Clues point to Knox guilt - lawer

Italian prosecutors have insisted that "all clues" point to the guilt of Amanda Knox as they made their closing speeches in the American's appeal against her conviction for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. Speaking for two hours in a packed courtroom in Perugia, prosecutor Giancarlo Costagliola urged the jury to keep in mind the family of Miss Kercher, who was Knox's room-mate at the time of the killing. A verdict in the appeals trial of Knox and her co-defendant and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito is expected at the end of September or early next month. Mr Costagliola denounced what he said was "an obsessive media campaign that makes everyone feel like the parents of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito". He said: "As you make your decision, I wish that you jurors feel a little bit like the parents of Meredith Kercher, a serious, studious girl whose life was taken by these two kids from good families." Knox and Sollecito were convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering Miss Kercher on the night of November 1, 2007 in the house Knox and Miss Kercher shared while exchange students in Perugia. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison while Sollecito was given a 25-year term. Both have appealed against the verdict, which was issued by a lower court in December 2009. The prosecutors argue that Miss Kercher, 21, was the victim of a drug-fuelled sex assault. In the original trial, the prosecutors had sought life sentences. Like the defendant, they have also appealed against the lower court's verdict. Mr Costagliola, at the start of closing arguments expected to last two days and involve two more prosecutors, summed up what he said were the clues that point to the defendants. Bloody footprints found in the house that are compatible with those of the defendants, mobile phone activity and witness testimony that appear to contradict the defendants' alibi, all point to the pair being at the scene of the crime, Mr Costagliola said.