The Foxy Knoxy show: Smiling murder suspect makes grand entrance as trial begins

From: www.dailymail.co.uk




By Nick PisaLast updated at 10:03 PM on 16th January 2009
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She made her entrance like a Hollywood diva sashaying along the red carpet. Yet Amanda Knox was about to go on trial for a brutal murder.
The 21-year-old nicknamed Foxy Knoxy smiled serenely as shook hands with her legal team after being led into the packed courtroom in Perugia, northern Italy.
She and her former lover Raffaele Sollecito, 24, are accused of killing British student Meredith Kercher, who was found semi-naked with her throat cut in her bedroom at the house she shared with Knox.

Centre of attention: Amanda Knox gets a friendly pat from her lawyer Luciano Ghirga as she arrives at Perugia's court today
Police suspect that Meredith, 21, a student at Leeds University, had refused to take part in a drug-fuelled sex game, with her death in November 2007 made to look like the result of a robbery.
Six jury members - three men and three women - were sworn in by the judge.
Sitting beside her lawyers, Knox, from Seattle, listened intently to proceedings and at one point buried her head in her hands in apparent despair.
But frequently she laughed and joked with those around her.
Inappropriate? Amanda Knox smiled, smirked and joked about in court where she went on trial for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher

Sollecito, 24, did not exchange a glance with Knox, whose aunt sat in the back of the court. Her parents Kurt and Edda have decided to stay in the U.S., where they gave a TV interview yesterday declaring their confidence that she is innocent and will be acquitted.

Tragic: Meredith Kercher was found dead in the apartment she shared with Knox. Her throat had been cut
Meredith from Coulsdon, Surrey, had been in Italy for two months as part of a yearlong exchange programme for her European Studies degree.
Judge Giancarlo Massei ruled that the case could be heard in public, but reserved the right to exclude the media at certain points.
Major trials in Italy are usually televised but the judge, having allowed in TV and press cameras for the start of proceedings, ruled that they would no longer be permitted.
The prosecution successfully argued that cameras in court would be able to capture shots of Meredith's body and the court should protect her dignity and memory. They also said future witnesses could be influenced by what they saw from the proceedings.
During one adjournment Knox spoke to journalists.
Asked how she was coping with life in prison, she said: 'It was hard to begin with but now I am getting used to it. My Italian isn't too bad. I have been here for more than a year. I can keep up with some of it.'
Earlier this month, Knox was voted top female personality in an end-of-year TV poll by Italians. She and computer studies graduate Sollecito deny the charges. Their lawyers have based their defence on the theory that DNA evidence was contaminated and mishandled.

What's going on? Journalists, covering the case, are herded into a cage normally used for holding terrorists
Italian judge Giancarlo Massei presides over the trial of Knox and Sollecito
Ivory Coast drifter Rudy Guede, 21, was jailed for 30 years last October for his part in the killing.
The case was adjourned until February 6, and will then continue each Friday and Saturday - it is common for Italian trials to run for only two days a week. It is expected to last until autumn.
Before the proceedings had started journalists staged a protest in court, occupying cages normally reserved for Mafia suspects or terrorists. Reporters were furious at the cramped conditions and the fact that dozens of TV cameras were blocking their view.
Sollecito's lawyer said: ' Raffaele and Amanda have been described as a couple who were looking for new experiences. This was supposed to be the motivation for this crime but they were just two young lovebirds at the start of their relationship.
'The prosecution says this was a sex crime that evolved out of a party but we will prove the crime scene was not a party scene.
'There were no empty glasses, no wine, no music. We will also show that Raffaele did not know Rudy Guede and that the first time he saw him was in court.
'Justice has already been done. The person responsible for this crime was sentenced to 30 years.'
Knox's lawyer Luciano Ghirga said her so-called ' confession' should be thrown out.
'She had been questioned all night, without a lawyer and without an interpreter. She had no idea that she was even being questioned as a suspect.

Knox's co-accused Raffaele Sollecito looked more sombre as he was led in