Amanda Knox Page #6

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associates Meredith with a tragic event,

but we would prefer

not to remember her in that way.

[Stephanie] It does bring just that

little bit of justice for us, for her.

[Lyle Kercher] Ultimately, you know,

we are pleased with the decision,

but it's not a time for celebration

at the end of the day.

[indistinct chatter]

[Giuliano in Italian]

Normally, people say that

"Nobody is a prophet in his own country,"

but that's not what I experienced.

Complete strangers would come up to me

and ask to shake my hand.

They would congratulate me.

It gives me satisfaction.

Because Perugia is my little homeland.

[keys jingling]

[Amanda in English] Suddenly, I found

myself tossed into this dark place.

[Amanda inhales and gulps]

I was so scared.

Like, who do you turn to?

What do you do?

I thought about suicide.

I thought about all the ways

that I could do it.

Me not coming home again

until I'm in my 50s...

until members of my family have died.

I was poisoned.

[sighs]

I don't know what else to say.

[inaudible]

[Raffaele] I spent almost six months

in solitary confinement.

I was...

I was getting to depression.

Who can help me?

Who can take me off from this?

I was thinking about Amanda.

And I wanted to send her flowers

for her birthday.

To say, "I'm here. I'm by your side.

I still have feelings for you."

But she clearly told me that her feelings

were completely changed.

This moment was kind of bitter...

even though I've known her

only for five days.

That five days were everything.

[camera shutter clicking rapidly]

[indistinct chatter]

[news anchor 1] The convicted killer,

Amanda Knox, was back in court today.

They called her "Foxy Knoxy."

Looked a little more pale today,

skinnier than had been in the past.

Maybe could use hair and makeup,

but I guess you don't get that in jail.

[news anchor 2] In an unexpected plea

to the court,

Knox delivered

a tear-filled declaration of innocence.

[Amanda in Italian] I never expected

to find myself here,

convicted of a crime I didn't commit.

To Meredith's family,

I'm very sorry

that Meredith isn't here anymore.

I can't possibly know how you feel,

but I too have little sisters.

The idea of their suffering...

[Amanda cries and voice breaks]

and never seeing them again terrifies me.

[news anchor 2] A legal victory

for American Amanda Knox,

who is appealing her murder conviction

in Italy.

The appeals court gave the go-ahead

for an independent review

of crucial DNA evidence.

Among the pieces of evidence that

an outside expert will now re-examine,

a knife and a bra clasp, both considered

crucial to Knox's conviction.

[Dr. Stefano Conti in Italian]

Let it be clear

how easy it is to leave traces of DNA.

You move your hand on your arm,

that small amount of fine dust,

those are all DNA traces which we spread

within the area where we are

in that particular moment.

Therefore, a crime scene

must be kept completely sterile.

That's not what happened in this case.

In the video taken by the forensic police,

there was a lot of chaos.

You can see clearly a coming and going

of people without protective suits.

Booties were not changed.

And they rarely change their gloves.

In other words, total chaos.

[glass shattering]

Chaos.

That, the forensic police

expressed themselves.

[officer 1] This is absurd. Really absurd.

[officer 2] I criticized it harshly.

[officer 1] There's unbelievable

disorganization in every respect.

[Dr. Vecchiotti] Contamination was

one of the issues raised by the court.

Could there be a contamination?

The bra clasp was found under a small rug

46 days after the murder.

[Dr. Conti] After 46 days,

it's possible that other people

could have brought DNA traces

from the hallway, the bathroom,

kitchen or other rooms,

into Meredith's room.

[Dr. Vecchiotti] In fact, on the clasp,

there's Sollecito's DNA profile,

but there were at least two others.

But the police never noted them

as evidence.

DNA must be objective.

You can't interpret it

for what you want it to be.

And I must say that...

there were also problems

with contamination in the laboratory.

The forensics police

definitively identified Amanda's profile.

You could see it very well.

It was a good profile.

But with regards to Meredith's DNA found,

it was such a small amount, so scarce.

When you have such scarce DNA,

the likelihood of contamination

is very high.

So we asked the forensic police,

"When analyzing the knife,

did you analyze it alone,

without any other evidence?"

And she replied, "No, we examined

50 of Kercher's samples at the same time.

The laboratory couldn't just shut down

because Kercher had died."

When she reported these things,

I was sure the results

were because of contamination.

- [indistinct chatter]

- [camera shutters clicking]

[Nick in English] When it came out,

I mean, it was just... crazy.

The botched investigation

and the bungled forensic work.

I remember audible gasps from the press

and from everyone in the court.

We're all looking, as journalists,

for that great angle or that great line.

And when you see something like that,

you just think,

"Brilliant.

It's manna from heaven, it really is."

Amanda Knox's hand was said

to have been on that knife.

It was said to have

murdered the victim in this case.

No DNA.

What?

This is Italy, Shepard, it's a crazy...

It's a little different

than we're used to.

Bunga bunga.

- [laughing]

- One of... The one guy who...

The thing I can't wrap

my mind around, though,

is if the DNA evidence isn't credible,

how did things get to this point?

You really believe

that Americans should intervene

at the top levels of our government?

I think the president should get involved.

I think people should boycott Italy.

They shouldn't go to Italy.

[in Italian] It bothered me that the

American media lectured us about the law.

This courthouse, in 1308,

housed the first faculty of law in Europe.

In America, in 1308,

they were drawing buffalos in caves.

[Giuliano] I was irritated

by all this avalanche of attacks,

especially against me and the police.

The American media was focusing

only on the DNA.

Every piece of proof has aspects...

of uncertainty.

That's why evidence needs to be

evaluated in its entirety.

I hear talk...

"For me, Amanda is guilty

because she said too many lies."

I have to remind you that her behavior

was completely inexplicable.

Totally irrational.

There's no doubt of this.

[Amanda in Knox] There is no trace of me

in the room where Meredith was murdered,

and there's no reliable trace of Raffaele

in the room where Meredith was murdered.

But you're trying to find the answer

in my eyes,

when the answer's right over there.

You're looking at me.

Why?

These are my eyes.

They're not objective evidence.

What's more likely?

That I...

get together this boyfriend that I've had

and this guy,

who I don't even know his name,

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