Italy court to rule on Americans' verdict appeal

Описание: (15 Mar 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rome - 15 March 2023
1. Various of Leah Lynn Elder and Ethan Elder, mother and father of Finnegan Lee Elder; Heidi Hjorth, mother of Gabriel Natale Hjorth, and their lawyers greeting each other
2. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Roberto Capra, lawyer of Finnegan Lee Elder:
“We believe that the appeal verdict deserves a revision because there are too many flaws in the reconstruction of the night's events. That’s why we are here. We expect the verdict to be overturned and to have a new one.”
3. Close-up of wife of killed policeman Cerciello Rega, Rosa Maria Esilio, and her lawyer, Massimo Ferradino
4. Esilio entering court
5. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Massimo Ferradino, lawyer of Cerciello Rega’s wife:
“We hope that our fulfilment will be confirmed by the cassation court. Thank you.”
6. Various of people entering the court
7. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Renato Borzone, lawyer of Finnegan Lee Elder:
“If what happened that night remains unclear, no justice can be done. We hope that the court realises that the fact that Varriale (friend of Cerciello) lied about having shown his Carabinieri officer’s badges together with his colleague proves that the case deserves more investigations in order to know what really happened."
8. Borzone hugging colleague
9. People walking up court steps
10. Court sign reading (Italian) “Corte di cassazione” (Court of Cassation)
11. Statue next to Court building
12. Wide of court building
STORYLINE:
An Italian court on Wednesday was set to rule on the verdict appeal of two young American men convicted of murdering a police officer in Rome.

Carabinieri Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega, who had just returned from his honeymoon, was hailed as a national hero after he was stabbed 11 times in the street while on a plainclothes mission in July 2019, near the hotel where the two US tourists were staying.

Finnegan Lee Elder, now 22, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, now 21, were convicted in May 2021 of slaying the 35-year-old officer, as well as of attempted extortion, resisting a public official and carrying an attack-style knife without just cause.

The two young men, who had been friends back home in California, were given Italy’s harshest punishment — life imprisonment — and therefore essentially have nothing to lose in seeking the appeals trial.

AP Video by Gianfranco Stara

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