Italy’s Supreme Court has confirmed Amanda Knox’s slander conviction related to her false accusation against a Congolese bar owner for the murder of her British roommate in 2007. This ruling was made on January 23, 2024, while Knox was in the United States watching the decision.
The bar owner, Patrick Lumumba, expressed relief at the verdict, stating that it would be a lasting reminder for Knox. In June 2024, Knox was found guilty of wrongly accusing Lumumba as she faced intense police questioning about her roommate Meredith Kercher’s murder. Knox has appealed this conviction.
Recently, Knox and Lumumba presented their arguments during a brief hearing. The Supreme Court began its consideration of the case shortly after.
Despite the conviction, Knox will not serve any additional prison time because she has already received credit for the time spent in jail following her earlier murder conviction. Knox was just 20 years old and studying abroad when her roommate, Kercher, was found dead in their apartment with severe injuries.
Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were arrested shortly after the crime. They were convicted in a highly publicized trial, but Knox spent four years behind bars before her initial conviction was overturned in 2011.
However, in 2014, Knox was again found guilty in a retrial, receiving a sentence of 28 years and six months. This was later reversed in 2015 when the couple was exonerated by the Court of Cassation.
After Kercher’s death, Knox, who did not speak much Italian, was interrogated for over 50 hours, during which she mistakenly accused Lumumba. She later retracted her statement but Lumumba was detained for nearly two weeks until an alibi cleared him.
While Knox’s lawyers argued she made the accusation under pressure without proper legal help, a European court ruled in 2016 that her rights were violated during the questioning. This led Knox to appeal her slander conviction. However, in 2024, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial, resulting in her conviction once again. Knox has since appealed this three-year sentence.
In 2008, Rudy Guede was convicted of Kercher’s murder and was released from prison in 2021.
