Amanda Knox to Face Italian Court for Slander Retrial Over 2007 Killing

Amanda Knox, the American who was convicted and then exonerated of murdering her housemate while they were studying in Italy, is expected on Wednesday to appear again in an Italian court — this time to defend herself against slander charges related to the 2007 killing.

It is the latest twist in a dramatic legal journey whose echoes continue to reverberate nearly 17 years after the murder of the housemate, Meredith Kercher, a British student, elicited headlines around the world and turned Ms. Knox into a tabloid staple.

Ms. Knox is being tried again on charges that she slandered the owner of a bar where she worked by accusing him of killing Ms. Kercher, who was stabbed. She was convicted of the slander charge in 2009 and it was upheld by various Italian courts.

But a European court ruling and a change in Italian law allowed a new appeal by Ms. Knox, and Italy’s highest court in October ordered a retrial, which began in April in an appellate court in Florence. A verdict is expected on Wednesday.

For Ms. Knox, an acquittal would mark the end of a long ordeal. Writing on the social media platform X on Monday, Ms. Knox said she would appear in the court and hoped to “clear my name once and for all of the false charges against me.”

Ms. Knox became a household name in 2007 when the then 20-year old American was arrested with Raffaele Sollecito, 23, her boyfriend, for the murder of her 21-year-old housemate, Ms. Kercher, during what prosecutors described as a sex game gone wrong. All three were studying in the picturesque central Italian city of Perugia.