Five years in prison. This is the sentence requested by prosecutor Erica Angioni, in court today in Sassari, against Maria Franca Lupino, former director of the "Noli me tollere" residential community in Sorso. She is charged with manslaughter, a charge stemming from the death of Rosalba Scognamillo, 82, who died in June 2020 following a fall in the very same facility where she had been staying for a few days.
According to the deputy prosecutor, Lupino is responsible for several reasons, starting with the fact that the residential community could not accommodate dependent individuals like the elderly woman, who suffers from dementia and conditions that impaired her ability to maintain physical balance. Despite being aware, according to the magistrate, of the woman's problems, the director failed to provide the necessary protective measures for her. Scognamillo thus fell from her wheelchair in the common room, where she was alone, and developed a trauma that, four days later, on June 17, five years ago, would result in her death from acute encephalopathy, later diagnosed by the medical examiner.
Angioni claims that Lupino, despite evidence of the elderly woman's trauma, failed to alert 118, the emergency medical service, or her GP, thus preventing medical intervention that could have helped the resident. In her over an hour and a half long speech, the deputy prosecutor recounted the testimony of staff who worked at the "Noli me tollere" facility at the time. One of them, in particular, recalled how Scognamillo, who had previously often appeared agitated because she had trouble tolerating her stay in the facility, became unresponsive to any stimuli shortly before her death and after her fall, a finding Lupino justified with the sedation. In outlining the context of the facility, the prosecutor then focused on the testimony of a former employee, who had reported in court about alleged violence against residents, who, in addition to being beaten, were allegedly washed with bleach. While ruling out possible intent, the deputy prosecutor concluded by accusing the defendant of failing to address the 82-year-old's condition either before or after the fall, ultimately believing that Lupino should not rely on any mitigating circumstances.
Marco Manca, the plaintiff's lawyer, requested a conviction, in accordance with the prosecutor's conclusions, requesting compensation for damages and a provisional sum of €20,000. Gianmario Fois, the defense lawyer, countered the accusations, arguing that the responsibility for the incident lies, in his opinion, with the woman's GP. Despite repeated requests, Fois reports, the doctor failed to show up at the Noli me tollere facility, only appearing after his patient was already dead. Furthermore, the lawyer continues, the woman's anticoagulants prevented the severity of the incident from being revealed, even on her face, where only a small bruise was visible. "Lupino took the woman into the residential facility to help her," he concludes. "There was no room anywhere, especially in the residential care facility, since Scognamillo could not financially afford a suitable facility." Judge Silvia Masala adjourned the case until January for further proceedings and a possible ruling.