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Amanda Knox arrives at court for first time in 12 years to 'clear her name'

05 June 2024 , 08:40
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Amanda Knox nurses a bump to the head after being knocked by converging cameras outside court on Wednesday as she arrived for the hearing (Image: AP)
Amanda Knox nurses a bump to the head after being knocked by converging cameras outside court on Wednesday as she arrived for the hearing (Image: AP)

Amanda Knox winced in pain at a court on Wednesday after being knocked by a camera as she arrived to "finally clear her name".

The American mum was accused and convicted over the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher in the Italian university town of Perugia. Meredith, 21, was brutally murdered in the apartment she had been sharing with Knox at the time.

The then-20-year-old Knox from Seattle and boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito spent nearly eight years in and out of the courts in a legal battled which polarised the world, before the two were eventually cleared and freed. Rudy Guede was later convicted and jailed for Meredith's murder.

Knox was back in court in Florence again on Wednesday as a decision is expected in a slander conviction against her from bar owner Patrick Lumumba she had been working for at the time of the murder. Knox, now aged 36, initially accused the bar owner of Meredith's murder - it remains the only charge against her connected to the case.

Amanda Knox arrives at court for first time in 12 years to 'clear her name' eidekiqtiqrtprwKnox arrives with her husband Christopher Robinson (L) at the courthouse in Florence (AFP via Getty Images)

Her return to Italy this week is only her second since she was freed in October 2011 when she was freed following four years in prison. Both she and Sollecito were definiteively exonerated in 2015 and, since the case, Knox has been a vocal public figure for criminal justice issues.

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Appearing alongside husband Christopher Robinson on Wednesday, Knox was knocked to the temple by a camera, and could be seen nursing a 'small bump' as the couple sat in the front row of the court room.

In a statement on social media ahead of Wedesday's verdict, Knox said: "I will walk into the very same courtroom where I was reconvicted of a crime I didn't commit, this time to defend myself yet again. I hope to clear my name once and for all of the false charges against me. Wish me luck."

Today comes after a high court ruled that Knox's human rights were violated after her arrest for Meredith's murder when she faced hours of questioning without a lawyer or competent translator. Italy's highest court, the Cassation Court, also threw out the slander conviction in autumn, ordering a new trial.

The court this time has been ordered to disregard two damaging statements typed up by police at the time which were signed by Knox on November 6, 2007, in which she claimed to remember hearing her room mate scream and pinpointed Lumumba over the killing.

"In regards to this `confession' that I made last night, I want to make clear that I'm very doubtful of the verity of my statements because they were made under the pressure of stress, shock and extreme exhaustion," she wrote. Regardless of the court outcome, Knox is not expected to face any further jail time after punishment for the slander conviction was covered by the four years she spent in custody while accused.

Susie Beever

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