The American was barely 20 years old when she and her Italian then-boyfriend were imprisoned for the savage murder of fellow student Meredith Kercher, 21, in the girls’ shared house in Perugia.
Amanda Knox appeared in court in Italy on Wednesday in a defamation action stemming from her historic 2007 arrest and subsequent acquittal for the murder of her British roommate.
The American was barely 20 years old when she and her Italian then-boyfriend were imprisoned for the savage murder of fellow student Meredith Kercher, 21, in the girls’ shared house in Perugia.
The murder sparked a lengthy legal drama in which Amanda Knox was convicted, acquitted, found guilty again, and then freed of all charges in 2015.
However, she still had a defamation conviction for blaming the murder on a local bar owner during the initial police interview.
In October, Italy’s top court overturned the verdict on appeal and ordered a retrial, which began early this year in Florence in Amanda Knox’s absence.
But she opted to travel in for a hearing on Wednesday, when she was scheduled to speak in her defense, and after which attorneys expect a decision.
“I wish to cleanse my name once and for all from the baseless claims brought against me. “Wish me luck!” Knox posted on X earlier this week.
Both sides will be allowed to appeal the decision.
Amanda Knox appeared in court—the same one where she was reconvicted of murder in 2014—holding hands with her husband, surrounded by reporters and a television team.
Her murder trial drew worldwide attention, most of it sensational, with prosecutors claiming that Kercher died as a result of a sex game gone bad.
However, when Italy’s highest court acquitted Amanda Knox and her former lover, Raffaele Sollecito, it stated that the police investigation had “major flaws.”.
Only one person remains convicted of Kercher’s murder: Ivorian Rudy Guede, who was linked to the crime site by DNA evidence.
In 2008, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for murder and sexual assault; however, his sentence was reduced to 16 years on appeal.
Guede was launched in early November 2021.
‘The Monster of Perugia’
Kercher’s half-naked body was discovered in a pool of blood inside her housemates’ cottage in November 2007. Her throat had been slashed, and she had received several knife wounds.
During police questioning, Amanda Knox accused Congolese bar owner Patrick Lumumba, who spent nearly two weeks in jail before being released without prosecution.
Amanda Knox was convicted of slandering him in 2011 and sentenced to three years already served.
However, she claimed she was shouted at and smacked during the police inquiry, prompting a further accusation of slandering police, which she was exonerated of in 2016.
She petitioned the European Court of Human Rights, which found in 2019 that Knox was not given proper legal representation or a skilled interpreter throughout her interrogation.
Italy’s top court referenced that verdict, which concluded her treatment “compromised the fairness of the proceedings as a whole,” when ordering the retrial last year.
Amanda Knox stated in October of last year that Lumumba “was my friend” at the time of Kercher’s death.
“We are both victims of the violation of my human rights during my interrogation, without which I was helpless against the coercive pressure of the police,” she said in a post on X.
But Lumumba’s lawyer, Carlo Pacelli, explained how Knox’s charge altered his life.
“When he was accused by Amanda, he became universally considered the monster of Perugia,” he told reporters outside court.
“He lost his job, had his bar seized for months, and had to return to Poland because his wife was Polish.”
Lumumba is not at the hearing.
Amanda Knox, now 36 and with two young children, is a journalist, author, and criminal justice reform advocate.
She returned to Italy five years ago to speak on a panel titled “Trial by Media” at a symposium on unjust convictions.
