Appeals for Knox, Sollecito coming

PERUGIA, Italy, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Lawyers for Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, convicted of murdering a British coed in Italy, say they will appeal based on flaws in their prosecutions.

Knox, 22, a Seattle college student, and her former Italian boyfriend Sollecito, 25, were found guilty of murder and sexual assault Saturday and sentenced to 26 and 25 years in jail respectively for the 2007 torture slaying of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy.

Knox's attorney Luciano Ghirga says the sentences -- which were short of the life sentences usually handed down in such cases -- shows the jury was uncertain of the prosecution's contention that the pair killed Kercher out of revenge and hatred for refusing to take part in a perverse sex game, The Times of London reported.

The Times said Ghirga asserted that if the jury had been certain of the proof and motive, "they would have given them life." Sollecito's attorney Giulia Bongiorno echoed his opinion.

The Daily Telegraph reported that "many people familiar with the workings of the Italian justice system" believe Knox and Sollecito have good chances of acquittal through the appeals process.