Amanda Knox is back in an Italian court defending herself in a slander case which could potentially remove the last legal stain against her, following her exoneration nine years ago in the 2007 murder of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher. Despite the murder conviction of another man, doubts about Knox’s role persist, especially in Italy and among members of Kercher’s family. The slander case involves Knox wrongly accusing the owner of a bar where she worked of committing the murder, adding to the controversy surrounding her.
Knox was a 20-year-old student who had recently moved to the university town of Perugia when her roommate, Kercher, was found dead in their shared apartment in 2007. She and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were initially convicted but ultimately exonerated by Italy’s highest court in 2015. The slander case revolves around statements signed by Knox during a night of questioning by police and later recanted in a handwritten note. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Knox’s rights were violated during questioning, leading to the overturning of the slander conviction and a new trial.
Following her release in 2011, Knox returned to the United States where she faced continued public scrutiny as her legal battles in Italy persisted. Now 36 and a mother of two, she has been advocating for criminal justice reform and against forced confessions, drawing from her own experiences. Knox has also ventured into podcasting and television, with a series in development for Hulu and a series on resilience for a meditation app. Despite the ongoing challenges, Knox has attempted to rebuild her life and move past the legal troubles that have followed her for over a decade.
In a recent hearing, an appeals court panel in Italy heard arguments from the prosecution and the defense for the bar owner wrongly accused by Knox. Her defense attorneys highlighted her overturned murder conviction and the interrogation techniques that were criticized by Europe’s human rights court. The trial is set to continue on June 5, with a verdict expected at that time. Knox continues to fight against the lingering doubts and suspicions surrounding her role in Kercher’s murder, hoping that this slander case will finally clear her name once and for all.
