Murder of Meredith Kercher: Could Knox be Freed? (Latest Photos of Her Appeal)

A British university exchange student Meredith Kercher was sexually assaulted and stabbed in Perugia, Italy on November 1, 2007.

Along with Rudy Guede, a resident of Perugia, Amanda Knox, a U.S. student and a housemate of Kercher, and Raffaele Sollecito, an Italian student have been held responsible for Kercher’s tragic death.

While Guede is now serving a reduced sentence of 16 years, Knox and Sollecito were given sentences of 26 and 25 years respectively. However, the initial guilty verdicts on Knox and Sollecito have been controversial and disputed by their families and supporters.

With questions raised over the validity of the DNA evidence found on a kitchen knife and a bra clasp, international media attention has been given to the case especially in the United States, Italy and the United Kingdom.

However, an independent forensic report on Wednesday discredited the DNA evidence used to help convict Knox of the 2007 murder and pointed that numerous errors had been made by police scientists. After release of the report in favor of Knox, the young Seattle woman and her former boyfriend Sollecito were back in court for a hearing in the Italian university town of Perugia Monday. Following the hearing, Knox’s mother Edda Mellas said "Finally the truth is coming out," in an interview. “Amanda is thrilled, she feels like she can breathe."

Knox has surely moved a step closer to freedom Monday.

See the latest photos of Knox in her appeals trial: