The judges are in chambers, and the verdict is expected this evening—no earlier than 6:30 PM—in the alleged gang rape in Porto Cervo, of which Ciro Grillo and three peers, Edoardo Capitta, Francesco Corsiglia, and Vittorio Lauria, are accused.
Today in the Tempio Tribunal, the defense team spoke for approximately four hours: criminal lawyers Alessandro Vaccaro, Antonella Cuccureddu, and Mariano Mameli. Attorney Antonella Cuccureddu insisted on her right to return her arguments on the central issues of the trial. There were moments of tension with the plaintiff, Giulia Bongiorno.
Criminal lawyer Mariano Mameli asked the judges to assess the case as legal experts, therefore, on a purely criminal, not moral, level. According to Mameli, the charges are inconsistent and contradictory, and the victim is unreliable and lying. "The moral judgment is not up to you," he told the judges. "It is up to you to ascertain the truth of the case."
Representatives of the Prospettiva Donna Association of Olbia entered the room.
Prosecutor Gregorio Capasso has requested a nine-year prison sentence for the four defendants.
"The girl isn't physically here, because I strongly advised against it, but it's as if she were here," said lawyer Giulia Bongiorno, representing the Italian-Norwegian student who was the victim of the alleged gang rape that occurred on the Costa Smeralda in July 2019. "What do I expect from the sentence? I want to believe in justice, I want to believe that what my client said will be confirmed by the sentence," she added.