Amanda Knox case: Convicted man takes stand
For the first time since her appeal process began, Amanda Knox didn't start out as the main focus of attention in court today.
On "The Early Show," CBS News Correspondent Allen Pizzey reported that this is the Seattle student's best, but not last chance, to win freedom on appeal.
Pictures: Amanda Knox: Case timeline
Pictures: Verdict in Italy
Knox asked for permission to address the court, but she and her former boyfriend Rafaelle Sollecito, first had to hear testimony from Rudy Guede, a 24-year-old Ivorian who is serving a 16-year sentence for his part in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.
Called as a prosecution witness, Guede denied defense claims that he told a fellow prisoner that Knox and Sollecito were not present when Kercher was assaulted and had her throat slashed in the house she shared with Knox in 2007. Guede admitted being at the scene on the night of the murder and, says Pizzey, DNA evidence proved he and Kercher had some kind of sexual encounter, but Guede has consistently denied any role in the crime.
This is a crucial point in the appeals trial, which began in November. But Knox's mother says everyone involved has become realistic about how far they still have to go.
Edda Mellas told CBS News, "None of us are over-confident because of what happened with the first trial. I mean, you know, she was found guilty, even though she is innocent. So I think she is nervous, nervous about getting things going, but I think we are all more hopeful now than we have been in a while."
When she got her chance to speak, Knox said the courtroom was the only time she, Sollecito and Guede had ever been in what she called "the same space."
"He knows we had nothing to do with it," Knox said, and added, "I do not know what happened that night."
The appeal process will resume in July.
The case has received rapt tabloid attention and raised questions in the U.S. about the thoroughness of the Italian investigation.
Guede had sought a fast-track procedure and has already exhausted all levels of appeal.
"I hope that he has the integrity to stand up and tell the truth," Knox's mother, Edda Mellas, told reporters before the hearing.
When Guede took the stand during the pair's first trial, he declined to answer prosecutors' questions or offer any spontaneous testimony.
Knox and Sollecito have been convicted of sexual assault and murder. She was sentenced to 26 years in prison, he to 25.
Like Knox and Sollecito, Guede has denied killing Kercher. But unlike them, he has admitted being at the crime scene the night of the murder, on Nov. 1, 2007.
Speaking at the opening of his appeals trial, Guede claimed that he had heard Kercher and Knox argue minutes before the Briton was slain.
He said he was at the house with Kercher when he fell ill and went to the bathroom with his iPod. He heard Knox and Kercher argue over money, then heard a "very loud scream" coming from Kercher's bedroom, and rushed to it. There, he said, he saw an unidentified man who tried to attack him. Backing down into the hallway, Guede said he heard the man say "Let's go, there's a black man in the house."
Guede said he heard footsteps leaving the house and looked out of the window, where he saw a silhouette that he later identified as Knox's. He said he then tried to rescue Kercher, who was lying in a pool of blood after her throat was slit, taking her in his arms and trying to mop up the blood with towels. But he panicked and left the house.
Guede fled Italy, and was found and arrested in Germany about a month after the killing. Along with his DNA, his fingerprints and other traces attest to his presence in the house.
Knox and Sollecito have maintained they were at Sollecito's house the night of the murder. Their defense lawyers claim Guede was the killer and acted alone.