You could definitely say that Amanda Knox is having a bad year: she's currently being retried by the Italian courts for the murder of her roommate, Merideth Kercher, and she's just sent an e-mail to the court protesting her innocence -- a move, the Italian courts said, that was unfavorable for her bottom line.

Britain's The Guardian newspaper obtained a copy of the e-mail that Knox wrote to the Italian court, which read in part, "I didn't kill. I didn't rape. I didn't rob. I didn't plot. I didn't instigate. I didn't kill Meredith." Knox added that she was staying away from the trial because she feared being wrongly convicted. "I am not in court because I am afraid. I am afraid that the vehemence of the prosecution will make an impression on you, that their smoke will get in your eyes and blind you. I am not afraid of your powers of discernment, but because the prosecution has succeeded already in convincing a court comprised of responsible and perceptive adults to convict innocent people: Raffaele [Sollecito, Amanda's then-boyfriend] and me."

According to CNN, this didn't sit well with the Italian judge, Alessandro Nencini, who declared as much after the e-mail (written in Italian) was entered into the record by Amanda's lawyers. Nencini noted it was not normal procedure, given Knox's absence, and the e-mail did not have the same legal standing as a spontaneous declaration made in person.

"Who wants to speak at a trial, comes to the trial," Nencini said, adding that he had to take the word of her lawyers that the email, printed over five pages, was by Knox. "I never saw her, I don't know her," the judge said.

A spokesman for the victim's family, Francesco Maresca, expressed his disgust over the situation as well. "No one remembers Meredith, while the two defendants write books, speak to the media and earn money," he said.