Amanda Knox Verdict: 'I've Lost a Friend in the Worst, Most Brutal Way Possible'

American student Amanda Knox, pleaded for her release on Monday, after spending four years in an Italian jail.

I've lost a friend in the worst, most brutal, most inexplicable way possible, Knox, who was convicted of the murder of her friend, British exchange student Meredith Kercher, told the jury.

After the hearing, the panel of eight - six jurors and two judges - will meet to decide her fate. Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellmann, who presided over the hearing, said the jury would probably not emerge before 2 p.m. EDT at the earliest.

Knox, who was sentenced to spend 26 years in prison, was in a tearful and emotional mood. She repeatedly told the court that she had nothing to do with her friend's murder and she wanted to go home.

I did not kill. I did not rape. I did not steal. I wasn't there. I wasn't there at the crime, Knox said.

She wore a green top, black jacket and black trousers, at her second and last appeal against the sentence; according to Italian law, a convict is entitled to two appeals.

Knox's ex-boyfriend, Italian Raffaele Sollecito, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the crime, also made his last appeal for freedom.

I never hurt anyone, never in my life, he said, in his statement to the court. He also took out a rubber bracelet, emblazoned with the words Free Amanda and Raffaele, and said that he had been wearing that for four years.

I have never taken it off. Many emotions are concentrated in this bracelet, he said, continuing, Now I want to pay homage to the court. The moment to take it off has arrived.