Amanda Knox Found Guilty of Slander in Italy for Falsely Accusing Innocent Man in Roommate’s 2007 Murder

FLORENCE, Italy—An Italian court reconvicted Amanda Knox of slander Wednesday, quashing her hope of removing a legal stain against her that has persisted after her exoneration in the brutal 2007 murder of her British roommate while the two were exchange students in Italy.

The decision by a Florence appeals court panel marked the sixth time that an Italian court found Ms. Knox had wrongly blamed the killing on an innocent man, the Congolese owner of the bar where she worked part-time.

Ms. Knox has argued that her statements to police were forced during an intense night of questioning that included bullying as she relied on her then-remedial Italian when she was a 20-year-old university student.

The panel of two judges and six jurors, however, confirmed the three-year sentence, which she already served during four years in Italian custody while the investigation and multiple trials ensued. The court’s reasoning will be released in 60 days.

Ms. Knox’s appearance Wednesday in Florence, in a bid to clear her name “once and for all,” was the first time she had returned to an Italian court since she was freed in 2011. Accompanied by her husband, Christopher Robinson, she showed no visible emotion as the verdict was read aloud.

But her lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, said shortly afterward that “Amanda is very embittered.”

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“We are all very surprised at the outcome of the decision,” Mr. Dalla Vedova said outside the courtroom. He added that Ms. Knox had expected an acquittal would put a cap on nearly 17 years of judicial proceedings.

Another defense lawyer, Luca Luparia Donati, said they expected to appeal to Italy’s highest court.

Ms. Knox’s new trial was set in motion after a European court ruling that said Italy violated her human rights during overnight questioning days after Kercher’s murder, deprived of both a lawyer and a competent translator.

By Colleen Barry