Amanda Knox was again convicted of defamation by an Italian court in the latest case involving the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher.
Knox, 36, was originally convicted of defamation in 2009 over false allegations Patrick Lumumba of Kercher’s murder. An appeals court in Florence, Italy, upheld that conviction on Wednesday, June 5, nearly two decades after Kercher’s 2007 murder.
According to CNN, Knox was visibly emotional and told the court she was “sorry” for not trying harder to drop the charges.
“I didn’t know who the killer was,” she said, adding that she was in an existential crisis when she accused Lumumba of being involved in Kercher’s death.
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However, Knox will not serve any more prison time, given the four years she has already spent behind bars following her wrongful imprisonment for Kercher’s murder.
In 2007, Knox was accused of killing her roommate Kercher while they were studying abroad in Perugia, Italy. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison after she and her then-boyfriend were convicted Raffaele Sollecito were both convicted of the crime despite a lack of evidence.
An appeals court later found the former couple not guilty in 2011, but they were found guilty again at a retrial three years later. The Italian Supreme Court acquitted Knox of Kercher’s murder in 2015 and she was acquitted.
Ivorian migrant Rudy Guede was sentenced to 30 years in 2008 for Kercher’s murder after his DNA was identified at the crime scene. His sentence was later reduced and he was released from prison in November 2021.
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During her interrogation in 2007, Knox, then 20, accused her then-boss Lumumba of the murder, leading to his arrest and a two-week prison sentence. Knox signed two statements prepared by police regarding this allegation before reversing the claims.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2023 that Knox’s rights were violated during the interrogation that ultimately led to her accusation against Lumumba. As a result, the Italian Supreme Court ordered a new trial at the level of the court of appeal.
Before a decision was made in the trial on Wednesday, Knox, who now shares two children with his husband Christopher Robin – said it was “a good thing” she was back on the witness stand. Knox wrote on social media that she hoped to receive a full acquittal of her “wrongful accusation of defamation.”
