Asti, sensational gaffe of the court: the judge reads the sentence before hearing the thesis of the defense

The court had already decided. Eleven years, to be imposed on a father, accused of sexual violence against his son. And so, yesterday, when the court entered the courtroom, it pronounced the sentence. Too bad, however, that the defense had not yet been discussed. Astonishment, disbelief. And when the lawyer pointed out the fact, President Roberto Amerio tore up the sentence, and then decided to abstain. What happened yesterday in Asti, as denounced by the penal chamber of Piedmont, is a blatant gaffe."To the Court of Asti the incredible happened – explains the association of criminal lawyers chaired by Alberto De Sanctis – At the conclusion of a trial started to ascertain whether the crime of sexual violence alleged against parents against the minor child exists, the final discussion during which the public prosecutor, the defender of the civil party and the defender of one of the defendants take the floor. The discussion in defense of the other defendant is postponed to another date. abnormal paradox: the Court in collegial composition returns to the courtroom and instead of giving the floor to the defense for the planned discussion it remains standing and, in the name of the Italian people, reads the device of the sentence that condemns both defendants ". Frost fell in the courtroom, the prosecutor and the defenders were speechless.
"The lawyer who should have taken the floor in defense of his client (in that moment no longer accused pending trial but already sentenced, to be precise to eleven years of imprisonment) reports to the President the" anomaly ". that point the President "tears up" (materially) the sheet on which the device had just been written and invites the lawyer to conclude. In the face of the doubts expressed by the defender to illustrate and formulate his own conclusions to a Court that has already decided , the college retires to the council chamber and when it returns to the classroom declares to abstain ".The abstention of the Court seems to have been rejected. "These facts – commented the penal chamber of Piedmont – deserve a serious and in-depth study under various aspects (verbalization of the incident by the court clerk, conducts carried out during a public hearing attended by a public prosecutor , etc.) in the competent offices, but right now they give us a photo of the state of justice in our country: "timeless" justice was not enough: with the epochal reform of the institution of the statute of limitations, the Parliament from 1 January 2020 has decided that a sentence of acquittal or conviction can intervene for any type of crime when it wants, without any time limit from the fact .With the episode that happened at the Court of Asti, one can also experience justice "without a lawyer": abnormal manifestation of climate that daily winds in judicial circles, the desire to get rid of the useless lawyer "annoyance" annoying and slowing down the magistrate in the exercise of his power ".