'Foxy Knoxy' takes the stand in Kercher murder trial

Amanda Knox has claimed Italian police beat her into making false statements about the murder of Meredith Kercher. The 21-year-old exchange student from the University of Washington is accused along with her Italian boyfriend Rafaelle Sollecito of murdering Miss Kercher in November 2007. Both women were foreign students at the University of Perugia when the victim's semi-naked body was found in the apartment she shared with Knox. Prosecutors say she was stabbed in the neck when Knox, Sollecito and another man tried to involve her in an orgy. Knox and Sollecito deny any wrongdoing. Asked about inconsistencies in her earlier statements to police, Knox said: "The declarations were taken against my will. Everything I said was said in confusion and under pressure and was suggested by the police and the prosecutor." She claimed police called her a "stupid liar" and hit her twice in questioning. After the killing, Knox accused Diya "Patrick" Lumumba, a Congolese man who owns a pub in Perugia, of being the culprit. Lumumba was jailed briefly in the case, but he is no longer a suspect and is seeking defamation damages from Knox. Under questioning by Lumumba's lawyer, Knox said that her declarations were taken by the police against her will. She said: "I was confused because, under pressure from the police, I had to follow a reasoning that they had suggested, namely that I allegedly heard Meredith scream. "The fact that I didn't remember this fact, made them suggest that perhaps I covered my ears. So I followed their suggestion. "They hit me twice before saying 'Patrick', in order to make me say a name, which I could not say." A third suspect in the case, Ivory Coast national Rudy Hermann Guede, was found guilty of murder and sexual violence and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

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ITN | June 12, 2009

Tags:. .italian. .owns. .sexual. .violence. .fact