Knox Co-Defendant To Address Italian Court

FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Amanda Knox's Italian ex-boyfriend has arrived at a Florence appeals court to make a statement in the pair's third murder trial over the death of her British roommate.

In his first appearance at this trial, Raffaele Sollecito conferred with his lawyers and greeted supporters in the public gallery before the hearing opened.

Knox and Sollecito's 2009 conviction of murdering British student Meredith Kercher was overturned on appeal in 2011, freeing Knox to return to the United States. But Italy's highest court ordered a fresh appeals trial, blasting the acquittal as full of contradictions.

Knox has not returned to Italy for the latest trial.

The court also will hear expert testimony today on a minute DNA trace from the presumed murder weapon not previously tested.