Meredith: Computers to be examined

A handcuffed Raffaele Sollecito, 23, was escorted into the court in the central Italian town of Perugia for the closed-door hearing, where he gave the password to his laptop, lawyer Marco Brusco said.

Sollecito and Amanda Knox, his American girlfriend at the time of the killing, have been in custody since their arrest on November 6 over the murder of the 21-year-old student on November 2.

The suspects have not been formally charged, but a judge said they could be held for up to a year while the case was being investigated. Knox did not attend Monday's hearing.

Miss Kercher, a student of Leeds University who was enrolled for a year of study in Perugia, was found dead in the apartment she shared with Knox. She died from a stab wound to the neck, and prosecutors said she was killed resisting a sexual assault.

Ivory Coast national Rudy Guede is also being held as a suspect in Perugia, following his extradition from Germany. Another suspect, Congolese pub owner Diya "Patrick" Lumumba, was released from jail but has not been formally cleared.

All three suspects deny murdering Miss Kercher.

On Monday the judge appointed an expert to examine the laptops of Sollecito, Knox and Miss Kercher, Mr Brusco said. The expert is expected to deliver the results within 70 days.

Sollecito has said he was at his own apartment in Perugia on the night of the killing, working at another computer. Sollecito's lawyers have said that analysis of his computer show he had been logged on. But prosecutors say police have proven only that the computer was connected to the internet, but not accessed by anyone overnight.

Sollecito told the judge that he had not used his laptop since July, Mr Brusco said.