Giuliano Mignini

Giuliano Mignini (born 1950)^[3] is a public prosecutor in Perugia, Italy, who came to widespread public attention for his role in investigating the murder of Meredith Kercher in November 2007, and for his subsequent prosecution for murder of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, whose convictions were overturned in October 2011.^[4] After the case was committed to a new prosecutor, Alessandro Crini, Italian Supreme Court overturned their acquitment; subsequent retrial brought to a new conviction.

He is also known for his involvement as the prosecutor in the investigation of the death of Dr. Francesco Narducci, who was discovered drowned in 1985, which Mignini alleged was connected to the Monster of Florence case and the resulting prosecution of a number of individuals. Mignini alleged that those prosecuted were members of a masonic or secret society.

Education and career

Mignini obtained his law degree from the University of Perugia. He passed the magistrate's examination in 1979, and worked for one year in Volterra, where he served as investigator and prosecutor, before returning to Perugia.^[3] As of 2011, he serves there as a substitute prosecutor (sostituto procuratore).^[5][6]

Role of prosecutors in Italy

The role of prosecutors in Italy is very different from common law jurisdictions^[7] and is unique in Europe.^[8] Italian prosecutors are members of the judiciary,^[9] are appointed for life and, despite their different titles, do not operate within a hierarchy. However, unlike in many other jurisdictions, Italian prosecutors have no discretionary power and must investigate crimes they are made aware of and prosecute where there is sufficient evidence that a crime has been committed.^[10] Prosecutors may either direct investigations themselves or through the police. The police may also operate their own separate investigations as they serve the Executive through the Minister of the Interior, not the judiciary. Once initial evidence has been collected by the prosecutor and the police, a report is submitted to a judge who decides whether there is sufficient evidence to charge the indicted person or whether the case is to be dismissed. If the judge rules that there is sufficient evidence, the prosecutor must bring the case to trial. At trial Italian prosecutors operate in an adversarial system similar to common law jurisdictions.^[10]

Notable cases

Monster of Florence

A series of murders that took place around Florence, Italy between 1968 and 1985 were known as the Monster of Florence murders. At different points in time, four different people were tried and convicted for the crimes (and subsequently released in most cases). Newspaper critics have expressed the view that the true killer (or killers) have never been identified by the police.^[11]

Dr. Francesco Narducci's body was recovered from Lake Trasimeno near Perugia, Italy, in 1985 and was initially determined to be a drowning.^[12][13] His body was discovered a month after the final double-murder linked to the Monster of Florence. Police and prosecutors initially investigated Narducci's death as connected to the murders after a number of anonymous letters were received, but police were unable to find evidence of a connection.^[14][15] In the summer of 2001, police wiretaps recorded a conversation threatening a woman that if she did not pay what was owed she would end up like Narducci.^[14][15] Subsequent threatening phone calls to the same woman referred to the "murder of Pacciani" (one of the suspects in the Monster of Florence Case who was found dead in suspicious circumstances^[16]) and said that both had been killed by members of a secret society for betraying them.^[17] In early 2002, Mignini had Narducci's body exhumed and examined. Mignini believed that the body was not decomposed enough to be Narducci's. A medical examination determined that the body was in fact Narducci's. Mignini then theorised that the body had been swapped twice.^[14] Mignini alleged that Narducci had been involved in a secret society and killed to keep quiet and that his father, Ugo Narducci, a member of a masonic lodge, had masterminded the cover up.^[18][19] Mignini's theory involved a complicated conspiracy of 20 people, including government officials and law enforcement officers. Mignini indicted 20 people and charged them with the concealment of Narducci's murder. The charges were eventually dismissed.^[20] Narducci's family and colleagues believe that his death was a suicide.^[18]

In April 2006 Mignini had Italian journalist Mario Spezi arrested for complicity in the homicides of the Monster of Florence case and interfering with an investigation. Spezi was held for 23 days, 5 without a lawyer.^[21]

On 22 March 2013 the Third Circuit Court of Cassation (Supreme Court of Italy) ruled that the main case related to criminal conduct "did not exist", and that Francesco Narducci died by suicide.^[22] In sustaining the lower court acquittals, the Court of Cassation also sent back for re-trial some of the parallel slander charges.

Allegations of abuse of office

In 2006, Mignini was charged with abuse of office for allegedly ordering the illegal wiretapping of the phones of various police officers and journalists involved in the Monster of Florence case.^[21] In January 2010, a Florence court found him guilty of exceeding the powers of his office but acquitted of the remaining charges.^[5] He was given a 16-month suspended sentence. Mignini appealed the conviction, saying "My conscience is clear, I know I did nothing wrong." ^[23] He remained in office through the appeal process, as Italian law does not consider convictions final until all appeals are exhausted.^[24][25] In November 2011, the Court of Appeal in Florence overturned Mignini's conviction for lack of jurisdiction and referred the case to the prosecutor in Turin to decide whether to re-file the charges.^[26] According to Rome-based journalist and author Barbie Latza Nadeau, even if Mignini were convicted, offenses such as this are rarely grounds for removing a prosecutor from office.^[27]

Murder of Meredith Kercher

Meredith Kercher was a young woman murdered in Perugia on 1 November 2007. Mignini was lead prosecutor and directed the investigation of the case.^[4][28]

At the preliminary hearing stage, as he demanded the indictment of Knox and Sollecito, Mignini put forward a scenario involving premeditation and called the violence a "rite", a "sacrifice", and described as a ritualistic orgy. Albeit some sources in English reported the prosecution as putting forward a theory of Satanism as a motive for the murder ,^[29][30] in fact Italian sources quote the prosecution as explicitly denying any connection with Exoterism or Satanism,^[31] while Mignini saying the "rite" was "home-made" and that "Meredith was killed for having refused a sexual rite".^[32] The prosecution also defined the premeditated game a "sacrifice".^[33] Mignini denied ever saying that Kercher was the victim of a "satanic rite".^[34] Later, on closing arguments of the 2009 trial Mignini did not put forward a premeditation theory and did not emphasize the sexual violence and ritualism (as well as the words "rite" and "sacrifice") disappeared from the prosecution's scenario, and instead Mignini pointed to personal grudges between Knox and Kercher and alleged a possible intent by Knox to "subdue" Meredith as the main motive and triggering factor for the violence.^[35] In both phases, preliminary hearing and trial, the prosecution hypothesised that Kercher's murder involved a kind of "sex game" gone wrong^[36] and that the victim had refused to participate in an orgy.^[37] The same scenario was also mentioned at the early investigation stage in a public comment by the minster of interior Giuliano Amato, who described it as "an ugly case where people living together with this girl attempted to coerce her in doing things she refused to do".^[38] Only during the trial phase Mignini stressed that Knox was motivated by "jealousy".^[33] According to Mignini's defenders, several conclusions regarding the Murder of Meredith Kercher have been validated overall by pre-trial, trial and appeal judges, including Rudy Guede's appeal trial, which concluded that Rudy Guede was not the sole perpetrator of the murder though neither prosecution nor defence contested that others were present.^[39]

On 19 April 2011 the Committee to Protect Journalists sent a letter to Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Italian Republic, complaining about abuse of journalists by Mignini, including Spezi and Perugia blogger Frank Sfarzo, who had been writing a blog about the Murder of Meredith Kercher case.^[40]

CNN correspondent Drew Griffin interviewed Mignini for the show CNN Presents: Murder Abroad: The Case of Amanda Knox, in May 2011.^[41]

Shortly before the acquittal of Amanda Knox for murder, Mignini told a reporter from the British newspaper, The Guardian,^[39] "I have felt under attack ever since I investigated Narducci. It all started there."^[39] He further suggested that the trial for abuse of power, which has now been moved to Turin due to jurisdictional issues, was related to persecution for his role in the Monster of Florence case^[39] and blamed American author Douglas Preston, co-author with Spezi of a book about the case, of masterminding a U.S. press campaign against him over the Knox case.^[39] In summing up the Knox appeal he said "our judicial system has been subjected to a systematic denigration by a well-organised operation of a journalistic and political nature".^[39]

Preston has criticized the conduct of Mignini^[42] in the trial. In April 2009, Preston appeared in a segment of 48 Hours on CBS, in which he argued that the case against Knox was "based on lies, superstition, and crazy conspiracy theories".^[43] In December 2009, after the verdict had been announced, he appeared on Anderson Cooper 360° on CNN and described his own interrogation by Mignini.^[44]

Knox and Sollecito's case was then committed to another prosecutor, Alessandro Crini, who requested and obtained the convictions in their retrial.^[45]

Satellite prosecutions initiated by Mignini

In February 2013 Mignini launched a defamation suit against Raffaele Sollecito, for allegations in Sollecito's book, "Honor Bound", that secret negotiations happened behind the scenes to be lenient on Sollecito in exchange for testimony against Amanda Knox.^[46]

Mignini has filed several calumnia charges, (defamation), including against Amanda Knox's parents, Curt Knox and Edda Mellas^[47] and the West Seattle Herald.^[48]

Brigitta Bulgari

In June 2010 Mignini was the prosecutor involved in the case of porn star Brigitta Bulgari who was arrested and held for 11 days after being charged with child pornography; this followed the surfacing of mobile phone video showing 15-year-old boys touching her in her private parts while she performed as a stripper in an Umbria night club.^[49][50][51] The charges brought against her come with a prison sentence of 6–10 years.^[49] Bulgari was acquitted in October 2011 and stated that she was "just trying to make a living" and that she "felt like Amanda Knox", pointing out that their two cases involved the same prosecutor.^[50] She also said that she would seek monetary damages against Mignini for "muddying her name" and planned to write a book about her experiences after arrest^[50] and that she was giving up her work as a porn actress to become a DJ.^[49]

References