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Sex crime? Foxy Knoxy and her boyfriend 'just young lovebirds'
Nick Pisa in Perugia and Jack Lefley16 Jan 2009
AMANDA Knox said she had "nothing to fear" today as her trial for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher got under way.
The 21-year-old American is accused of taking part in a bungled sex game that led to the death of her flatmate in the Italian town of Perugia.
Knox and her Italian former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, 24, appeared before a judge today as the world's media battled for a place in the courtroom. Both deny murder.
In pictures: Amanda Knox goes on trial
Just hours before she walked into court, Seattle-born Knox told her lawyer Luciano Ghirga that she wanted the truth to come out.
She said: "I'm not afraid of the truth and I hope finally it comes out. I was Meredith's friend and I didn't kill her.
"I have nothing to fear. I am innocent and the trial will prove it."
Mr Ghirga added: "She of course has the weight of this trial on her mind - it is a very serious charge but she is looking forward to using the trial to prove her innocence.
"Amanda has always insisted that Meredith was her friend and that she did not kill her and she wants to show this in court and she is hopeful that she will be found not guilty."
Miss Kercher, 21, of Coulsdon, Surrey, was on her year abroad in the Umbrian hilltop town when she was found dead in her bedroom, semi-naked with her throat slashed on 2November 2007.
Knox and Sollecito have been in an Italian prison for more than a year during legal wrangling and then awaiting trial.
Foreign exchange student Knox, nicknamed "Foxy Knoxy", has been the subject of sensational media coverage, portraying her as a cannabis-smoking, sexually promiscuous young woman who pens stories about rape.
Her legal team have been seeking a ban on a book about her written by an Italian journalist amid fears that it could stop her getting a fair trial. Her lawyers had tried to derail the start of proceedings by claiming that the book was prejudicial to the hearing.
The book, Amanda And The Others, is said to contain lurid allegations about Knox's sex life. Crime writer Fiorenza Sarzanini relied on extracts of Knox's diary, seized by police following her arrest. The book reportedly tells of Knox "feeling so hungry I could murder a pizza" and describes how she wanted to write a song about Miss Kercher's death.
Mr Ghirga said the book contained "sensitive information" and confirmed that Knox was seeking around £450,000 in compensation for damages from the book and articles published in Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
The lawyer said his client was not the victim of a smear campaign but that the "media has created a false picture of Amanda".
He added: "We still hope she will get a fair trial." Friends of Knox in the United States have set up the Amanda Knox Defense Fund and a website in support of her.
A judge was set to decide today whether he would allow the press into court or hold the trial in private. More than 150 journalists have asked to be in the Perugia courtroom to cover proceedings.
Miss Kercher, a Leeds University student, had been in Italy for just two months as part of a year-long exchange programme with her European Studies degree when she died.
Police suspect she was killed after refusing to take part in a drug-fuelled sex game. But defence lawyers claim that DNA evidence has been contaminated and mishandled.
A third person charged with Miss Kercher's murder, Rudy Guede, 21, from the Ivory Coast, was found guilty last October and sentenced to 30 years in prison after a fast-track trial.
Judge Giancarlo Massei, 56, will head the court, assisted by judge Beatrice Cristiani, 53. The jury is made up of three men and three women.
The trial is expected to last until the autumn.
In pictures: Amanda Knox goes on trial
