Eric J. Lyman

Special for USA TODAY

Knox is expected to appeal the guilty verdict

Both Knox and Raffaelle Sollecito are expected to appeal

Knox did not attend the trial in Italy

ROME — The judge who sentenced Amanda Knox to 28½ years for the murder of her British roommate was widely criticized Monday for suggesting Knox's former boyfriend might have escaped guilt by trying to pin the murder on Knox.

Italian judges nearly never comment on their verdicts except through official explanations published months after the verdict is handed down.

But Judge Alessandro Nencini broke with protocol this weekend, telling Italian journalists that the case against Knox was strong enough that former boyfriend Raffaelle Sollecito would have helped his chances to avoid jail time by trying to lay all the blame on Knox.

Nencini gave Sollecito 25 years in jail fort the murder. Sollecito and Knox say the murder charge against them is false and neither was at the apartment of Meredith Kercher the night she was killed.

Both are expected to appeal their verdicts. An appeal would be the fourth trial in the case, following a 2009 conviction, a 2011 reversal of the original verdict, and last week's ruling reinstating the conviction.

Lawyers for Knox and Sollecito blasted Nencini for his remarks, as did the Italian press.

"The conviction is the result of a clear bias from the judges against the defendants and in particular against Sollecito," Luca Maroni, Sollecito's attorney, told the Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Maroni said members of the defense team intended to study the judge's comments and other aspects of the trial to determine whether they should request last week's verdict be thrown out.

Sollecito's father, Francesco Sollecito, said: "If what I read was correct then we are facing an aberration of justice."

But Jessica Ball, a Rome-based lawyer and frequent commentator on legal issues, said Nencini's remarks were ill advised but unlikely to have an impact on the verdict.

"He shouldn't have given an interview and certainly shouldn't have talked about the case," Ball said. "But it's much more likely the remarks will result in some kind of sanction against him, than it is that the verdict be adjusted."

Ball did say the judge's remarks could be used to bolster chances of their appeal.

Fabio Massimo Drago, chair of the Florence appeals court, said recent developments were unusual but "within the boundaries of propriety."

Some Italians said they were embarrassed by the way the case has been handled.

"This case has been going on so long with so many irregularities that it's a shame there had to be another mistake now, with the judge, " said Audrey Perotti, 32, a municipal worker.

Bar owner Riccardo Gallo, 50, agreed.

"More has gone wrong in this case than right," he said.

Knox, of Seattle, and Sollecito are charged with the 2007 murder of Kercher, Knox's roommate, whose stabbed body was found in the home she shared in Perugia with Knox. The two were exchange students in the town.

Prosecutors alleged Kercher was killed by Knox and Sollecito in a drug and sex game gone awry. The pair was convicted but the case thrown out when it was learned that much of the DNA evidence in the case had been handled improperly and was not reliable.

Knox did not attend the latest trial and thus far Italy has not requested she be extradited overseas to serve her sentence. Sollecito, an Italian citizen, has been stripped of his travel documents to make it more difficult for him to travel.