A Florence appeals court has initiated a new slander trial against Amanda Knox based on a 2016 European Court of Human Rights decision that found her rights were violated during a lengthy interrogation regarding the murder of her British roommate. This interrogation took place without the presence of a lawyer and official translator.
Italy's highest Cassation Court recently overturned the slander conviction, which was the only guilty verdict remaining against Knox. This decision came after the same court had previously acquitted Knox and her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, of the murder of 21-year-old Meredith Kercher in 2007.
The slander charge against Knox stems from an accusation she made against the Congolese owner of a bar where she worked part-time during an overnight questioning session at the Perugia police station. However, the statements in which Knox made the accusation were deemed inadmissible in the current trial by the high court.
Following the interrogation, Knox, who was a 20-year-old student with limited Italian-language skills, recanted the accusation in a handwritten note in English the next day. This note is now the primary evidence being considered in the new trial.
Despite Knox retracting her initial accusation, the bar owner, Patrick Lumumba, was detained for nearly two weeks. Lumumba, who has since left Italy, is participating in the trial as a civil party, as permitted by Italian law.
The slander conviction originally carried a three-year sentence, which Knox served during her time in detention until being released after an appeals court in Perugia found her and Sollecito not guilty. Subsequent legal proceedings saw the pair being convicted again before ultimately being exonerated by the highest court in 2015.
Currently residing in the United States, Knox is engaged in advocating for judicial reform and is involved in various media projects, including a podcast and a limited series about her case in development with Hulu. She was not present at the recent hearing, and the judges have decided to proceed with the trial in her absence.
Meredith Kercher was found with her throat slit in her locked bedroom in 2007, where she lived with Knox and two Italian roommates. Rudy Guede, whose DNA and footprints were discovered at the crime scene, was convicted of the murder and served 13 years in prison before being released. He is now under investigation for alleged physical and sexual assault against a former girlfriend.
