Amanda Knox is a "she-devil," Italian court told - Reuters Canada

By Deepa Babington

PERUGIA, Italy (Reuters) - Amanda Knox is at heart a "she-devil" who loved to play dangerous games, the lawyer for a man falsely accused by the American student of killing her roommate told an Italian court on Monday.

"Amanda is one thing and another -- that is, both Saint Maria Goretti and a satanic, diabolic she-devil given to borderline behavior," Pacelli told the court, referring to a Catholic saint linked to purity, young women and rape victims.

Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito are appealing their 2009 convictions of murdering 21-year-old Briton Meredith Kercher during a drug-fueled sexual assault in Perugia in 2007.

The student from Seattle initially accused Congolese bar owner Patrick Lumumba of killing Kercher, whose half-naked body was found with a deep stab wound in the throat.

Knox looked gaunt and tense as Lumumba's lawyer Carlo Pacelli branded her a "witch of deception" whose lying ways belied her fresh-faced "soap-and-water" looks.

Knox, 24, later retracted the accusation against Lumumba, saying she incriminated him under pressure from police who threatened her with 30 years in jail. Briefly arrested, Lumumba was cleared and successfully sued the American for slander.

Pacelli told the appeals court that Knox's lies destroyed his client's image in an instant. He argued the American was a liar who led a life that revolved around easy sex, drugs and booze.

"Amanda should be judged based on her personality when the crime occurred in November 2007 and at that time she was a concentrated mix of sex, drugs and alcohol," Pacelli said.   Continued...