If Amanda Knox gets off for the murder of Meredith Kercher, it'll be despite her family—who have caused an uproar in Italy for appearing on the cover of a women's magazine. As Newsweek reports, one photo features Knox's two sisters, Deanna, 20, and Ashley, 14, posing in short shorts in front of the house Kercher died in. Observers blame Knox's lawyers for failing to control her image and letting her family run amok.
The jurors in Perugia are not sequestered and follow press coverage of the case, and Knox's family has caused as much outrage inside the courtroom as outside. Teenage Ashley had to be thrown out of court for violating a ban on minors at sex-related proceedings, while Deanna showed up in hot pants as part of a red, white, and blue outfit for July 4. "The jury pays attention to much more than the testimony," said one Roman lawyer, who cited the defense attorneys' indifference to "who attends court with her." (More Amanda Knox stories.)