Italy opens new slander trial against Amanda Knox. She was exonerated 9 years ago in friend's murder
Amanda Knox was back on trial for slander on Wednesday, accused of falsely accusing a Congolese man of her roommate's murder while they were exchange students in Italy. Knox, previously convicted of the slaying before being acquitted, faced this remaining guilty verdict which garnered international attention.
At 20, Knox, with limited Italian proficiency, found herself in a grueling interrogation concerning Meredith Kercher's murder. During this session, she implicated the owner of a bar where she worked part-time in the crime.
In 2016, the European Court of Human Rights ruled her interrogation as violating her rights due to lack of legal representation or an official translator. Subsequently, Italy’s highest Cassation Court nullified the slander conviction alongside convictions for Kercher’s murder against Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito.
Despite this, the slander conviction lingered, affecting her reputation, especially in Italy, where she now advocates for judicial reform from the United States.
Knox, 36, did not attend Wednesday’s hearing in Florence, leading judges to declare the trial in absentia. She remains engaged in media projects in the U.S., including a podcast and a Hulu series on her case.
Her accusation against bar owner Patrick Lumumba, initially signed in statements typed by police, was retracted in a handwritten note the following day, now the sole evidence considered.
Lumumba, who faced questioning and detention following Knox’s accusation, is participating in the prosecution as allowed under Italian law, despite his subsequent release and departure from Italy.
The slander conviction, carrying a three-year term, was served during Knox's nearly four years of detention until her acquittal in 2015. The murder of Kercher, discovered in 2007, resulted in the conviction of Rudy Guede, serving 13 years before release, now under investigation for further alleged crimes post-release.
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