ACQUITTED OF MURDER
Amanda Knox, an American student, was convicted of murdering her college roommate Meredith Kercher in 2007.
Knox, who spent nearly four years in an Italian prison, was exonerated more than a decade later.
The American press had reacted strongly to the image of Knox, who was portrayed as a "devil with an angelic face" in some comments in the Italian press, and as a "sex-crazed young girl who influenced her boyfriend and encouraged them to commit the murder together", allegedly created by the Italian press.
FOUND GUILTY OF SLANDER
The young woman was today found guilty again of slander for falsely accusing a bartender she was working with at the time of the murder.
A court in Florence found that Knox falsely accused an innocent Congolese man of Kercher's murder.
Prosecutors had asked the court to uphold the slander conviction and impose a 3-year sentence, which has now been imposed.
However, Knox will not serve any more time in Italy as her three-year sentence has already expired with her acquittal for murder.
THEIR LAWYERS WILL APPEAL THE DECISION
The court said Knox will have to pay attorney's fees and damages to Patrick Lumumba, the bar owner in Perugia where Kercher was working part-time at the time of her murder, an amount yet to be determined.
His lawyers said they would appeal the decision. They have 45 days to submit their appeal to Italy's highest court, the Court of Cassation in Rome.
"WISH ME LUCK"
Knox returned to court this week in an attempt to clear the stain on her name.
Before returning to court, she posted on social media, "I will enter the courtroom where I was convicted again for a crime I did not commit, this time to defend myself once again. I hope to clear my name for all of the false accusations against me. Wish me luck," he said.
Another man, Rudy Guede, whose footprints and DNA were found all over the crime scene, was convicted of Kercher's murder in 2008 and served 13 years in jail before being released in 2021.
SHE WANTED TO BLAME THE BARTENDER
Knox made the false accusation against the bartender during a grueling 53-hour police interrogation immediately following her arrest.
Knox's defense team has always argued that the accusation against the bar owner was made under duress.
