Amanda Knox was convicted of the murder of Meredith Kercher, a British exchange student, in 2007. She was sentenced to 26 and 25 years in prison for her involvement in the murder. In 2015, Italy's highest court definitively exonerated Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito. Knox's conviction for committing defamation against her employer, Patrick Lumumba, was upheld by all courts. On January 14, 2016, Knox was acquitted of defamation for saying she was struck by policewomen during the interrogation.