Amanda Knox asserts innocence at Italy appeal trial: “I did not kill…I was not there”

Amanda Knox asserted her innocence in an emotional court statement on Monday, as she awaited the verdict in her appeal trial in Perugia, Italy.

"I did not kill, I did not rape, I did not steal. I was not there," Knox, 24, told the jury in Italian, the BBC reported.

Knox was convicted in 2009 and sentenced to 26 years jail for the murder of Meredith Kercher, her British housemate while both were studying abroad in Italy.

She and her family have vehemently asserted her innocence, and alleged that Italian prosecutors are guilty of a gross miscarriage of justice. The Knoxes insist that legal authorities in Italy have botched the investigation of the Kercher murder while trying to stoke Italian public opinion against the American student from Washington State.

"I am not who they say I am. The perversion, the violence, the lack of respect for life - I did not do the things they are saying I did," Knox said Monday. "I am paying with my life for things that I did not commit."

A verdict in the appeal trial could come Monday evening.