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

[September 26, 2011]  PERUGIA, Italy (AP) -- An American student accused of killing her British roommate in an Italian university town is "diabolical" and devoted to satisfying her own appetites, even though she presents an innocent image in court, the lawyer for a man briefly accused of the crime said Monday.

Amanda Knox, 24, was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering Meredith Kercher while they were studying in Perugia in 2007. Knox was sentenced to 26 years and has appealed.

Early in the probe, Knox accused Diya "Patrick" Lumumba of killing Kercher, a Briton who shared an apartment with Knox at the time of the murder. As a result of that claim, Lumumba was briefly jailed. He was later cleared.

Lumumba has sued Knox for defamation and is also a civil party to the criminal appeal.

"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.

"Amanda is one and the other, in her a double soul coexists," he said. "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.

Knox maintains police pressure led her to accuse Lumumba. Pacelli said in court that his client is the "second victim" of the crime.

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. Prosecutors have asked that she be sentenced 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.

[Associated Press; By ALESSANDRA RIZZO]

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