Italy’s highest court on Thursday confirmed a slander conviction against U.S. defendant Amanda Knox for accusing an innocent man of murdering her British flatmate 17 years ago in a sensational case that polarized trial watchers on both sides of the Atlantic.

The 37-year-old was fighting to clear her name after being convicted of falsely accusing a Congolese bar owner of murdering her British roommate in 2007.

Italy's highest court on Thursday upheld the slander conviction of American defendant Amanda Knox in a case related to the sensationalized 2007 murder of her British roommate. Knox was convicted of slandering her former boss,