime, "she was an explosive mix of drugs, sex and alcohol."

Kercher was stabbed to death in the apartment she shared with Knox. The American student at one point told investigators she was home during the killing and had to cover her ears to drown out Kercher's screams while Lumumba was murdering her, according to court documents.

Knox maintains police pressure led her to accuse Lumumba, a Congolese national who owned a bar in Perugia where the American occasionally worked.

While Lumumba is a civil plaintiff in the case, he is also seeking damages from Knox in a separate procedure because her claim led him to be unjustly detained.

Knox's co-defendant in the appeals trial is her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito. He was convicted of the same charges and sentenced to 25 years. He, too, denies wrongdoing.

A verdict in their appeals case is expected by next week. Knox and Sollecito hope to be freed after four years in jail; prosecutors have asked the court to increase the sentences of both to life in prison, Italy's stiffest sentence.

Also convicted in separate proceedings was Rudy Hermann Guede from Ivory Coast. Italy's highest criminal court has upheld Guede's conviction and his 16-year prison sentence. Guede denies wrongdoing.

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September 26, 2011 08:51 AM EDT