**Amanda Knox Reconvicted of Slander in Italy for Accusing Innocent Man in 2007 Roommate’s Murder**


FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — On Wednesday, an Italian court reconvicted Amanda Knox of slander, dashing her hopes of clearing a longstanding legal stain from her record. This development follows her exoneration in the 2007 murder of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher, while the two were exchange students in Italy.


The Florence appeals court panel’s decision marks the sixth time Knox has been found guilty of falsely implicating an innocent man, Patrick Lumumba, the Congolese owner of the bar where she worked part-time. Knox argued that her statements to police were coerced during an intense interrogation session, during which she was bullied and relied on her limited Italian skills at the time.

The panel of two judges and six jurors upheld a three-year sentence, which Knox had already served during her four years in Italian custody amidst the investigation and multiple trials. The court's reasoning will be released in 60 days. Knox, accompanied by her husband Christopher Robinson, showed no visible emotion as the verdict was read in her first appearance in an Italian court since her release in 2011.


Knox’s lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, expressed surprise at the verdict, stating, “Amanda is very embittered.” He noted that Knox had hoped for an acquittal to conclude nearly 17 years of judicial proceedings. Another defense lawyer, Luca Luparia Donati, indicated plans to appeal to Italy’s highest court.


The new trial followed a European court ruling that Italy violated Knox’s human rights during the initial questioning days after Kercher’s murder, depriving her of legal counsel and a competent translator. Addressing the court, Knox admitted to wrongfully accusing Lumumba under police pressure, stating, “I am very sorry that I was not strong enough to resist the pressure of police.”

The murder of 21-year-old Kercher in Perugia captured global attention, focusing suspicion on Knox and her Italian boyfriend of a week, Raffaele Sollecito. The case, characterized by fluctuating verdicts over nearly eight years, polarized observers and became one of the first high-profile trials in the age of social media.


Despite Knox’s exoneration and the conviction of an Ivorian man whose DNA was found at the scene, doubts about her involvement persisted, especially in Italy, due to her initial accusation against Lumumba. Lumumba’s lawyer, Carlo Pacelli, emphasized the lasting impact of the false accusation on Lumumba’s life and business.


Now a 36-year-old mother of two and an advocate for criminal justice reform, Knox was freed in October 2011 after a Perugia appeals court overturned her murder conviction. She remained in the United States through two more verdict reversals until Italy’s highest court definitively exonerated her and Sollecito of the murder in March 2015.


In the fall, Italy’s highest Cassation Court overturned the slander conviction that had stood through five trials, ordering a new trial due to a 2022 judicial reform allowing cases with definitive verdicts to be reopened if human rights violations are found.