Amanda Knox found guilty of defamation in Italy for falsely accusing an innocent man in her roommate's 2007 murder 

By M Muzamil Shami

      Amanda Knox makes her way to the Florence courtroom in Italy on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. After over 12½ years, she returns to an Italian courtroom aiming

      to finally absolve herself of a lingering slander charge, which persisted despite her exoneration in the 2007 murder case involving her British roommate in the

      picturesque town of Perugia. (Photo by Antonio Calanni/AP)

 

FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — On Wednesday, an Italian court upheld Amanda Knox's conviction for slander, dashing her hopes of clearing her name despite being exonerated in the 2007 murder case of her British roommate while they were exchange students in Italy.

This ruling from a Florence appeals court panel marks the sixth time Knox has been found guilty of falsely accusing the innocent Congolese owner of the bar where she worked part-time of the murder.

Knox maintains that her statements to the police were coerced during a night of intense questioning, which included intimidation, when she was a 20-year-old university student struggling with her Italian language skills.

The two judges and six jurors on the panel upheld the three-year sentence, despite the fact that she had already spent four years in Italian custody during the investigation and multiple trials. The court will release its reasoning in 60 days.

 

Knox made her appearance in Florence on Wednesday with the aim of finally clearing her name. This marked her first return to an Italian courtroom since her release in 2011. Accompanied by her husband, Christopher Robinson, she remained stoic as the verdict was announced.

Despite her composed demeanor, her lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, revealed her deep disappointment. “Amanda is very embittered,” he stated shortly after the verdict was delivered. Expressing surprise at the decision, Dalla Vedova emphasized that Knox had anticipated an acquittal, hoping to conclude nearly 17 years of legal battles.

Luca Luparia Donati, another member of her defense team, confirmed their intention to appeal to Italy’s highest court.

Knox’s retrial commenced following a European court decision stating that Italy had infringed upon her human rights during overnight interrogation following Kercher’s murder, as she was denied access to legal counsel and a proficient translator.

Speaking to the court in Florence with a gentle yet occasionally faltering voice, Knox admitted to falsely accusing Patrick Lumumba under coercive police tactics.

Expressing remorse, Knox conveyed in Italian from a prepared statement while facing the jury, “I deeply regret succumbing to police pressure. I lacked the strength to resist.” She emphasized, “I was unaware of the true culprit. I had no means of discerning.”

The tragic death of 21-year-old Meredith Kercher in the picturesque hilltop town of Perugia made waves around the world, casting suspicion on Amanda Knox, a 20-year-old exchange student from Seattle, and her newly acquainted Italian boyfriend of only a week, Raffaele Sollecito.

Over nearly eight years of legal proceedings, the fluctuating verdicts stirred strong opinions on both sides of the Atlantic, marking one of the early trials heavily influenced by social media's burgeoning presence.

Even after all this time, media fervor remained palpable as photographers gathered around Knox, her husband, and legal team upon their arrival at the courthouse, just an hour before the hearing. A camera jostled Knox, striking her left temple, according to her lawyer Luparia Donati. Seated in the front row of the court, Knox's husband examined a minor bump on her temple.

Despite Knox's exoneration and the conviction of an Ivorian man whose footprints and DNA were discovered at the crime scene, doubts about her involvement persisted, particularly in Italy. Much of this skepticism stemmed from her initial accusation against Lumumba.

Carlo Pacelli, Lumumba's attorney, informed journalists that the allegation stained his reputation globally and led to the decline of his business in Perugia. Subsequently, he has successfully rebuilt his life in his wife's homeland of Poland.

"Pacelli highlighted Patrick's unwavering adherence to court decisions, emphasizing that every court ruling to date has vindicated Amanda Knox from accusations of slander," stated Pacelli.

Amanda Knox, now a 36-year-old mother of two, is actively engaged in advocating for criminal justice reform and combating wrongful convictions. After spending four years in prison, she was acquitted in October 2011 by a Perugia appeals court, which overturned the initial guilty verdict in the murder case involving Knox and Sollecito.

She stayed in the United States during two additional flip-flop verdicts until Italy's highest court ultimately acquitted the duo of the murder in March 2015, firmly asserting their innocence.

Later in the autumn, Italy's Cassation Court annulled the slander conviction, which had endured through five trials, initiating a new trial. This action was made possible by a 2022 Italian judicial reform permitting cases with definitive verdicts to be reopened upon the discovery of human rights violations.

This time, the court was directed to disregard two damaging statements provided by the police and signed by Knox during the early hours of Nov. 6, 2007, as she underwent overnight questioning. In these statements, Knox claimed to recall hearing Kercher scream and implicated Lumumba in the killing.

Later, still in custody around 1 p.m., Knox requested pen and paper and composed her own statement in English, expressing doubt about the validity of her previous statements made under stress, shock, and extreme exhaustion.

She wrote, “Regarding the 'confession' I made last night, I want to clarify that I have serious reservations about its accuracy due to the intense pressure, shock, and extreme fatigue I experienced.”