Knox ‘like Jessica Rabbit; not bad, just drawn that way’

A DEFENCE lawyer told an Italian court yesterday that Amanda Knox, the American student convicted of killing her roommate, is not a manipulating, sex-obsessed “femme fatale” as her accusers charge, but is rather like Jessica Rabbit — just drawn that way.

In closing arguments before an appeals court, lawyer Giulia Bongiorno compared Knox to the cartoon character from the 1998 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, contending she had been unfairly portrayed over the course of the media-hyped, four-year case. She said the 24-year-old American is a loving young woman who simply displayed immaturity and naivete at the time of the 2007 slaying.

Knox was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering Meredith Kercher, a British student in Perugia, and sentenced to 26 years in prison. Co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito, an Italian who was Knox’s boyfriend at the time, was convicted of the same charges and sentenced to 25 years.

They both deny wrongdoing and have appealed their 2009 convictions. A verdict in the appeals case is expected in early October.

Bongiorno is Sollecito’s lawyer, but, with the fates of the two defendants intertwined, she discussed Knox’s role in the case at length.

“Jessica Rabbit looks like a man-eater, but she is a faithful and loving woman,” Bongiorno said.

Paraphrasing a famous line from the film, Bongiorno said Knox “is not bad, she’s just drawn that way”.

Kercher, 21, was stabbed to death in the apartment she shared with Knox, in what prosecutors say had begun like a sexual assault.

Knox and Sollecito insist they spent the night of the murder at his house, watching a movie, smoking cannabis and having sex.

Bongiorno also looked at DNA evidence linking her client to the crime, most notably an alleged trace on the bra clasp of the victim.

Prosecutors say Sollecito’s DNA was on the clasp of Kercher’s bra as part of a mix of evidence that also included the victim’s genetic profile. They also say Knox’s DNA was found on a kitchen knife believed to be the murder weapon, and Kercher’s DNA was found on the blade.

A court-ordered review of evidence out by independent experts, said much of that evidence was unreliable. It highlighted the risk of contamination, especially on the bra, which was collected from the crime scene 46 days after the murder.

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