Related Proceedings
In Knox and Sollecito's first trial, the two were ordered to pay a sum of €1,000,000 to each of Kercher's parents and €800,000 to each of her three siblings. Knox was also ordered to pay Patrick Lumumba, €10,000 in damages as a result of her conviction for calunnia, and €40,000 compensation for his legal expenses. The decision was upheld by the appeals court in October 2011, which sentenced Knox to three years' imprisonment, already served, and ordered her to pay a further €22,000. Lumumba also pursued compensation from the Italian authorities for unjust imprisonment and loss of business; in December 2009 a court awarded him €8,000 in damages. In February 2010 he announced that he would be taking his claim for compensation from the Italian authorities to the European Court of Human Rights.
In March 2010, Knox won a civil case against Fiorenza Sarzanini, author of a book about the Kercher case, Amanda e gli altri (Amanda and the Others), and her publisher for violation of her privacy and illegal publication of court documents. The book contained long excerpts from Knox's diary, as well as from witness interviews that were not in the public domain, and intimate details professing to be about Knox's sex life. Knox was awarded €40,000 in damages.
Following Knox's statements that she was slapped by police during questioning about the murder, another case for calunnia was opened against her on 1 June 2010 for falsely implicating police. Knox has stated she was hit and put under pressure by police when she was questioned in the aftermath of Kercher's 1 November 2007, slaying. She said police repeatedly called her a "stupid liar". Police denied misconduct and filed charges saying Knox's comments were slanderous. The trial was adjourned until 15 November 2011. According Italian Penal Code, for this crime she can be imprisoned from two to six years.
In February 2011, Knox's parents, Curt Knox and Edda Mellas, were indicted on charges of criminal slander as a result of an interview published by The Sunday Times in 2009, in which they said their daughter "had not been given an interpreter, had not received food and water, and had been physically and verbally abused" by police officers after her arrest. They sought to have the charges dismissed on the grounds that there was no intent. On 4 July 2011, Judge Paolo Micheli resigned from the case, citing his involvement in the trial of Knox and Sollecito. Knox's parents' trial was adjourned until 24 January 2012. In February 2012, the prosecution filed an appeal against the acquittal of Knox and Sollecito.
Read more about this topic: Murder Of Meredith Kercher
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