PERUGIA, Italy, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- An Italian judge has agreed to re-examine evidence in the case of an American college student sentenced to 26 years in prison for killing her roommate.
A judge in Perugia, Italy, Saturday granted Amanda Knox, 23, an appeal of her murder conviction in the death of 21-year-old Meredith Kercher in 2007, CNN reported.
The judge said he will accept independent forensic examinations of the knife prosecutors claim was used in the attack and a bra clasp belonging to Kercher.
"It's a good day for us -- finally," Knox's mother, Edda Mellas, said after the ruling.
Earlier examinations found traces of DNA from Knox, a Seattle resident studying aboard, and her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, on the items. Sollecito was also convicted in Kercher's killing.
Prosecutors were not happy with the ruling to grant an appeal.
"Why do you need to review the forensic evidence when this conviction is based on much more than the knife and the bra clasp?" Prosecutor Manuela Comodi said.
Defense attorneys maintain the knife found at Sollecito's apartment doesn't match Kercher's injuries or the imprint of a knife left on a bed sheet at Kercher's apartment. They also said DNA found on a bra clasp might have been contaminated.
