Court Rules on Amanda Knox's Slander Case Against Bar Owner

MILAN (AP) — Amanda Knox's recent retrial has resulted in a slander conviction stemming from her false accusations against Congolese bar owner Patrick Lumumba in the 2007 murder of her British housemate, Meredith Kercher. An Italian appeals court ruled that Knox's hand-written memo contained sufficient evidence for her reconviction, despite her earlier exoneration of the murder charge. Knox had traveled to Florence in June with hopes of clearing her name, but the court upheld the slander conviction, which remains the only legal blemish against her. The Florence appellate court focused solely on Knox's handwritten document, which was the only evidence presented after Italy's supreme court dismissed two signed statements that implicated Lumumba. This dismissal followed a European court's finding that Knox's rights were violated during her prolonged questioning without legal representation. The appellate court noted that Knox's memo was written spontaneously and contained "objective details of the crime of slander." In her memo, Knox expressed doubt about the validity of her earlier statements, attributing them to the stress and exhaustion she experienced during the intense questioning. She described her memories as surreal, questioning whether they were real or merely figments of her imagination. The European Court of Human Rights had previously ordered Italy to compensate Knox for the violations she endured during her interrogation. Knox's lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, announced plans to appeal the recent ruling, arguing that the appellate court's reasoning undermines the European Court's findings, which recognized the harm done to Knox. The case continues to draw attention, reflecting the ongoing complexities of Knox's legal battles following the high-profile murder case that captivated international audiences.