Amanda Knox expressed shock and frustration after Italy’s highest court upheld her 2024 slander conviction, calling it a devastating decision. Speaking on her Labyrinths podcast on Thursday, January 23, Knox said, “I’m feeling just kind of f—ing numb” following the Supreme Court of Cassation’s ruling in Rome. The court had decided to uphold her conviction for falsely accusing her former employer, Patrick Lumumba, of the 2007 murder of her flatmate, Meredith Kercher.
“I’m a little bit astonished because I had higher hopes for the court,” Knox said, recording the emotional episode of Labyrinths with Amanda Knox and Christopher Robinson shortly after hearing the news. She expressed confusion over the court’s rationale, asking, “How can a panel of judges on the Supreme Court in Italy legally justify the decision they just handed down?”
As she grew increasingly emotional, Knox reflected on the long-lasting impact of the verdict. “It means that I just have a criminal record forever for something I didn’t do, and there’s nothing I can do,” she added.
Knox’s legal troubles have stemmed from her involvement in the 2007 murder case of Meredith Kercher, a British student who was found brutally murdered in her Perugia apartment. Knox, then a 20-year-old exchange student, and her boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollecito, were initially convicted of the crime. However, both were acquitted in 2011 after a lengthy legal battle.
In 2008, Rudy Guede, an Ivorian man, was convicted of murdering Kercher and sentenced to prison. Guede, who had been the primary suspect, was released from prison in 2021 after serving time.
Despite being acquitted of the murder, Knox’s legal battles continued. In June 2024, she was convicted for slandering Lumumba, a local bar owner, after she accused him of involvement in the crime during a 53-hour interrogation by Italian police. Knox, who was not fluent in Italian at the time, was under intense pressure from investigators. She later recanted her accusation in a handwritten statement, known as the memoriale, but the damage had been done.
During the interrogation, Knox was coerced into signing statements that implicated Lumumba, even though she had no evidence to support her claim. “There was no way I could possibly know who had murdered Meredith,” she said in her podcast. “And there’s no way I could know if it was Patrick or not. And that’s why the police were able to convince me that it could have been him, because I didn’t f—ing know.”
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Knox’s defense has always centered on the argument that her initial statement was made under duress. In fact, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in 2016 that Knox’s rights were violated during her interrogation, a decision that was pivotal in questioning the fairness of her legal process.
Despite the ECHR’s ruling, Knox feels that the Italian courts have not fully acknowledged the violation of her rights. “They acted like the memoriale that I wrote immediately afterward was not an extension of those rights being violated,” she said on the podcast.
While the conviction carries a three-year sentence, Knox will not serve additional prison time because of the time already served during her earlier trial. However, the decision still feels like a setback for Knox, who had hoped for a clearer exoneration.
“I’ve been mentally telling myself there’s a way for me to not just feel defeated by this, but for it to give me momentum and to pivot around this in some meaningful and valuable way,” Knox said, expressing her determination to continue advocating for criminal justice reform. “But, God, I wish I were celebrating right now.”
Knox’s story has captured global attention due to the complexities of the case and the intense media scrutiny surrounding it. Her wrongful conviction for murder, subsequent acquittal, and the ongoing legal issues related to her slander conviction have fueled debates about the Italian legal system and its handling of high-profile cases.
Knox has continued to speak out about the flaws she perceives in the system, using her platform to raise awareness about issues such as coerced confessions and wrongful convictions. In her podcast, she promised to press on in her fight for justice, despite the emotional toll of the latest ruling.
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“I’m going to give myself time to grieve the decision,” she said. “But I’m also going to channel this into something positive.”
While this latest ruling represents another chapter in Knox’s long and contentious legal journey, her commitment to reforming the criminal justice system remains a central focus. As Knox continues to process the ruling, her advocacy for reform and her pursuit of justice for all those wrongfully accused appears as strong as ever.
