Amanda Knox Convicted Again

(WatchDogReport.org) – Amanda Knox was re-convicted of slander by an Italian court on June 5, scrapping her hopes of throwing out the verdict that she has repeatedly faced since she was acquitted of the 2007 murder of fellow exchange student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy. Knox faced a lengthy legal battle to prove her innocence until, in 2015, Italy’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, exonerated both Knox and Raffaele Sollecito of the murder. Sollecito was Knox’s boyfriend at the time of the killing.

The latest verdict by the appeals court panel in Florence marks the sixth time an Italian court has found Knox guilty of incorrectly blaming the murder on a Congolese bar owner who employed Knox part-time. Knox has insisted that police bullied her into making the statements in a night of intense interrogation when she was relying on limited Italian as a 20-year-old exchange student.

The panel, which consisted of six jurors and two judges, confirmed the three-year sentence. Knox will not face further jail time, however, due to having already spent four years in Italian custody while facing multiple trials. Knox’s appearance at the court in Florence to try to finally clear her name for good was the first time she had been to an Italian court since she was freed from custody in 2011.

Rudy Guede, a drifter from the Ivory Coast and the only one to be definitely convicted of the murder, was released in 2021 after serving 13 years out of a 16-year jail sentence. Guede originally received a 30-year sentence, which was reduced for good behavior. In 2023, Guede was charged again with assaulting his ex-girlfriend just months after he was released from prison. Sollecito commented on the charges, saying that Guede had “not changed” since the murder.

Knox’s lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, commented outside the courtroom that Knox had hoped for an acquittal that would finally put an end to 17 years of legal proceedings. Luca Luparia Donati, another defense lawyer, announced plans to appeal the decision. The new trial was triggered by a European court ruling that concluded the intense questioning Knox received after the murder of Kercher violated her human rights. When she addressed the court, Knox apologized for wrongly accusing Lumumba, but stressed that she was “not strong enough” to withstand the pressure placed on her by the police. She added that she had no way of knowing who the murderer was.