Amanda Knox's Sister to Give Statement in Appeal of Meredith Kercher Murder Conviction

American student Amanda Knox, convicted in the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher, has a very optimistic family who expect that she will be cleared and released from her Italian prison.

Knox will know her fate after an appeals court in Perugia ends its hearing this week, reported ABC News.

Lawyers for Knox, who was convicted along with her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the killing of their flatmate, are asking the court to overturn their convictions, claiming that they were based on faulty evidence.

But the prosecutors are asking for their sentences to be increased to life in prison from the 26 years imposed on Knox in 2009 and the 25 given Sollecito.

According to a UPI.com report, Knox's sister Deana told ABC's Good Morning America that she had been working hard on the statement she would be allowed to give the court.

She really wants to just show the court who she really is, the sister said. She doesn't want them to believe the character that all the prosecutors have played out. She wants them to know who she is.

Curt Knox, Amanda's father, told CBS's Early Show that he hoped that one day he would be able to give his condolences to Meredith Kercher's parents.

You know, we have extended our deepest condolences during interviews such as this, but until they know what we believe the truth to be, and that Amanda and Raffaele had nothing to do with it, I'm not certain how they would accept our condolences in person, and I'm hopeful we are allowed to do that very, very soon, he said.

On Nov. 2, 2007, Meredith Kercher's body was found on the floor of the upstairs flat that she occupied with three other young women in Perugia, Italy. She was sexually assaulted and stabbed, and some property belonging to her was also stolen.

When her body was found, she was covered with a duvet soaked in blood.

Kercher was 21 years old when she was murdered, and investigators said she was killed Nov. 1, between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. From Coulsdon, South London, she had been studying for one year at the University of Perugia as part of the ERASMUS student exchange program.

Amanda Marie Knox, a University of Washington language student from Seattle, shared a flat with Kercher.