Amanda Knox Begs Italian Appeals Court To Overturn Murder Conviction

Radar Staff

May 21 2011, Published 11:01 a.m. ET

by RadarOnline.com Staff

A tearful Amanda Knox once again insisted she was innocent of murder as she faced an appeals court in Perugia, Italy on Saturday.

Knox also told the court that being in prison is "very frustrating and mentally exhausting" and said she does not want to spend the rest of her life behind bars.

The former exchange student, 23, was emotional and her voice cracked as she briefly addressed the appeals court in Perugia.

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"I've spent more than three and a half years in prison as an innocent person, and this for me is very frustrating and mentally exhausting," Knox said.

"But nothing is more important that finding the truth after prejudices and many mistakes.

"I don't want to spend my whole life in prison as an innocent," she added.

Amanda Knox In Tears As She Appeals Her Murder Conviction

As RadarOnline.com has previously reported, Knox is appealing her 2009 conviction for sexually assaulting and murdering British student Meredith Kercher.

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Knox and Sollecito were arrested on November 6, 2007, a few days after Kercher's body was found in the apartment that she and Knox shared in Perugia; her throat has been slit.

Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison for the crime; Sollecito, her boyfriend at the time, was convicted of the same charges and sentenced to 25 years behind bars.

The appeals court on Saturday set June 30 as a deadline for a key review of DNA evidence by independent forensic experts in the Knox case and allowed five new witnesses sought by the defense -- all inmates in Italian prisons who claim they have information clearing the American student and her Italian co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito. The experts will deliver their findings to the court on July 25.

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The appeals trial will continue June 18 with the new testimony, and a verdict by the appeals court is expected after the summer.

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