Cospito case, for the Consulta "illegitimate the prohibition of extenuating circumstances"

The fourth paragraph of Article 69 of the Penal Code is constitutionally illegitimate in so far as it prohibits the judge from considering any mitigating circumstances as prevailing over the aggravating circumstance of recidivism in cases where the crime is punished with the penalty of life imprisonment. This was decided by the Constitutional Court which, in today's council chamber, examined the question raised by the Assize Court of Appeal of Turin in the context of the proceedings that sees Alfredo Cospito accused of the crime of massacre (Article 285 of the Italian Civil Code) in relation to the devices exploded in 2006 near the Carabinieri School of Fossano. The decision, reads a note from Palazzo della Consulta, is "in continuity with the numerous and compliant precedents on the censored provision", with the possible prevalence of the mitigating factor of the slight entity of the fact. Cospito could therefore face a sentence of between 20 and 24 years in prison and no longer life imprisonment.

According to the Court, "the fixed nature of the life sentence requires that the judge be able to strike the ordinary balance between aggravating and mitigating circumstances provided for by the first three paragraphs of the same art. 69. Consequently, the court will have to assess, on a case-by-case basis, whether to apply the penalty of life imprisonment or, where it considers that mitigating circumstances prevail, a different custodial sentence".

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Alfredo Cospito, 5 December 2022

Cospito's defender: "The fixed sentence was declared suspected of unconstitutionality"

"The fixed sentence was declared suspect of unconstitutionality because it does not allow to parameterize the penalty to the offense". It was one of the steps of the intervention before the Constitutional Court of Alfredo Cospito's defender, lawyer Flavio Rossi Albertini.

"I will speak tomorrow with Cospito," Cospito's lawyer said as he left Palazzo della Consulta before the decision. "I saw it last week: it hasn't eaten pasta, meat and fish for almost 180 days. We never thought he would arrive alive on April 18. He lost the ability to walk and came to 50 kg in weight."

"The recognition of mitigating circumstances for minor entity of the fact in relation to the crime of massacre for political purposes as alleged against Alfredo Cospito would lead to a vulnus because it could open the way to the recognition of the minor entity also for other crimes of abstract danger, such as the mafia association". This is the argument put forward by State Advocate General Paola Zerman, who, together with her colleague Ettore Figliolia, asked the Constitutional Court to declare the question raised by the Turin Assize Court of Appeal inadmissible and unfounded.