By Sky News SkyNews - 12 minutes ago
A court in Perugia will convene later to decide whether two suspects held over the murder of British exchange student Meredith Kercher should be released from jail.
Amanda Knox, 20, and Raffaele Sollecito, 23, are both expected to attend the hearing.
The judge in the case will re-examine the evidence against them.
Lead investigator Giuliano Mignini has urged the court not release the pair.
He says there is sufficient evidence to keep them in prison and has warned that they could go on the run if set free.
Both have been held since November 6, when they were arrested alongside Congolese bar owner Diya "Patrick" Lumumba.
The 38-year-old was released from prison last week but remains a suspect in the case.
A fourth man, 20-year-old Rudy Hermann Guede, was arrested in Germany on November 20 and is awaiting extradition.
All four deny sexually assaulting and murdering the Leeds University student from Coulsdon, Surrey, on the night of November 1.
Miss Kercher, 21, was found with her throat slit and police said there was evidence of a violent sexual encounter.
Marco Brusco, one of Sollecito's lawyers, said he had faith that his client would be released but added that he understood the court would not want to make "an unpopular decision".
He has requested that Sollecito be placed under house arrest in Puglia, around 250 miles from Perugia, if a full release is refused.
The case against Knox and Sollecito was outlined in a 36-page submission made by Mr Mignini to the court.
In it he said that a bloodstain on a tap placed Knox at the scene of the crime; that her DNA was found alongside that of Miss Kercher on a knife recovered from Sollecito's house; and that her story had changed several times.
Though Knox has previously admitted being in the house on November 1, she has also denied this and her lawyers now say she was not there.
The evidence against Sollecito is that a bloody footprint found in Miss Kercher's bedroom could have been his; that a kitchen knife found at his house contained clear evidence of both Amanda and Miss Kercher's DNA; that his computer showed no evidence of human activity at the time the crime was being committed; and that he lied about several phone calls with his father and the police.
Sollecito claims he was at home using his computer on the night Miss Kercher died.
They were remanded in custody by the town's prosecutor general, Claudia Matteini, on November 9 and can be held for up to a year without charge from that date.
Sollecito has requested that he be re-interviewed in order to clarify several points from his original statement in light of developments in the case.
That will take place on December 6.
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