Amanda Knox#Student attending classes in Italy

Amanda Knox was born July 9, 1987, in Seattle, Washington, the eldest of three daughters born to Edda Mellas, a mathematics teacher originally from Germany,{{cite web|work=West Seattle Herald|title=Amanda's View: Ethnic|url=http://www.westseattleherald.com/2017/01/02/opinion/amandas-view-ethnic|date=January 2, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117122047/http://www.westseattleherald.com/2017/01/02/opinion/amandas-view-ethnic|last=Knox|first=Amanda}} and Curt Knox, a vice president of finance for Macy's.{{cite web |last=Martin |first=Jonathan |date=August 18, 2008 |title=Amanda Knox's family discuss emotional and financial toll of murder case |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/amanda-knoxs-family-discuss-emotional-and-financial-toll-of-murder-case/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009145110/https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/amanda-knoxs-family-discuss-emotional-and-financial-toll-of-murder-case/ |archive-date=October 9, 2021 |access-date=September 19, 2021 |work=Seattle Times}} Knox and her sisters were raised in West Seattle.{{cite web |date=October 30, 2019 |title=West Seattle's Amanda Knox, acquitted in Italian murder, is launching a local advice column |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/west-seattles-amanda-knox-acquitted-in-italian-murder-is-launching-a-local-advice-column/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009172235/https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/west-seattles-amanda-knox-acquitted-in-italian-murder-is-launching-a-local-advice-column/ |archive-date=October 9, 2021 |access-date=September 19, 2021 |work=Seattle Times}} Her parents were divorced when she was 10 years old;{{cite magazine |last=Rochman |first=Bonnie |date=October 5, 2011 |title=Amanda Knox's Family: How They Kept a United, Unconditional Front |url=https://healthland.time.com/2011/10/05/amanda-knox-mom-and-dad-how-parents-are-hard-wired-to-help/ |url-status=live |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925143716/https://healthland.time.com/2011/10/05/amanda-knox-mom-and-dad-how-parents-are-hard-wired-to-help/ |archive-date=September 25, 2021 |access-date=September 19, 2021}} her mother then married Chris Mellas, an information-technology consultant.{{cite magazine |first=Kirsti |last=Oloffson |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1945430,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091207113737/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1945430,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 7, 2009 |title=Amanda Knox, Convicted of Murder in Italy|magazine=Time |date= December 4, 2009}}{{cite magazine |first=Judy |last=Bachrach |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/06/perugia200806 |title=Perugia's Prime Suspect|magazine=Vanity Fair|date= March 12, 2008}}

Knox first traveled to Italy at age 15, on a family holiday. During that trip, she visited Rome, Pisa, the Amalfi Coast, and the ruins of Pompeii. Upon reading Under the Tuscan Sun, which was given to her by her mother, she grew more interested in the country.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp=9-11}}

Knox graduated from the Seattle Preparatory School in 2005 and then studied linguistics at the University of Washington. In 2007, she made the dean's list at the university.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp=12-14}} She worked at part-time jobs to fund an academic year in Italy. Relatives described the 20-year-old Knox as outgoing but unwary.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp=13–15}} Her stepfather had strong reservations about her going to Italy that year, because he found her too naïve.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp=14–15, 19}}

Knox had come to Perugia for its universities and because it had fewer tourists than Florence, a more popular destination for foreign students.{{cite book |last1=King |first1=Gary C. |title=The Murder of Meredith Kercher |date=2010 |publisher=Kings Road Publishing |location=London, England |page=5 |isbn=978-1-84358-209-0}} Knox lived in a four-bedroom, ground-floor apartment at Via della Pergola 7 with three other women.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp=10–11, 26}} Her flatmates were Meredith Kercher (a British exchange student) and two Italian trainee lawyers in their late twenties, one of whom was Filomena Romanelli. Kercher and Knox moved in on September 10 and 20, 2007, respectively, meeting each other for the first time.{{cite news |author=Murphy, Dennis|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/22332240 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207150418/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/22332240/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 7, 2014 |title=Deadly Exchange|work= NBC News|date= December 21, 2007}} Knox was employed part-time at a bar, Le Chic, which was owned by a Congolese-French man, Diya Patrick Lumumba.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp=25–47}} Kercher's English female friends saw relatively little of Knox, who preferred to socialize with Italians.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=35}}

Giacomo Silenzi, who lived in a walk-out semi-basement apartment of the building, shared an interest in music with Kercher and Knox and often visited their apartment. Returning home at 2 a.m. one night in mid-October, Knox, Kercher, Silenzi, and another basement resident met a basketball court acquaintance of the Italians, Rudy Guede,{{cite web |url=http://www.penale.it/page.asp?mode=1&IDPag=750 |work=Judgment, Trial of Rudy Hermann Guede|first=Paolo |last=Micheli |publisher= Court of Perugia|title=Judgment of October 28, 2008 – January 26, 2009|access-date= October 19, 2011}}{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=179}} in the basement apartment. At 4:30 a.m. Kercher left, saying she was going to bed, and Knox followed her out. Guede spent the rest of the night in the basement.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=39}} Knox recalled a second night out with Kercher and Silenzi in which Guede joined them in the basement apartment.{{cite news |author=Wise, Ann|url=https://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/International/story?id=6826939&page=1 |title=They Had No Reason Not to Get Along|work=ABC News|date= February 7, 2009}}

Three weeks before her death, Kercher went with Knox to the EuroChocolate festival. On October 20, Kercher became romantically involved with Silenzi, after going to a nightclub with him as part of a small group that included Knox. Guede visited the basement later that day. On October 25, Kercher and Knox went to a concert, where Knox met Raffaele Sollecito, a 23-year-old software engineering student. Knox began spending her time at his flat, a five-minute walk from Via della Pergola 7.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp=41–47}}

{{Main|Murder of Meredith Kercher}}

November 1 was a public holiday, and the Italians living in the building were away. It is believed that after watching a movie at a friend's house, Kercher returned home around 9 pm that evening and was alone in the building. Just after midday on November 2, Knox called Kercher's English phone. But contrary to her normal practice, the call was not answered.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp= 61–62, 25 and 71}} Knox then called her roommate Filomena Romanelli, and in a mixture of Italian and English said she was worried something had happened to Kercher, because upon going to the Via della Pergola 7 apartment earlier that morning, Knox had noticed an open front door, bloodstains (including a footprint) in the bathroom, and Kercher's bedroom door locked.{{cite news |work=The Daily Telegraph|date= February 7, 2009|first=Nick |last=Squires |title= Amanda Knox raised alarm over murder of flatmate Meredith Kercher}} Knox and Sollecito then went to Via della Pergola 7, and upon getting no answer from Kercher, unsuccessfully tried to break in the bedroom door, leaving it noticeably damaged.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=325}} At 12:47 p.m., Knox called her mother, who advised her to contact the police.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp=65–67}}

Sollecito called the Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy, getting through at 12:51 p.m. He was recorded telling them there had been a break-in with nothing taken, and the emergency was that Kercher's door was locked, she was not answering calls to her phone, and there were bloodstains. Police telecommunications investigators arrived to inquire about an abandoned phone, which was in fact Kercher's Italian unit. Romanelli arrived and took over, explaining the situation to the police who were informed about Kercher's English phone, which had been handed in as a result of its ringing when Knox called it. On discovering Kercher's English phone had been found dumped, Romanelli demanded that the policemen force Kercher's bedroom door open, but they did not think the circumstances warranted damaging private property.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp=65–67}} The door was then kicked in by a friend of Romanelli, and Kercher's body was discovered on the floor. She had been stabbed and had died of blood loss from neck wounds.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp=69–74}}

The first detectives on the scene were Monica Napoleoni and her superior Marco Chiacchiera. Napoleoni conducted the initial interviews and quizzed Knox about her failure to immediately raise the alarm, which was later widely seen as an anomalous feature of Knox's behavior.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=75}}{{cite book|date= June 5, 2015|author= Davies F.|title= The Brutal Killing of Meredith Kercher: A Search For The Truth}} Part 22. During her initial questioning, Knox told authorities that Lumumba had broken into the home she shared with Kercher and other roommates, before sexually assaulting and killing her.{{cite web |first=Chelsea |last=Hoffman |date=November 4, 2022 |title=Why Hasn't Amanda Knox Apologized to Patrick Lumumba? |url=https://medium.com/@ChelseaHoffman/why-hasnt-amanda-knox-apologized-to-patrick-lumumba-dc4478532648 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230924025443/https://medium.com/@ChelseaHoffman/why-hasnt-amanda-knox-apologized-to-patrick-lumumba-dc4478532648 |archive-date=September 24, 2023 |access-date=September 23, 2023 |website=Medium |language=en-US}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/28/amanda-knox-free-rich-american-patrick-lumumba-meredith-kercher-murder|title=Amanda Knox is free because she's rich and American, says Patrick Lumumba|first1=Mark|last1=Townsend|first2=Daniel|last2=Boffey|website=The Guardian |language=en-US|url-status=live|date=March 28, 2015|access-date=September 23, 2023|archive-date=March 29, 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150329015027/http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/28/amanda-knox-free-rich-american-patrick-lumumba-meredith-kercher-murder}} Knox said that she had spent the night of 1 November with Sollecito at his flat,{{harvnb|Dempsey|2010|p=47}} smoking marijuana, watching the French film Amélie, and having sex. Sollecito told police he could not remember if Knox was with him that evening or not.{{cite web |author=Squires, Nick |date=October 3, 2011 |title=Amanda Knox: Guilty or innocent, five reasons why |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8803077/Amanda-Knox-Guilty-or-innocent-five-reasons-why.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230924023206/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8803077/Amanda-Knox-Guilty-or-innocent-five-reasons-why.html |archive-date=September 24, 2023 |access-date=September 23, 2023 |language=en-US |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph}} According to Knox, Napoleoni had been hostile to her from the outset.{{cite news |title=Interview with Amanda Knox|date= February 2014 |newspaper=The Daily of the University of Washington}} Chiacchiera discounted the signs of a break-in, deeming them clearly faked by the killer.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=164}} The police were not told the extent of Kercher's relationship with Silenzi in initial interviews.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp=83–84, 90}}{{sfn|Burleigh|2011|p=180}} On November 4, Chiacchiera was quoted as saying that someone known to Kercher might have been let into the apartment and be responsible for her murder. The same day, Guede is believed to have left Perugia.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp=67, 75–76, 83–84, 90}}{{sfn|Burleigh|2011|pp=151–152, 165}}{{sfn|Dempsey|2010|pp=62, 76–77, 151–152}}

Over the following days, Knox was repeatedly interviewed as a witness. She told police that on November 1, she received a text from Lumumba advising that her evening waitressing shift had been cancelled, so she had stayed over at Sollecito's apartment, only going back to the apartment she shared with Kercher on the morning the body was discovered. On the night of November 5, Knox voluntarily went to the police station. Knox was not provided with legal counsel, as Italian law only mandates the appointment of a lawyer for someone suspected of a crime. Knox said she had requested a lawyer but was told it would make things worse for her.{{sfn|Dempsey|2010|pp=147–148}}{{efn|The city had reportedly not had a murder for 20 years, but its prosecutors had been responsible for Italy's most controversial murder cases.{{cite book|author=Kercher, John |date=2012|title= Meredith: Our Daughter's Murder and the Heartbreaking Quest for the Truth}}{{cite news |work=The Week |date=December 9, 2009 |first=Robert |last=Fox |url=http://www.theweek.co.uk/amanda-knox-free/17977/nothing-%E2%80%98third-world%E2%80%99-about-italian-justice |title=Nothing 'Third World' about Italian justice |archive-date=August 16, 2016 |access-date=January 31, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816213729/http://www.theweek.co.uk/amanda-knox-free/17977/nothing-%E2%80%98third-world%E2%80%99-about-italian-justice |url-status=dead }} A charge originated by Perugia prosecutors resulted in the 2002 conviction of former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti for ordering the murder of journalist Carmine Pecorelli, and led to complaints that the justice system had "gone mad". The Supreme Court took the unusual step of definitively acquitting Andreotti the next year.{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times|date= November 19, 2002|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/19/world/andreotti-s-sentence-draws-protests-about-justice-gone-mad.html?ref=giulioandreotti|title= Andreotti's Sentence Draws Protests About 'Justice Gone Mad'}}

In early 2002, Perugia prosecutor Giuliano Mignini, who enjoyed taking a detective-like role and was later to be in charge of the Kercher investigation, arraigned members of a respectable Masonic lodge for an alleged conspiracy. Mignini reportedly based the case on a theory involving serial killings and Satanic rites.{{sfn|Follain|2012|loc=Chapter 55}} Mignini investigated fellow prosecutors for complicity in the supposed plot and appealed dismissals of the charges; there were no convictions in the case, which finally ended in 2010.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/monster-of-florence-amanda-knox-prosecutors-satanic-theories-rejected-by-judge/|title= Monster of Florence: Amanda Knox Prosecutor's Satanic Theories Rejected by Judge|work=CBS News|date= April 23, 2010}}{{cite book|title=Bloody Italy: Essays on Crime Writing in Italian Settings |editor=Buckler, Patricia Prandini|pages=70–73}} According to a scholar who researched comparative law in Italy, selective changes to the Italian legal system left it unable to cope when a prosecutor with Mignini's American-style adversarial approach used his powers to the fullest.}}

Knox testified that prior to the trial she had spent hours maintaining her original story, that she had been with Sollecito at his flat all night and had no knowledge of the murder, but a group of police{{cite magazine |magazine=Time |date= September 29, 2009 |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1926487,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091002221445/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1926487,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 2, 2009 |title=The Tough Women of the Amanda Knox Case}} would not believe her.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp=216–217}}{{cite news |last=Vogt |first=Andrea |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/national/article/A-confident-Amanda-Knox-defends-herself-says-she-929593.php |title=A confident Amanda Knox defends herself, says she wasn't there during slaying |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |date=June 11, 2009 |access-date=March 31, 2013}}{{cite news |work=The Daily Telegraph|date= June 13, 2009|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/5522781/Amanda-Knox-was-warned-by-police-that-she-would-spend-30-years-in-prison.html |title=Amanda Knox warned by police that she would spend 30 years in prison}}{{efn|Knox said, "I wasn't just stressed and pressurised; I was manipulated";{{cite news |work=The Guardian|date= October 4, 2011|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/04/amanda-knox-meredithkercher|title= Amanda Knox: police under fire over botched investigation}} she testified to being told by the interpreter, "probably I didn't remember well because I was traumatised. So I should try to remember something else."{{cite news |work=The Guardian|date= March 13, 2009|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/13/kercher-knox-trial |title=Knox clashes with interpreter over Meredith 'confession'}} Knox stated, "they said they were convinced that I was protecting someone. They were saying 'Who is it? Who is it?' They were saying: 'Here's the message on your telephone, you wanted to meet up with him, you are a stupid liar." Knox also said that a policewoman "was saying 'Come on, come on, remember' and then – slap – she hit me. Then 'come on, come on' and – slap – another one". Knox said she was not allowed access to food, water, or the bathroom.{{sfn|Dempsey|2010|pp=147–148}}{{cite news |author=Hooper, John|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/feb/05/meredith-kercher-murder-trial |title=Was there a plot to kill Meredith?|work=The Guardian|date=February 5, 2009}} Ficarra and policewoman Lorena Zugarini testified that during the interview Knox was given access to food, water, hot drinks, and the lavatory. They further said Knox was asked about a lawyer but did not have one, was not hit at any time,{{sfn|Dempsey|2010|p=145}}{{cite news |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Knox-ex-boyfriend-refute-police-testimony-1301356.php#page-2 |title=Knox, ex-boyfriend refute police testimony|author=Vogt, Andrea |work= Seattle Post-Intelligencer |date=February 28, 2009}} and interviewed "firmly but politely".{{cite news |author=Squires, Nick|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/4864649/Amanda-Knox-hit-in-the-head-during-Meredith-Kercher-murder-interrogation.html |title=Amanda Knox 'hit in the head' during Meredith Kercher murder interrogation|work=The Daily Telegraph|date= February 28, 2009}}}}

Police arrested Knox, Sollecito, and Patrick Lumumba on November 6, 2007. They were taken into custody and charged with the murder.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=134}}{{efn|In 1989, Italy reformed its inquisitorial system, introducing elements of US-style adversarial procedure. The changes were intended to remove an inquisitorial continuity between the investigatory phase and the basis for a decision at trial, but in practice they took control of inquiries away from police and gave prosecutors authority over the preliminary investigation.{{cite news|url=http://www.csm.it/en/web/csm-international-corner/high-council-for-the-judiciary/italy-s-judicial-system?redirect=/en/web/csm-international-corner/high-council-for-the-judiciary/italy-s-judicial-system&show=true&title=&show_bcrumb=|title=The Italian Judicial System|publisher=csm.it|access-date=February 12, 2022|archive-date=October 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025132203/http://www.csm.it/en/web/csm-international-corner/high-council-for-the-judiciary/italy-s-judicial-system?redirect=%2Fen%2Fweb%2Fcsm-international-corner%2Fhigh-council-for-the-judiciary%2Fitaly-s-judicial-system&show=true&title=&show_bcrumb=|url-status=dead}}{{sfn|Mirabella|2012|pp=234, 237, and footnote 151}}{{cite news |newspaper=The Economist|date= February 8, 2014 |url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21595955-far-being-unjust-system-may-be-too-scrupulousbut-also-too-lengthy-untimely |title= Untimely Italian Justice}} Although they have considerable authority over early inquiries and discretion in bringing charges, Italian prosecutors do not customarily use their powers in the aggressive way common in the US system.{{cite news |publisher=University of Kansas|date= February 4, 2015|url=http://today.ku.edu/2015/01/28/law-professors-article-argues-amanda-knox-trial-showed-lack-understanding-problems |work=Today|title=Professor: Amanda Knox trial shows problems with comparing legal systems}}{{sfn|Mirabella|2012|p=237, footnote 151}}

Unless the defendant opts for a fast-track trial (a relatively inquisitorial procedure), murder trials are heard by a corte d'assise, which is less likely to exclude evidence as prejudicial than a US court. Two presiding professional trial judges, who also vote on the verdict, are expected to correct any bias of the six lay judges during their deliberations.{{sfn|Mirabella|2012}} An acquittal can be appealed by the prosecution, and faulty application of legal principles in the judges' detailed report on their decision can be grounds for overturning the verdict.{{sfn|Mirabella|2012}}

A defendant who gives evidence is not given an oath, because they are not considered to be a witness. The settled verdict of another court can be used without collaboration to support circumstantial evidence; in Knox's case the official report on Guede's conviction was introduced as showing that Guede had accomplices.{{cite journal |journal=Criminal Law and Justice Weekly|date= May 23, 2015 |volume=179 |number=19|title= The Brutal Killing of Meredith Kercher: A Search For The Truth – Part 20 |author=Davie, Fred }} If the Supreme Court grants an appeal against a guilty verdict, it usually sends the case back to be re-heard. It can also dismiss the prosecution case, although this is rare.{{sfn|Mirabella|2012}}}} Customers who Lumumba had been serving at his bar on the night of the murder gave him an alibi, and Lumumba was released.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=164}}{{efn|In a formal interview with Perugia prosecutor Giuliano Mignini, Knox said she had been brainwashed by police interrogators into accusing Lumumba and implicating herself.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=214}}}} Chiacchiera, who thought the arrests were premature, dropped out of the investigation soon afterward, leaving Napoleoni in charge of a major investigation for the first time in her career.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp=83–84, 164–165}}

Knox's first meeting with her legal counsel was on November 11.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=134}}

After his bloodstained fingerprints were found on bedding under Kercher's body, Guede (who had fled to Germany) was extradited back to Italy. Guede, Knox, and Sollecito were then charged with committing the murder together. On November 30, a panel of three judges endorsed the charges, and ordered Knox and Sollecito held in detention pending a trial.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp=199–200}}

Knox became the subject of unprecedented pre-trial media coverage because of leaks from the prosecution, including a best-selling Italian book whose author imagined or invented incidents that were purported to have occurred in Knox's private life.{{cite news |author=Wise, Ann|url=https://abcnews.go.com/2020/AmandaKnox/small-victory-amanda-knox/story?id=10169888|title=Small Victory For Amanda Knox|work= ABC News|date= March 22, 2010}}{{cite news |title=Amanda Knox Tricked into Believing She Had HIV to Extract Lovers List: New Details of Sexual Harassment in Prison|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/228638/20111011/amanda-knox-sexual-harassment-lesbian-italian-prison-aids-hiv-positive-assault-herpes-revelation-dia.htm|access-date=October 23, 2011|newspaper=International Business Times|date=October 11, 2011}}{{cite news |title=The scapegoating of Amanda Knox|url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-xpm-2011-oct-04-la-oe-burleigh-knox-20111004-story.html|access-date=October 23, 2011|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=October 4, 2011|author=Burleigh, Nina}}{{cite news |author=Sherwell, Philip|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/6736512/Amanda-Knox-Foxy-Knoxy-was-an-innocent-abroad-say-US-supporters.html |title=Amanda Knox: 'Foxy Knoxy' was an innocent abroad, say US supporters|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date= December 5, 2009}}

Guede fled to Germany shortly after the murder. During a November 19, 2007 Skype conversation with his friend Giacomo Benedetti, Guede did not mention Knox or Sollecito as being in the building on the night of the murder. Later his account changed and he indirectly implicated them in the murder, which he denied involvement in. Guede was arrested in Germany on November 20, then extradited to Italy on December 6. Guede opted to be tried in a special fast-track procedure by Judge Micheli. He was not charged with having had a knife. He did not testify and was not questioned about his statements, which he had changed compared to what he originally said.{{sfn|Mirabella|2012}}

In October 2008, Guede was found guilty of the sexual assault and murder of Kercher, and sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment. His prison sentence was ultimately reduced to 16 years. He was later given an early release in December 2020 and authorized to finish his sentence with community service. Amanda Knox was dissatisfied with his early release and spoke publicly against it.{{Cite web|title=Amanda Knox speaks out after Rudy Guede released from prison|url=https://goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/amanda-knox-speaks-rudy-guede-released-prison-74580253|access-date=February 23, 2021|website=ABC News|language=en}}{{efn|Guede was convicted of murder, but the official judges' report on the conviction specified that he had not had a knife or stabbed the victim, or stolen any of Kercher's possessions. Micheli's finding that Guede must have had an accomplice gave support to the later prosecution of Knox.{{sfn|Mirabella|2012}}{{cite news |author=Moore, Malcolm|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1570481/Meredith-whispered-killers-name-suspect-says.html |title=Meredith whispered killer's name, suspect says|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date= November 24, 2007}}}}{{efn|The judges reasoned that Guede would not have faked a burglary, because it would have pointed to him in view of his own earlier break-ins (though at the time of the murder he was known to police only for being detained for trespassing in Florence). Despite Guede saying that Kercher had let him in through the entry door, the judges decided against the possibility of Guede's having gotten in by simply knocking on the door, because they thought Kercher would not have opened the cottage door to him (although she knew he was an acquaintance of her boyfriend, Giacomo Silenzi). In his original account, Guede had said that Kercher's confrontation with her killer had started at the entry door. One legal commentator on the case thought that insufficient consideration had been given to the possibility that Guede had called at the house on some pretext while Kercher was alone there, murdered her after she opened the door to him, and faked a burglary to cover his tracks.{{cite journal |author=Davies, F.|journal= Criminal Law & Justice Weekly|volume=179|number=18|date= May 16, 2015|title= The Brutal Killing of Meredith Kercher: A Search For The Truth – Part 19}} series of articles}}

In 2009, Knox and Sollecito pleaded not guilty at a corte d'assise on charges of murder, sexual assault, carrying a knife (which Guede had not been charged with), simulating a burglary, and theft of €300, two credit cards, and two mobile phones. There was no charge in relation to Kercher's missing keys to the entry door and her bedroom door, although Guede's trial judgement said he had not stolen anything. There was a separate but concurrent trial of Knox with the same jury as her murder trial in which she was accused of falsely denouncing her employer for the murder. Knox's police interrogation was deemed improper and ruled inadmissible for the murder trial, but was heard in her nominally separate trial for false denunciation.{{sfn|Mirabella|2012|p=247, note 122}}

According to the prosecution, Knox's first call of November 2, to Kercher's English phone, was to ascertain if Kercher's phones had been found, and Sollecito had tried to break in the bedroom door because after he and Knox locked it behind them, they realized they had left something that might incriminate them.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=325}} Knox's call to her mother in Seattle, 15 minutes before the discovery of the body, was said by prosecutors to show Knox was acting as if something serious might have happened before the point in time when an innocent person would have such concern.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=374}}

A prosecution witness, homeless man Antonio Curatolo, said Knox and Sollecito were in a nearby square on the night of the murder. Prosecutors advanced a single piece of forensic evidence linking Sollecito to Kercher's bedroom, where the murder had taken place: fragments of his DNA on Kercher's bra clasp.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=307}}{{cite news |author=Hogenboom, Melissa|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24534110|title= Kercher trial: How does DNA contamination occur?|work=BBC News|date= January 30, 2014|access-date=July 24, 2016}}{{cite news |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date= December 5, 2009|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/6727242/Amanda-Knox-trial-the-unanswered-questions.html |title=Amanda Knox trial: the unanswered questions}} Giulia Bongiorno, leading Sollecito's defence, questioned how Sollecito's DNA could have gotten on the small metal clasp of the bra, but not on the fabric of the bra back strap from which it was torn. "How can you touch the hook without touching the cloth?" Bongiorno asked.{{cite news |publisher=News Corp Australia |url=http://www.news.com.au/world/bra-takes-centre-stage-in-foxy-knoxy-trial/story-e6frfkyi-1225806817516 |title=Bra takes centre stage in Foxy Knoxy trial}} The back strap of the bra had multiple traces of DNA belonging to Guede. According to the prosecution's reconstruction, Knox had attacked Kercher in her bedroom, repeatedly banged her head against a wall, forcefully held her face, and tried to strangle her.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=344}} Guede, Knox, and Sollecito had removed Kercher's jeans, and held her on her hands and knees while Guede had sexually abused her. Knox had cut Kercher with a knife before inflicting the fatal stab wound, then faked a burglary. The judge pointedly questioned Knox about a number of details, especially concerning her phone calls to her mother and Romanelli.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp= 342–344}}

The defense suggested that Guede was a lone killer who had murdered Kercher after breaking in. Knox's lawyers pointed out that no shoe prints, clothing fibers, hairs, fingerprints, skin cells, or DNA of Knox's were found on Kercher's body, clothes, handbag, or anywhere else in Kercher's bedroom.{{cite news |work=The Guardian|date= September 22, 2011|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/22/amanda-knox-hope-appeal?newsfeed=true |title=Amanda Knox 'hopeful of release}}{{cite web|url=http://www.penale.it/page.asp?mode=1&IDPag=750|title= Judgment, Trial of Rudy Hermann Guede|publisher= Court of Perugia|website=Judgment of October 28, 2008 – January 26, 2009 }} The prosecution alleged that all forensic traces in the room that would have incriminated Knox had been wiped away by her and Sollecito.{{cite news|author=Falconi, Marta |url=http://www.komonews.com/news/70617977.html |title=Prosecutors: Knox staged break-in after murder |agency=Associated Press |date=November 20, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208004309/http://www.komonews.com/news/70617977.html |archive-date=February 8, 2015 }}{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=248}} Knox's lawyers said it would have been impossible to selectively remove her traces, and emphasized that Guede's shoe prints, fingerprints, and DNA were found in Kercher's bedroom.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=177}}

Guede's DNA was on the strap of Kercher's bra, which had been torn off, and his DNA was found on a vaginal swab taken from her body.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=177}} Guede's bloody palm print was on a pillow that had been placed under Kercher's hips.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=174}} Guede's DNA, mixed with Kercher's, was on the left sleeve of her bloody sweatshirt and in bloodstains inside her shoulder bag, from which €300 and credit cards had been stolen.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=177}}{{cite news|author=Povoledo, Elisabetta|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/world/europe/30knox.html?_r=1|title=Italian Experts Question Evidence in Knox Case|newspaper=The New York Times|date= June 29, 2011}}{{cite news|author=Rizzo, Alessandra|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2011/0630/Amanda-Knox-DNA-evidence-contested-by-experts-crucial-victory-for-defense |title=Amanda Knox DNA evidence contested by experts, crucial victory for defense|work=The Christian Science Monitor|date= June 30, 2011}}{{sfn|Mirabella|2012|p=247, note 122}} Both sets of defence lawyers requested the judges to order independent reviews of evidence including DNA and the compatibility of the wounds with the alleged murder weapon; the request was denied.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp= 335–336}} In final pleas to the court, Sollecito's lawyer described Knox as "a weak and fragile girl" who had been "duped by the police". Knox's lawyer pointed to text messages between Knox and Kercher as showing that they had been friends.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp=353–358}}

On December 5, 2009, Knox, by then 22, was convicted on charges of faking a break-in, defamation, sexual violence, and murder, and was sentenced to 26 years imprisonment. Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8394750.stm |title=Amanda Knox guilty of Meredith Kercher murder |work=BBC News |date=December 5, 2009 |access-date=March 31, 2013}}{{sfn|Dempsey|2010|pp=311–312}}{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=366}} In Italy, opinion was not generally favorable toward Knox, and an Italian law professor remarked: "This is the simplest and fairest criminal trial one could possibly think of in terms of evidence."

In the United States, the verdict was widely viewed as a miscarriage of justice. American lawyers expressed concern about pre-trial publicity, and statements excluded from the murder case being allowed for a contemporaneous civil suit heard by the same jury. Knox's defense attorneys were seen, by American standards, as passive in the face of the prosecution's use of character assassination.{{sfn|Mirabella|2012| pp=242, 247}}{{cite news |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=December 8, 2009 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6763445/Only-doubt-over-Amanda-Knox-conviction-is-exactly-how-they-got-it-wrong.html |title=Only doubt over Amanda Knox conviction is exactly how they got it wrong}} Although acknowledging that Knox might have been a person of interest for American police in similar circumstances, journalist Nina Burleigh, who had spent months in Perugia during the trial while researching a book on the case, said the conviction had not been based on solid proof, and there had been resentment toward the Knox family that amounted to "anti-Americanism".{{cite news|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/The-debate-continues-over-Knox-s-guilt-882848.php |title=The debate continues over Knox's guilt| newspaper=Seattle Post-Intelligence|date=December 14, 2009}}

A number of US experts spoke out against DNA evidence used by the prosecution. According to consultant Greg Hampikian, director of the Idaho Innocence Project, the Italian forensic police could not replicate the key result, claimed to have successfully identified DNA at levels below those an American laboratory would attempt to analyze, and never supplied validation of their methods.{{cite news |author=Greg Hampikian |work=New Scientist |date=May 13, 2015 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22630210.200-amanda-knox-legal-fight-highlights-fallibility-of-dna-forensics.html |title=Amanda Knox legal fight highlights fallibility of DNA forensics}} Knox was indicted in 2010 on charges of defamation against the police for saying she had been struck across her head during the interview in which she incriminated herself.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/08/amanda-knox-slander-italian-police|title=Amanda Knox indicted on charges of slandering Italian police|last=Kington|first=Tom|work=The Guardian|date=November 8, 2010|access-date=September 8, 2015}}

In May 2011, Hampikian said forensic results from the crime scene pointed to Guede as the killer and to his having acted on his own.Sewell, Cynthia. [http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/05/27/1665599/boise-expert-dna-shows-amanda.html "Boise expert: DNA shows Amanda Knox isn't guilty"]{{dead link|date=January 2013}}, Idaho Statesman, May 27, 2011.{{Cite news|title=BSU professor's work helps set Amanda Knox free|url=http://www.nwcn.com/home/?fId=131019638&fPath=/news/local&fDomain=10227|date=October 3, 2011|first=Kim|last=Fields|publisher=Northwest Cable News|access-date=April 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107042453/http://www.nwcn.com/home/?fId=131019638&fPath=%2Fnews%2Flocal&fDomain=10227|archive-date=January 7, 2012|url-status=dead}}

File:Corrado maria daclon - amanda knox.jpg.]]

A corte d'assise verdict of guilty is not a definitive conviction. A corte d'assise d'appello reviews the case in what is essentially a new trial. The appeal (or second grade) trial began November 2010 and was presided over by Judges Claudio Pratillo Hellmann and Massimo Zanetti. A court-ordered review of the contested DNA evidence by independent experts noted numerous basic errors in the gathering and analysis of the evidence, and concluded that no evidential trace of Kercher's DNA had been found on the alleged murder weapon, which police had found in Sollecito's kitchen.{{sfn|Follain|2012|p= 404}}Kington, Tom. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/24/amanda-knox-dna-appeal-threat "Amanda Knox DNA appeal sparks legal battle by forensic experts"], The Observer, July 24, 2011. The review found the forensic police examination showed evidence of multiple males' DNA fragments on the bra clasp, which had been lost on the floor for 47 days, the court-appointed expert testified the context strongly suggested contamination.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp= 404–406}}{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/dna-experts-highlight-problems-with-amanda-knox-case-2325760.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020150500/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/dna-experts-highlight-problems-with-amanda-knox-case-2325760.html |archive-date=2011-10-20 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |title=DNA experts highlight problems with Amanda Knox case |agency=Associated Press, July 25, 2011 |newspaper=The Guardian}}{{cite news |newspaper=The Guardian |date=June 29, 2011 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/29/amanda-knox-dna-evidence-contaminated |title=Amanda Knox prosecution evidence unreliable, appeal court hears}}{{sfn|Follain|2012|p=408}} On October 3, 2011, Knox and Sollecito were found not guilty of the murder.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/world/europe/amanda-knox-defends-herself-in-italian-court.html |title=Amanda Knox Freed After Appeal in Italian Court |work=The New York Times |date=October 3, 2011 |last=Povoledo|first=Elisabetta |access-date=May 1, 2013}}

In an official statement giving the grounds for the acquittals, Hellmann said Knox had been confused by interviews of "obsessive duration" in a language she was still learning, and forensic evidence did not support the idea that Knox and Sollecito had been present at the murder.{{sfn|Follain|2012|pp= 433–437}} It was emphasized that Knox's first calls raised the alarm and brought the police, which made the prosecution's assertion that she had been trying to delay discovery of the body untenable. Her and Sollecito's accounts failing to completely match did not constitute evidence they had given a false alibi. Discounting Curatolo's testimony as self-contradictory, the judges observed that he was a heroin addict. Having noted that there was no evidence of any phone calls or texts between Knox or Sollecito and Guede, the judges concluded there was a "material non-existence" of evidence to support the guilty verdicts, and that an association among Sollecito, Knox, and Guede to commit the murder was "far from probable".{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/dec/15/amanda-knox-trial-flawed-says-judge?INTCMP=SRCH |location=London |work=The Guardian |first=Tom |last=Kington |title=Amanda Knox trial was flawed at every turn, says appeal judge |date=December 15, 2011}}Squires, Nick. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8805395/Amanda-Knox-freed-tears-of-joy-as-four-year-nightmare-is-over.html "Amanda Knox freed: tears of joy as four-year nightmare is over"], The Daily Telegraph, October 4, 2011: "A jury decided that Amanda Knox, who has spent almost four years in jail, was the victim of a miscarriage of justice following a chaotic Italian police investigation."{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PnjnAAAACAAJ |title=Manuale di procedura penale |language=it |editor=Pisani, Mario |publisher=Monduzzi |year=2004 |isbn=8832341026 |access-date=May 1, 2013}}

The false accusation conviction in relation to her employer was upheld, and Judge Hellman imposed a three-year sentence, although this did not result in additional incarceration, being less than Knox had already served. She was immediately released, whereupon she quickly returned to her Seattle home.{{cite news|title=Amanda Knox Admits She Struggles with Guilt for Accusing Patrick Lumumba of Meredith Kercher Murder|author=Joshi, Priya |date=February 8, 2014|work=International Business Times|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/amanda-knox-admits-she-struggles-guilt-accusing-patrick-lumumba-meredith-kercher-murder-1435683}}{{cite journal |journal=Criminal Law and Justice Weekly|author=Davies, F. G. |date= February 27, 2015|title= The Brutal Killing of Meredith Kercher – Part 9}}{{cite news|title=Amanda Knox plans to write book in Italy, man she falsely accused claims acquittal was because she is 'American and rich'|author1=Harding, David |author2=Landau, Joel|date= March 29, 2015|work=New York Daily News|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/amanda-knox-acquitted-american-rich-article-1.2166111}}{{cite news|publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/27/europe/amanda-knox/|date=March 28, 2015|title=Tearful Amanda Knox says she's glad to have her life back|author=Ellis, Ralph |author2=Messia, Hada |author3=Nadeau, Barbie |author4=Diamond, Jeremy |author5=Karimi, Faith }}

Knox wrote a letter to Corrado Maria Daclon, Secretary General of the Italy–USA Foundation, the day after regaining her freedom:

{{blockquote|To hold my hand and offer support and respect throughout the obstacles and the controversy, there were Italians. There was the Italy–USA Foundation, and many others that shared my pain and that helped me survive, with hope. I am eternally grateful for their caring hospitality and their courageous commitment. To those that wrote me, that defended me, that stood by me, that prayed for me... I am forever grateful to you.{{cite news|title=Amanda Knox's handwritten letter to supporters in Italy|url=http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/2014/08/02/13023110|access-date=March 30, 2015|publisher=KING-TV|location=Seattle|date=October 4, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404094010/http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/2014/08/02/13023110/|archive-date=April 4, 2015|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}}}

On March 26, 2013, Italy's highest court, the Supreme Court of Cassation, set aside the acquittals of the Hellmann second level trial. The Court ruled that the Hellmann acquittals had gone beyond the remit of a corte d'assise d'appello by not ordering new DNA tests and by failing to give weight to circumstantial evidence in context, such as Knox's accusation against the bar owner in the disputed interviews. A note Knox composed in the police station (not mentioning Guede) was regarded by the Supreme Court as confirmation that she and Guede were present in Via della Pergola 7 while Kercher was attacked. A retrial was ordered. Knox was represented, but remained in the United States.{{cite news|first=Lizzy |last=Davies |newspaper=The Guardian |date= January 31, 2014 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/31/amanda-knox-raffaele-sollecito-convictions-upheld-q-and-a |title=Why did Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito have their convictions upheld?}}{{cite news|title=Amanda Knox's lawyer: 'She's ready to fight' |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/03/26/amanda-knox-raffaele-sollecito-italy-retrial-meredith-kercher/2020289/|first1=Byron|last1=Acohido|first2=Eric J.|last2=Lyman|work=USA Today|date=March 26, 2013|access-date=May 1, 2013}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24327338|title=Meredith Kercher murder: Amanda Knox retrial opens|work=BBC News|date=September 30, 2013 |access-date=October 3, 2013}}

Judge Nencini presided at the retrial, and granted a prosecution request for analysis of a previously unexamined DNA sample found on a kitchen knife of Sollecito's, which the prosecution alleged was the murder weapon based on the forensic police reporting that Kercher's DNA was on it, a conclusion discredited by court-appointed experts at the appeal trial.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22310186 |title=Amanda Knox and bad maths in court |first=Ruth |last=Alexander |date=April 28, 2013 |work=BBC News}}{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Daily News |date=November 2, 2013 |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/amanda-knox-trial-forensic-tests-find-new-traces-victim-dna-knife-article-1.1504734 |title=Amanda Knox trial: New forensic tests find no traces of Meredith Kercher's DNA on knife}}{{cite news |website=BBC News Europe |date=January 31, 2014 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25941999 |title=Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito guilty of Kercher Italy murder}} When the unexamined sample was tested, no DNA belonging to Kercher was found.{{cite news |website=MSN News |date=November 6, 2013 |url=http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/knoxs-knife-dna-casts-doubt-on-murder-weapon |title=Knox's knife DNA casts doubt on murder weapon |access-date=February 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140411012937/http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/knoxs-knife-dna-casts-doubt-on-murder-weapon |archive-date=April 11, 2014 |url-status=dead }} On January 30, 2014, Knox and Sollecito were found guilty.{{cite news |first=Giles |last=Costongway |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=January 30, 2014 |url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303973704579353071903182530?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303973704579353071903182530.html |title=Italy Court Finds Amanda Knox Guilty of Murder of U.K. Student in Retrial}} In their written explanation, the judges emphasized Guede's fast-track verdict report as a judicial reference point establishing that he had not acted alone. The Nencini verdict report said there must have been a cleanup to remove traces of Knox from the building while leaving Guede's. The report said that there had been no burglary and the signs of one were staged.{{cite journal |last=Davies |first=F. |journal=Criminal Law & Justice Weekly |volume=179 |number=20 |date=May 30, 2015 |title=The Brutal Killing of Meredith Kercher: A Search For The Truth – Part 21}}

Although not part of the defense's team of experts, an authority on the forensic use of DNA, Professor Peter Gill, publicly said that the case against Knox and Sollecito was misconceived because they had a legitimate excuse for their DNA being present on Sollecito's kitchen knife, and in the crime scene apartment. According to Gill, the DNA fragment from Sollecito on the bra clasp could have gotten there through Sollecito having touched the handle of Kercher's door while trying to force it, enabling transfer of his DNA to the bra clasp inside the bedroom on the latex gloves used by investigators.{{cite book |title=Misleading DNA Evidence: Reasons for Miscarriages of Justice |author=Peter Gill |pages=137–143}}

On March 27, 2015, the ultimate appeal by Knox and Sollecito was heard by the Supreme Court of Cassation; it ruled that the case was without foundation, thereby definitively acquitting them of the murder. Her defamation conviction was upheld, but the three-year sentence was deemed served by the time she had already spent in prison.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/27/italian-high-court-overturns-amanda-knox-murder-conviction/ |title=Italian high court overturns Amanda Knox murder conviction |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=March 28, 2015}}{{cite news |title=Amanda Knox murder conviction overturned by Italy's highest court|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/amanda-knox-murder-conviction-overturned-by-italy-s-highest-court-1.2300012|date=March 27, 2015|access-date=March 27, 2015}}{{cite news |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/03/27/amanda_knox_verdict_overturned_by_italy_s_supreme_court.html|title=Amanda Knox verdict overturned by Italy's supreme court.|website=Slate |access-date=March 28, 2015}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/27/meredith-kercher-amanda-knox-and-raffaele-sollecito-acquitted|title=Meredith Kercher murder: Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito acquitted|first=Stephanie|last=Kirchgaessner|work=The Guardian|access-date=March 28, 2015}} Rather than merely declaring that there were errors in the earlier court cases or that there was not enough evidence to convict, the court ruled that Knox and Sollecito were innocent of involvement in the murder.{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21647486-overdue-acquittal-amanda-knox-exposes-glaring-flaws-italys-criminal-justice-system-innocente|title=The Amanda Knox verdict: Innocente|date=March 28, 2015|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=March 28, 2015}}

On September 7, 2015, the Court published the report on the acquittal, citing "glaring errors", "investigative amnesia", and "guilty omissions", where a five-judge panel said that the prosecutors who won the original murder conviction failed to prove a "whole truth" to back up the scenario that Knox and Sollecito killed Kercher.{{cite news |last1=Latza Nadeau|first1=Barbie|title=Amanda Knox decision explained by Italian court|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/08/europe/italy-court-amanda-knox/index.html|publisher=CNN|access-date=September 8, 2015|date=September 8, 2015}} They also stated that there were "sensational failures" ({{lang|it|clamorose defaillance}}) in the investigation, and that the lower court had been guilty of "culpable omissions" ({{italics correction|{{lang|it|colpevoli omissioni}}}}) in ignoring expert testimony that demonstrated contamination of evidence.{{Cite news|title = Amanda Knox acquitted because of 'stunning flaws' in investigation, says Italy top court |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11849486/Amanda-Knox-acquitted-because-of-stunning-flaws-in-investigation-says-Italy-top-court.html|access-date = September 7, 2015}}

The delegate supreme judge, court adviser Gennaro Marasca, made public the reasons of absolution. First, none of the evidence demonstrated that either Knox or Sollecito was present at the crime scene. Second, they cannot have "materially participated in the homicide", since absolutely no "biological traces ... could be attributed to them in the room of the murder or on the body of the victim, where in contrast numerous traces were found attributable to Guede".{{Cite web |url=https://www.agi.it/cronaca/2015/09/07/news/bocciate_le_indagini_su_meredith_cassazione_giusta_assoluzione_-106851/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208103857/http://www.agi.it/cronaca/notizie/bocciate_le_indagini_su_meredith_cassazione_giusta_assoluzione-201509071629-cro-rt10157 |url-status=dead |title=Bocciate le indagini su Meredith Cassazione |archive-date=8 December 2015 |website=Agi |lang=it}}

On January 24, 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Italy to pay compensation to Knox for violating her rights in the hours after her arrest in Perugia. Italy was ordered to pay Knox €18,400 (about US$20,800) for not providing her with either a lawyer or a competent interpreter when she was first held in custody.{{cite web |last1=Mackintosh |first1=Eliza |title=European court orders Italy to pay damages to Amanda Knox |url=https://us.cnn.com/2019/01/24/europe/amanda-knox-european-court-of-human-rights-intl/index.html |work=CNN|access-date=January 24, 2019 |date=January 24, 2019 }}{{cite web |title=Affaire Knox c. Italie |url=http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-189422 |publisher=European Court of Human Rights |access-date=September 14, 2021|date=June 24, 2019}}

Based on the ECHR's ruling that she should have been provided with a lawyer and a competent interpreter during the "obsessively long" and implicitly violent police interviews (Knox had been acquitted of defamation for saying she had been struck by policewomen during the interrogation), Knox appealed her conviction for defamation of Patrick Lumumba, since the statement that he was involved was made during those interviews, at the same time that it was claimed that she had implicated herself. This was her only remaining conviction, and the appeal was enabled by a reform to the code of criminal procedure made in 2022. On 13 October 2023, the Court of Cassation ordered a retrial of this matter.{{cite news |last=Giuffrida |first=Angela |date=13 October 2023 |title=Amanda Knox to face new trial in Italy over slander conviction |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/13/amanda-knox-slander-conviction-overturned-italy-retrial |work=The Guardian |access-date=13 October 2023}}

In June 2024, an Italian appellate court upheld Amanda Knox's slander conviction for falsely accusing Patrick Lumumba of murdering Meredith Kercher in 2007. She was not sentenced to additional prison time, as she had already served the length of the original slander sentence, four years, in detention following her wrongful imprisonment for Kercher's murder.{{cite web |first=Barbie Latza |last=Nadeau |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/05/europe/amanda-knox-slander-meredith-kercher-murder-intl/index.html | title=Amanda Knox's slander conviction upheld in case related to Meredith Kercher's murder |website=CNN |date=June 5, 2024}}

After returning to the United States in late 2011, Knox completed her degree and worked on a book about her case. She was often followed by paparazzi. Her family incurred large debts from the years of supporting her in Italy and were left insolvent; the proceeds from Waiting to Be Heard: A Memoir having gone to pay legal fees to her Italian lawyers.{{cite news|work=The Guardian |date=February 8, 2014 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/08/who-is-amanda-knox-interview |title=Amanda Knox interview with Simon Hattenstone}} Knox has been a reviewer and journalist for what then was West Seattle Herald (later subsumed into Westside Seattle), and attended events of the Innocence Project and related organizations.

In a 2017 interview, Knox said she was devoting herself to writing and activism for the wrongfully accused.{{cite web |first1=Jeff |last1=Truesdell |first2=Sandra Sobieraj |last2=Westfall |title=Amanda Knox Is in Love and Rebuilding Her Life 6 Years After Being Released from Italian Prison |website=People |date=August 16, 2017 |url=http://people.com/crime/amanda-knox-life-now-her-boyfriend-activism/ |access-date=November 21, 2017}} She hosted The Scarlet Letter Reports on Facebook Watch, a series which examined the "gendered nature of public shaming".{{cite web|url=https://www.kqed.org/pop/103508/how-amanda-knoxs-the-scarlet-letter-reports-is-stretching-metoo-in-a-new-direction|title=How Amanda Knox's 'The Scarlet Letter Reports' is Stretching #MeToo in a New Direction|date=May 18, 2018|last=Alexandra|first=Rae|access-date=September 23, 2019|website=KQED}} Knox also hosts a podcast, The Truth About True Crime.{{cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2019/03/amanda-knox-true-crime-podcast-interview.html|title=Amanda Knox Just Wants to Make Hats|date=March 20, 2019|last=Nelson|first=Hillary|access-date=September 23, 2019|website=Vulture.com}} She has been a featured speaker at fundraising events for non-profits, including the Innocence Project.{{cite web|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/events/2019/04/amanda-knox-is-coming-to-portland-to-discuss-spending-time-in-italian-prison-for-a-murder-she-didnt-commit.html|title=Amanda Knox is coming to Portland to discuss spending time in Italian prison for a murder she didn't commit|date=April 24, 2019|last=Acker|first=Lizzy|access-date=September 23, 2019|website=The Oregonian}} In June 2019, Knox returned to Italy as a keynote speaker at a conference on criminal justice, where she was part of a panel titled "Trial by Media".{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/06/15/amanda-knox-tearful-return-italy-roars-against-wrongful-prosecution/|title=Amanda Knox, in tearful return to Italy, roars against wrongful conviction|date=June 15, 2019|last1=Wong|first1=Herman|last2=Epstein|first2=Kayla|access-date=September 23, 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post}}

On February 29, 2020, Knox married author Christopher Robinson,{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/24/us/amanda-knox-crowdfunding-wedding-trnd/index.html|title=Amanda Knox is planning an intergalactic wedding and hoping her friends and fans will help pay for it|first1=Brian |last1=Ries |first2=Natalie |last2=Prieb|website=CNN|date=July 24, 2019|access-date=July 25, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/amanda-knox-denies-claims-fiance-crowdfunding-intergalactic-themed/story?id=64547919|title=Amanda Knox denies claims that she and her fiance are crowdfunding their wedding|work=ABC News|language=en|access-date=July 25, 2019}} who is connected to the Robinson Newspapers, owner of the Westside Seattle newspaper. They had first met after Knox's return to Seattle in 2011, and announced their engagement in 2019. In an October 2021 interview with The New York Times, Knox announced the birth of their first child, a daughter, who had been born several months prior.{{cite web |last=Bennett |first=Jessica |title=Amanda Knox Was Exonerated. That Doesn't Mean She's Free. |website=The New York Times |date=October 22, 2021|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/22/style/amanda-knox-ten-years-later.html |access-date=November 23, 2021}} In September 2023, Knox gave birth to their second child, a son.{{cite web |url=https://www.today.com/parents/celebrity/amanda-knox-kids-christopher-robinson-rcna101089 |title=Amanda Knox welcomes her second child and shares his unique name |date=August 22, 2023 |last=Calvario |first=Liz |access-date=December 11, 2023 |website=Today |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611012336/https://www.today.com/parents/celebrity/amanda-knox-kids-christopher-robinson-rcna101089 |url-status=live}}

• {{cite book |last=Burleigh |first=Nina |author-link=Nina Burleigh |title=The Fatal Gift of Beauty: The Trials of Amanda Knox |location=New York |publisher=Broadway Books |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-307-58860-9}}
• {{cite book |last=Kercher |first=John |title=Meredith: Our Daughter's Murder and the Heartbreaking Quest for the Truth |location=London |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4447-4276-3}}
• {{cite book |last=Knox |first=Amanda |title=Waiting to Be Heard: A Memoir |location=New York |publisher=Harper |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-06-221722-6}}
• {{cite book |last=Knox |first=Amanda |title=Free: My Search for Meaning|location=New York |publisher=Grand Central Publishing|year=2025 |isbn=9781538770719}}
• {{cite book |last1=Sollecito |first1=Raffaele |author-link=Raffaele Sollecito |last2=Gumbel |first2=Andrew |title=Honor Bound: My Journey to Hell and Back with Amanda Knox |location=New York |publisher=Gallery Books |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-5387-7071-9}}

• {{cite serial |title=A Long Way From Home |date=April 10, 2008 |work=CBS News |series-link=48 Hours (TV series) |series=48 Hours |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-long-way-from-home/ |author1=Joe Halderman (Producer) |author2=Douglas Longhini (Producer) |author3=Chris Young (Producer)}} A documentary broadcast in the United States{{cite web |title=A Long Way From Home |work=CBS News |date=April 10, 2008 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-long-way-from-home/ |access-date=July 10, 2018}}
• {{cite serial |title=American Girl, Italian Nightmare |date=April 11, 2009 |work=CBS News |series-link=48 Hours Mystery |series=48 Hours Mystery |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/video/american-girl-italian-nightmare/ |author1=Joe Halderman (Producer) |author2=Douglas Longhini (Producer)}} A documentary broadcast in the United States
• {{cite news |title=Amanda Knox: The untold story |work=CBS News |date=October 9, 2011 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/video/amanda-knox-the-untold-story/ |ref={{sfnref |CBS News |2011}} |access-date=July 10, 2018}}
• {{cite news |title=Murder Mystery: Amanda Knox Speaks |publisher=ABC News |work=20/20 |first=Diane |last=Sawyer |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/murder-mystery-amanda-knox-speaks/story?id=19068548 |date=April 30, 2013 |access-date=July 10, 2018}} Diane Sawyer was the first to interview Knox after she was freed.
• {{citation |title=Amanda Knox |date=October 2016|title-link=Amanda Knox (film)}}, a Netflix original documentary{{cite web|url=https://www.netflix.com/title/80081155|title=Netflix Original Amanda Knox|publisher=Netflix|date=September 29, 2016}}
• The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, August 2025, a Hulu mini-series{{Cite web |last=Day |first=Debbie |date=May 28, 2025 |title=See 'Tell Me Lies' star Grace Van Patten in 'The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox' first look (exclusive) |url=https://ew.com/the-twisted-tale-of-amanda-knox-first-look-grace-van-patten-kj-steinberg-exclusive-11742005 |access-date=June 11, 2025 |website=EW.com |language=en}}

• {{citation |title=Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy (2011), also known as The Amanda Knox Story |date=February 21, 2011}}, an American true crime television film that first aired on the Lifetime network.
• The Face of an Angel, a 2014 British psychological thriller directed by Michael Winterbottom and written by Paul Viragh. The film was inspired by the book Angel Face, drawn from crime coverage by Newsweek/Daily Beast writer Barbie Latza Nadeau. The film stars Kate Beckinsale, Daniel Brühl, and Cara Delevingne.
• Stillwater, a 2021 film based on Knox's story. Knox accused actor Matt Damon and director Tom McCarthy of ripping off her story without her consent at the expense of her reputation.{{cite news|title=Amanda Knox says Matt Damon film Stillwater "rips off" and distorts her story|newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jul/30/amanda-knox-says-matt-damon-film-stillwater-rips-off-and-distorts-her-story|date=July 30, 2021|access-date=August 2, 2021}}

• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (December 3, 2020). "Remember Me in Quarantine". Episode 3 of Season 22 is loosely based on the murder of Meredith Kercher. The main female antagonist is branded as "Sexy Lexi" and "Lockdown Lexi", a play on "Foxy Knoxy".{{CN|date=March 2023}}
• In 2024 Knox made a cameo appearance as herself in the first-season finale of romantic comedy TV series Laid.{{cite web |last=Harris |first=Scarlett |date=December 21, 2024 |title=Amanda Knox Cameo in ‘Laid’ Is Unexpected Delight: ‘One of the Strongest People I’ve Ever Met’ |url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/amanda-knox-cameo-laid-peacock-1235075707/ |access-date=May 26, 2025 |work=IndieWire}}

• List of miscarriage of justice cases

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |ref={{harv|Burleigh|2011}}|last=Burleigh |first=Nina |author-link=Nina Burleigh |title=The Fatal Gift of Beauty: The trials of Amanda Knox |location=New York |publisher=Broadway Books |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-307-58860-9}}
• {{Cite book |last=Dempsey |first=Candace |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1q3Yf_UXY-IC |title=Murder in Italy: Amanda Knox, Meredith Kercher, and the Murder Trial that Shocked the World |date=2010-04-27 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-101-18711-1 |language=en}}
• {{cite book|last=Follain | first = J. |title=Death in Perugia: The Definitive Account of the Meredith Kercher case from her murder to the acquittal of Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox|isbn=978-0-340-99309-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/deathinperugia0002foll/page/13|year=2012|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton }}
• {{cite journal |last =Mirabella | first = Julia Grace|url=https://www.bu.edu/ilj/files/2014/05/note_mirabella.pdf|title= Scales of Justice: Assessing Italian Criminal Procedure Through the Amanda Knox Trial |journal= Boston University International Law Journal|volume= 30|number= 1|date= January 5, 2012}}

• {{official website}}
• {{Facebook |id=TheScarletLetterReports |name=The Scarlet Letter Reports}}; a Facebook Watch series of interviews hosted by Knox
• [https://www.theguardian.com/world/amanda-knox Collected news and articles] at The Guardian
• {{cite web |title=Articles about and columns by Amanda Knox | website=Westside Seattle | url=https://www.westsideseattle.com/search/site/%22Amanda%20Knox%22}}
• {{cite web |last=Mosley |first=Tonya |title=Why Amanda Knox returns to Italy — and how she talks with her daughter about injustice |website=NPR |date=2025-03-26 |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/03/26/nx-s1-5311607/amanda-knox-free |access-date=2025-03-27}}

{{Amanda Knox}}

{{Portal bar|Biography|Law|Italy|United States}}

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Category:Amanda Knox

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Category:American people acquitted of murder

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Category:American women journalists

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Category:False confessions

Category:Overturned convictions in Italy

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