The Knox family conducted a relentless and well organized public relations campaign to convince the world of Amanda’s innocence and counteract both a lurid media image of “Foxy Knoxy,” and the prosecution’s portrayal of her as a sex-obsessed and manipulative “she-devil.”
The family were familiar figures on US talk shows and in Perugia during the trial, assiduously courted by television networks eager for the first interview with a woman who can now expect lucrative offers to tell her story.
“She has earning power now that she is free,” said Candace Dempsey, Seattle-based author of “Murder in Italy,” one of around a dozen books that have already been written on the case.
“She can write a book and she can certainly help her family pay back the bills. She is a beautiful girl and she has a dramatic story to tell,” she said.
The Knox family engaged the services of Gogerty Marriott, a Seattle-based public relations firm, to run what the prosecution described as a “million dollar campaign,” backed by an Internet donor drive and fund-raising events at home.
The Knox family have been quoted as saying they have had to re-mortgage their house to support their legal and other bills but their representatives in Italy were tight-lipped over what the appeal has cost the family.
“They have made many sacrifices to support their daughter,” Maria Del Grosso, one of the legal team, said simply, declining to comment in any more detail.
Prosecutors have been bitterly critical of the campaign, which they said had pre-judged the case even before the start of the hearing.
“There has been an abnormal amount of media pressure from outside which reflects a lack of understanding of Italian judicial practice,” Perugia prosecutor Giuliano Mignini said.
The court upheld a conviction against Knox for slander after she had falsely accused barman Patrick Lumumba of the murder and Mignini said that element alone meant the appeal could throw up fresh surprises.
“The conviction for slander against Patrick Lumumba still stands. At this point, the question remains as to why Amanda slandered him, what was the motive?“
For their part, Meredith Kercher’s family have made no direct criticism of Knox or Sollecito but have made clear they feel that the real victim of the tragedy has been sidelined in the media excitement.
http://arabnews.com/world/article511510.ece
The family were familiar figures on US talk shows and in Perugia during the trial, assiduously courted by television networks eager for the first interview with a woman who can now expect lucrative offers to tell her story.
“She has earning power now that she is free,” said Candace Dempsey, Seattle-based author of “Murder in Italy,” one of around a dozen books that have already been written on the case.
“She can write a book and she can certainly help her family pay back the bills. She is a beautiful girl and she has a dramatic story to tell,” she said.
The Knox family engaged the services of Gogerty Marriott, a Seattle-based public relations firm, to run what the prosecution described as a “million dollar campaign,” backed by an Internet donor drive and fund-raising events at home.
The Knox family have been quoted as saying they have had to re-mortgage their house to support their legal and other bills but their representatives in Italy were tight-lipped over what the appeal has cost the family.
“They have made many sacrifices to support their daughter,” Maria Del Grosso, one of the legal team, said simply, declining to comment in any more detail.
Prosecutors have been bitterly critical of the campaign, which they said had pre-judged the case even before the start of the hearing.
“There has been an abnormal amount of media pressure from outside which reflects a lack of understanding of Italian judicial practice,” Perugia prosecutor Giuliano Mignini said.
The court upheld a conviction against Knox for slander after she had falsely accused barman Patrick Lumumba of the murder and Mignini said that element alone meant the appeal could throw up fresh surprises.
“The conviction for slander against Patrick Lumumba still stands. At this point, the question remains as to why Amanda slandered him, what was the motive?“
For their part, Meredith Kercher’s family have made no direct criticism of Knox or Sollecito but have made clear they feel that the real victim of the tragedy has been sidelined in the media excitement.
http://arabnews.com/world/article511510.ece
