The appeal of Amanda Knox’s murder conviction kicks off in earnest on Saturday, and journalists from around the world will be flocking to the medieval town of Perugia, in central Italy, to follow the events.

The 23 year-old Seattle student was sentenced to 26 years in prison last December for stabbing her British housemate Meredith Kercher during what prosecutors say was a drug-fuelled sex game. Also convicted for the murder were her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and African immigrant Rudi Guede.

Tomorrow Amanda and Raffaele’s defense teams will request that new documents be analyzed, including jail house letters saying that others killed the 21 year-old exchange student.

The defense is expected to ask that the jury – consisting of six lay people (5 women and one man) and two judges – hear new witnesses. Above all they will push for an independent review of the forensic evidence, in particular the DNA found on a knife, thought to be the murder weapon, and on Kercher’s bra clasp. During the initial trial, the defense repeatedly argued the collection and examination of evidence was flawed.

A new judge, Claudio Pratillo Hellman will be presiding over the hearings, which could be good news for Amanda. In 2000 he overturned a controversial conviction in a stabbing murder, setting a man free after he had served seven years in prison.

However the prosecution will later argue that Amanda should be given an even stiffer sentence, possibly life in prison for her role in the stabbing death of her roommate.

This is only the first appeal. So should the defense not be happy with the outcome, the case will then go to the Supreme Appeals Court.

In Italy sentences are often reduced in appeal. Indeed, the third defendant Rudi Guede had his sentence cut to 16 years from 30 during his first appeal. His lawyer Walter Biscotti told me he expects Rudi to be a free man after his second appeal, which begins on December 16^th.

Key to the outcome of the trial is the judge’s decision whether or not to grant a review of the forensic evidence.

But we won’t know about that until the next hearing in Perugia on December 18th, at the earliest.

I spoke with Barbie Latza Nadeau, author of the book “Angel Face, the True Story of Student Killer Amanda Knox”.