Amanda Knox's Attorney in Murder Appeal Likens Her to Jessica Rabbit

A defense attorney for Amanda Knox compared the American student, convicted of killing her British roommate, to Jessica Rabbit in an Italian appeals court on Tuesday.

According to The Associated Press, lawyer Giulia Bongiorno said Knox isn't a manipulating, sex-obsessed femme fatale as the prosecution protrays her. Instead, she is like Jessica Rabbit - just drawn that way.

Bongiorno said the 24-year-old inmate is a loving young woman who showed immaturity and naivete at the time of the 2007 killing, according to The AP.

Jessica Rabbit looks like a man-eater, but she is a faithful and loving woman, Bongiorno said of the voluptuous cartoon character in the Who Framed Roger Rabbit film. Paraphrased a line from the movie, she said Knox is not bad, she's just drawn that way.

Knox was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering Meredith Kercher, a British student in Perugia. She has been sentenced to 26 years in prison.

Raffaele Sollecito, an Italian co-defendant and Knox's boyfriend at the time of the crime, was convicted of similar charges and sentenced to 25 years. They both proclaim their innocence and have appealed the 2009 convictions.

A verdict in the appeals case is expected in early October, The AP said.

Bongiorno said Knox was an immature girl who had just began dating Sollecito.

One should not mistake tenderness for sexual obsession, Bongiorno said.

Kercher, 21, was stabbed to death in the apartment she shared with Knox. Prosecutors said the killing began like a sexual assault. But Knox and Sollecito said they spent the night at his house that night, watching a movie, smoking marijuana and having sex.

The movie the two said they were watching, Amelie, led Bongiorno in the original trial to compare Knox to the title character, an innocent girl intent on doing good, according to The AP.