Amanda Knox shares story of wrongful conviction in Italy with Texas Tech law group

Texas Tech University’s School of Law recently hosted an evening with exoneree Amanda Knox at the Lanier Auditorium, where she shared the timeline of her story that captured the world's attention.

Knox was an American student studying abroad in Perugia, Italy, when she was arrested alongside her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, and convicted of the murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher, an exchange student as well. Knox spent nearly four years in an Italian prison for a crime she did not commit.

Knox was finally acquitted by the Italian Supreme Court in 2015 on the grounds that it was “factually impossible” for Knox to have committed this crime. However, media coverage of the Knox case persisted for over a decade. Almost all of the media coverage depicted Knox in a bad light - especially in Europe.

“The Foxy Knoxy phenomenon, I was called Foxy Knoxy, I was called adulterous, I was man-eater, I was femme fatal, I was Luciferina… I was called Luciferina,” Knox said last we

The exoneree explained that the media’s portrayal of her for almost a decade was the most interesting story, the truth was not. Knox continued to be the focal point of media coverage for this crime even after the real suspect was found and convicted.

Rudy Guede is not a household name like Amanda Knox, despite Guede being convicted for the murder of Meredith Kercher at the same time Knox was. Guede was recently released from prison in 2021.

“It was the most compelling story- it was the story - that was going to change people's, emotions and prejudices and unconscious biases, and make people feel good about themselves,” Knox said. “And the thing that made people good feel good about themselves was the idea of locking away the Ice Queen - the murderous, the adulterous, the woman with no morals.”

After spending years in an Italian prison, Knox said the worst part of the entire situation was not knowing she was a suspect and spending 53 hours in five days under interrogation, while the police coerced and abused her.

“I was talking to the police for hours and hours on end, without any kind of legal representation or counsel. I was never informed that I was a suspect. The first I learned of it was days after I had been imprisoned,” Knox said. “I was being interrogated in a language that I spoke like a child without legal representation.”

Knox described herself as “a pawn in some larger game” that she didn’t understand.

“Once that verdict came down, and I was defined as a murderer by a panel of strangers who had the ability to choose the course of my life, and I realized that the truth of my past and my present and my future didn't matter to anyone,” Knox said.

The exoneree has made a new name for herself since then and is an active journalist, and author of The New York Times best-selling memoir “Waiting to Be Heard” and the podcast host of “Labyrinths: Getting Lost with Amanda Knox” podcast.

The best-selling author now works to shed light on the issues of wrongful conviction, truth-seeking, and public shaming in hopes of putting an end to the corruption that occurs inside the justice system.

The biggest takeaway from Knox’s appeal was that the judges in the Appeals Court decided that it was inappropriate for the trial judge to decide which scientific experts he wanted to believe versus others.

“There was a lot of controversy in my first trial because experts for the prosecution said one thing and experts for the defense said a completely different thing about science, and the judge was just like, ‘I like these ones better,” Knox said. “So, the appeals judge decided that there should be an independent review of the evidence appointed by experts of the court and those experts of the courts agreed with the science, scientists for the defense found.”

The turning point that rescued Amanda from her wrongful conviction was at the Appeals Court and the judges ultimately changed her fate because they searched for the truth and didn’t search for a narrative that fit their biases.

“I was released, I was freed, I was acquitted,” Knox said.

Eight years later, Knox has come to terms with the truth that nobody can take back what was done to her, what was said about her, and what she went through.

“It's not my choice to be the thing that people think of when they think of a young woman's rape and murder, and nobody remembers the actual rapist and murderer,” Knox said

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Amanda Knox shares story wrongful conviction Italy with Texas Tech law