Italy's justice minister orders probe against Amanda Knox's judge for 'biased judgment'

Italy's justice minister has ordered an investigation against the judge, who pronounced Amanda Knox and her former lover Raffaele Sollecito guilty of Meredith's Kercher's murder, after he commented to the media.

Alessandro Nencini, who sentenced Knox to 28 years and six months and Italian Sollecito to 25 years in jail, spoke to many Italian newspapers the morning after he delivered the verdict, Stuff.co.nz reported.

According to Sollecito's lawyers, the comments made by the judge showed that he was biased against their client and had violated the legal maxim that jury deliberations should remain secret.

The lawyers asked Italy's judicial governing body to consider disciplinary action and asked if the court's decision was still valid.

In the comments Nencini had seemed to hint at what the document would contain.

He had indicated that Sollecito's decision not to be questioned in court may have influenced the decision, and told how the jurors asked him to clarify things they saw about the case on TV, and said that the crime happened in "a night between young people" when "no one had anything to do".

Justice Minister Annamaria Cancellieri ordered an "initial investigation" into the comments.