The Cogne murder took a three-year-old’s life and convicted his mother. It's also the cultural watershed that taught Italian TV to turn a trial into theater.
The first time I watched a documentary about a crime in Italy , I couldn’t understand how much the media got involved and how the accused went on TV. In Ireland, no court event is televised. Journalists must stay outside the building and different court rules can be applied, like the name of the accused cannot sometimes be released. It’s jarring seeing what happens in Italy, a circus occurs. Do Italians themselves see a problem with it? Is there a backlash to the media?
There’s definitely criticism, but on the whole, people eat it up. That’s why it’s so successful. I’m afraid it does say something about our appetite for drama.
Antonio, could you explain why (to Anglo-Saxon eyes) the sentencing appears to be lenient? In England & Wales a sentence for a crime like this would likely be far longer but my understanding is that Italian sentencing is much much shorter for a variety of crimes.
Fair catch. It’s a combination of factors, some specific to this case, others institutional.
1. She went for the rito abbreviato, in which you trade a full trial for a speedy one before a single judge in exchange for a massive discount on your sentence if found guilty. Think of it as a generous plea deal without the need to plead guilty. This alone gave her 30 years instead of life in prison at the first trial.
2. She was convicted on circumstantial evidence, with no weapon, motive, or confession. The court also found her mental state to be an attenuante (a mitigating factor). She served part of her sentence under house arrest because she was considered not to be a threat to the community.
3. Italy takes a rehabilitative approach, so punishment is less of a focus in sentencing.
4. That, plus the fact that Italy has overcrowded prisons, means it offers two big discounts: one for good behavior (45 days for every 6 months served) and the indulto (more or less an across-the-board reduction for everyone). Franzoni benefited from both.
Italy doesn't use juries the way the US does. Serious cases go to a mixed court of professional and lay judges, and Cogne's first trial was the abbreviated version with a single judge. The media-bias worry is real, but less impactful than in the US or the Commonwealth.
The UK and its old empire: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and so on. They run jury trials the way the US does, and that's where media pressure matters most.
The first time I watched a documentary about a crime in Italy , I couldn’t understand how much the media got involved and how the accused went on TV. In Ireland, no court event is televised. Journalists must stay outside the building and different court rules can be applied, like the name of the accused cannot sometimes be released. It’s jarring seeing what happens in Italy, a circus occurs. Do Italians themselves see a problem with it? Is there a backlash to the media?
There’s definitely criticism, but on the whole, people eat it up. That’s why it’s so successful. I’m afraid it does say something about our appetite for drama.
Thankfully Ireland got out of the Commonwealth, I really can’t understand why the others haven’t but I suppose it’s up to them.
Antonio, could you explain why (to Anglo-Saxon eyes) the sentencing appears to be lenient? In England & Wales a sentence for a crime like this would likely be far longer but my understanding is that Italian sentencing is much much shorter for a variety of crimes.
Fair catch. It’s a combination of factors, some specific to this case, others institutional.
1. She went for the rito abbreviato, in which you trade a full trial for a speedy one before a single judge in exchange for a massive discount on your sentence if found guilty. Think of it as a generous plea deal without the need to plead guilty. This alone gave her 30 years instead of life in prison at the first trial.
2. She was convicted on circumstantial evidence, with no weapon, motive, or confession. The court also found her mental state to be an attenuante (a mitigating factor). She served part of her sentence under house arrest because she was considered not to be a threat to the community.
3. Italy takes a rehabilitative approach, so punishment is less of a focus in sentencing.
4. That, plus the fact that Italy has overcrowded prisons, means it offers two big discounts: one for good behavior (45 days for every 6 months served) and the indulto (more or less an across-the-board reduction for everyone). Franzoni benefited from both.
Jury biases must be hugely impacted by this spettacolo phenomenon
Italy doesn't use juries the way the US does. Serious cases go to a mixed court of professional and lay judges, and Cogne's first trial was the abbreviated version with a single judge. The media-bias worry is real, but less impactful than in the US or the Commonwealth.
What commonwealth?
The UK and its old empire: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and so on. They run jury trials the way the US does, and that's where media pressure matters most.