Amanda Knox convicted just moments ago inside an
Italian courtroom this morning.
The 16-year-old slander case stems
from the night she was interrogated
about her roommate's murder.
Our foreign correspondent, James Longman,
is there in Florence, Italy, with the very latest.
Good morning, James.
Yeah, good morning, Robin.
A shock decision this morning.
Amanda Knox came here to clear her name.
But she has just been convicted by this court of slander,
of implicating another person in the murder of Meredith Kercher.
She has been sentenced to three years,
though she will not serve any of that time
given how much time she has already spent in jail.
Her team says she'll appeal.
This morning, Amanda Knox facing another guilty verdict
in an Italian courtroom.
She was fighting yet again to clear her name once and for all.
Do you want to say something, Amanda?
JAMES LONGMAN: This time, a 16-year-old slander conviction
upheld, stemming from the murder case of her British roommate,
Meredith Kercher.
In an emotional 10-minute speech before the verdict,
Knox telling the court why she wrote
the note at the center of the trial, at times trembling.
Her lawyer speaking after the verdict.
You must be in shock today.
Yes, of course.
This is, OK, with a big surprise.
We were looking for having a dismissal.
And we don't know exactly what is
the logic behind this decision.
JAMES LONGMAN: Knox was accused of pinning the killing
on a Congolese bar owner who she worked for part-time while
studying abroad in Italy.
The accusation based on two statements
she signed while in police custody for Kercher's murder.
The now 36-year-old wife and mother of two
discussed the slander charge on her podcast,
Labyrinths, last December.
AMANDA KNOX: My argument is that I was coerced into making--
into signing those statements, and I never
intended to implicate myself or others in a crime
that I didn't commit.
JAMES LONGMAN: Kercher's death spiraled
into an international media frenzy back in 2007.
Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito,
were accused of murder, a crime for which she was
wrongfully convicted and spent almost four
years in an Italian prison.
Italian authorities are also charging and convicting Rudy
Guede for the murder in 2008.
He'd come to Italy as a child from the Ivory Coast.
His DNA was found at the scene.
In 2015, both Knox and Sollecito had
their convictions overturned.
BRIAN BUCKMIRE: Amanda Knox being found guilty
means that that final blemish, after a long saga of being found
guilty and then ultimately exonerated
in a brutal murder of her then British roommate, will remain.
That even though the slanderous statements
were found not admissible, that the prosecution found a way
to still uphold the conviction.
Now, Rudy Guede was the man convicted of the murder
of Meredith Kercher.
He spent 13 years in jail of a 16-year sentence.
He was released in 2021.
But he's under enhanced surveillance.
He's wearing a tag because he's been accused
by his ex-girlfriend of abuse.
As for Amanda Knox, well, this saga just continues.
Guys.
Yeah, quite a turn of events.
All right, James Longman for us.
Thank you.