Amanda Knox Update: Awaiting a Verdict

After four agonizing years, the legal battles of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito are nearly over. This morning, Italian time, the trial closed with emotional statements from both defendants. As the appeal ends, the small, medieval city of Perugia is overflowing with the usual gawkers and armchair investigators, the family and friends of both the accused and the victim, and overwhelming them all, a lewd circus of reporters, photographers and cameramen from around the world. Presiding Judge Hellman pleaded for calm, telling the massed onlookers "this is not a football game," but by all accounts, a frenzied atmosphere prevails.

Sollecito made his statement first. He was emotional, but firm. He reiterated the assertions made by the defense- he and Knox had been at his apartment the night of the crime, and until the trial, he'd never set eyes on Rudy Guede, their alleged accomplice. Sollecito described his experience as a suspect: "What I am being accused of is so absurd, I always thought it would go away." and after the charges stuck, described himself as "suffering" during an "endless nightmare." He noticeably swelled with emotion as he described each day of incarceration as "a dead day." Sollecito defended his own much-maligned character, and that of his even more demonized ex-girlfriend, saying that he "never hurt anyone in [his] life," and that Knox is a "sweet girl." At the end of his statement, he brandished a bracelet he's worn since the first trial, which reads "Free Amanda and Raffaele" and told the court: "I wish for a new future for Amanda Knox and I."

Of course, for most of the assembled media, Sollecito's statement was little more than an opening act. Most of the coverage, and indeed, much of the trial, has focused on Amanda Knox, and it was her statement that closed out the proceedings. According to her family, Knox has been working on her speech for months, and delivered it in fluent Italian. Sollecito's behavior in court showed the occasional glimpse of emotional trauma, but Knox seemed, at times, close to a breakdown. Through tears, Knox explained that Meredith Kercher was a close friend, and that if she hadn't been at Sollecito's apartment the night of the murder, she may have shared Kercher's fate. She admitted that she was too trusting of the police, believing she had a "duty towards justice" to cooperate. She says the police "manipulated" her and betrayed that trust. "I am not what they say I am." Knox told the judges, who have over the course of the appeal heard her called a devil, a Nazi, and evil, she continued: "I am not perverse. I haven't killed, stolen or raped." Midway through the statement, she broke down in sobbing. The judge offered to let Knox end her statement early if she couldn't continue, but Knox soldiered on: "I want to go home, I want to go back to my life and my future. I don't want to miss it." According to some observers, even members of the jury were moved to tears.

On that poignant note, the appeal ended, and the judges retreated to deliberations. Presiding Judge Hellman told reporters that there will not be a verdict before 11:00 a.m Pacific Time. Beyond that, we don't know when to expect word, but according to some sources, authorities have not made sleeping accommodations for the jury, so a decision is likely imminent. Four years since Meredith Kercher's murder, after seemingly endless legal skirmishes, public relations battles in the press, scandals (both genuine and manufactured), and an ever-broadening cast of characters, this tragic, shameful affair will likely be laid to rest, one way or the other, in only a few hours time.

We are continuing to follow the story, and will be ready with analysis shortly after the verdict is announced- stay tuned.