Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Manslaughter |
Sentence: |
6 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
2009 |
Year Convicted: |
2012 |
Year Cleared: |
2014 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Italy |
County or Region of Crime: |
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City of Crime: |
L'Aquila |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Franco Barberi, Enzo Boschi, Gian Michele Calvi, Bernardo De Bernardinis, Mauro Dolce, Claudio Eva, and Giulio Selvaggi were seven Italian scientists and co-defendants wrongly convicted on October 21, 2012 of multiple counts of manslaughter and bodily harm for failing to predict an earthquake that devastated the medieval town of L'Aquila in 2009, killing 309 people. The seven defendants were all members of the National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks. They were accused of having provided "inaccurate, incomplete and contradictory" information about the danger of the tremors felt ahead of the April 6, 2009 earthquake. Their trial began in September 2011, and they were convicted in October 2012 Each of the seven was sentenced to six years in prison, and they were jointly ordered to pay damages of 7.8 million (Euros) to families of earthquake victims. Following the guilty verdicts, more than 5,000 scientists support the convicted experts by signing an open letter to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano that their convictions represented a fundamental misunderstanding of earthquake science. The defendants appealed and on November 10, 2014 Judge Fabrizia Ida Francabandera vacated their convictions, ruling there was no case for the defendants to answer." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On November 10, 2014 Judge Fabrizia Ida Francabandera vacated their convictions, ruling there was no case for the defendants to answer." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
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Information Source 1: |
"L'Aquila quake: Scientists see convictions overturned, By Staff writers, BBC News, November 10, 2014" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29996872 |
Information Source 2: |
"L'Aquila quake: Italy scientists guilty of manslaughter, By Staff writers, BBC News, October 22, 2012" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-20025626 |
Information Source 3: |
"Italian Scientists Jailed for Failing to Predict LAquila Earthquake, By Umberto Bacchi (Staff writer), International Business Times, October 22, 2012" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/scientists-jailed-italy-earthquake-l-aquila-396955 |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org