PERUGIA, Italy (AP) — A defense lawyer told an Italian court Tuesday that Amanda Knox, the American student convicted of killing her roommate, isn’t a manipulating, sex-obsessed “femme fatale” as her accusers charge, but is rather like Jessica Rabbit — just drawn that way.

In closing arguments before an appeals court, lawyer Giulia Bongiorno compared Knox to the cartoon character, contending that Knox had been unfairly portrayed over the course of the media-hyped, four-year case.

She said the 24-year-old American is instead a loving young woman who simply displayed immaturity and naivete at the time of the 2007 slaying.

Knox was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering Meredith Kercher, a British student in Perugia, and sentenced to 26 years in prison. Co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito, an Italian who was Knox’s boyfriend at the time of the crime, was convicted of the same charges and sentenced to 25 years.

They both deny wrongdoing and have appealed their 2009 convictions. A verdict in the appeals case is expected in early October.

On Tuesday, Bongiorno delivered her closing arguments, likening Knox to the voluptuous character in the “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” film.

“Jessica Rabbit looks like a man-eater, but she is a faithful and loving woman,” Bongiorno said.