Amanda Knox's Mom Thrilled: 'It's Hard to Stay Grounded'
TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images(PERUGIA, Italy) -- Amanda Knox's mother was thrilled Tuesday after the first round of defense summations in the appeal of her murder conviction, saying that "it's hard to stay grounded" as the case nears its conclusion and what Knox hopes will be a verdict that will free her from an Italian prison.
The judge presiding over the appeal by Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito said that the final arguments were moving along so quickly that a verdict could come as soon as Saturday. It had originally been anticipated to be delivered early next week.
Knox, 24, and Sollectito, 27, were convicted in 2009 of murdering Knox's British roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, where both women were spending a year abroad to study. Knox has been sentenced to 26 years, while Sollecito got 25 years in prison.
At the end of Tuesday's session, Edda Mellas, Knox's mother, told ABC News that she asked her daughter, "'Can you feel the light?' because today's hearing was great."
"It's hard to stay grounded in these final days," Mellas added.
A key moment in the trial still to come will be when Amanda Knox addresses the court. Knox will be the last person in the trial to speak before the six jurors and two judges retire to deliberate, and she has been working on what to say for more than three months, her father Curt Knox told ABC News.
When she does get up to speak, which could be either Friday or Saturday, "she will be fighting for her life," her mother said Tuesday.
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