The last remaining legal issue against US citizen, Amanda Knox, arrived back in an Italian courtroom on Wednesday as she pushed for an appeal againt a defamation conviction. Ms Knox, who was infamously connected with the murder of a UK student in 2007, stated earlier this week on X, “I hope to finally rid myself of the untrue allegations levelled against me.”
Joined by her husband, Christopher Robinson, 36-year-old Ms Knox refrained from making any statements to the press and camera crews as she arrived at the court. Proceedings commenced around 9.50am local time, with the court’s decision expected to be revealed later the same day.
Ms Knox’s conviction for the murder of her UK roommate, Meredith Kercher, in Perugia, was invalidated by Italy’s supreme court in 2015, bringing to an end almost a decade of unfolding legal theatre, during which she was twice declared guilty. The vicious murder of 21-year-old Ms Kercher had been a mainstay in newspapers across both the UK and US, as well as being the basis for books and movies.
Ms Knox faced prison for four years in Italy and was put on trial alongside and eventually absolved with her former Italian partner, Raffaele Sollecito. Ms Knox is now dealing with a retrial over a defamation conviction. She was sentenced to three years for incorrectly implicating Congolese bar proprietor, Patrick Lumumba, in the murder of Ms Kercher. However, the sentence made no real difference as it was served during her time in prison.
Mr Lumumba was incarcerated for two weeks in 2007 before being released. Ms Knox claimed she identified him while under extreme stress during police interrogation. “When Patrick was implicated by Amanda, he became notorious as Perugia’s monster,” lawyer Carlo Pacelli said on behalf of Mr Lumumba on Wednesday, advocating for the defamation conviction to be sustained. Mr Lumumba was not present in court.
In 2019, the European Court of Human Rights found that there were procedural errors during the questioning of Ms Knox, and last year, Italy’s highest court decreed a retrial in the defamation case. Meanwhile, Rudy Guede, originally from the Ivory Coast, was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment for the murder of Ms Kercher, with a verdict that stated he acted alongside unidentified accomplices. He was granted early release last year. (Reuters)