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Cultural expertise in mafia trials in Italian law courts

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Abstract

Since the 1980s, the Italian courts of law have made unprecedented strides in unravelling knowledge on the mafia during the mafia trials. This article delves into the special knowledge that emerged from three significant mafia trials in Italy: Cosa Nostra, Spartacus, and Aemilia. The trials not only provided a foundation for recognising various forms of organised crime but also shed light on the meticulous process of collecting and evaluating evidence and identifying the sources of this unprecedented knowledge. Whilst these three trials attracted the attention of the press and literary folklore, this article shifts the focus towards examining the often-undervalued significance of the expertise gained during these trials. It proposes an exploration of its potential in identifying distinct cultural expertise where multiple experts contribute to evidence assessment. To begin, the article explores how judges, prosecutors, and defence lawyers acquired their specialised knowledge regarding specific mafia associations, contemplating whether all can be deemed experts in this field. Subsequently, the article illustrates the application of this unique knowledge in exposing the legal responsibilities associated with mafia operations and addresses whether it can be classified as cultural expertise. Elaborating on the merits of appointing cultural experts in trials concerning mafia-type associations, the article concludes with reflections on the recognition of cultural expertise regarding mafia-type associations as a distinct form of cultural expertise that has emerged within the realm of Italian courts of law.

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Notes

  1. See Decree-Law No 8/1991 (converted by Law No 82/1991) (Italy) ‘New rules on kidnapping for the purpose of extortion and for the protection of witnesses of justice, as well as for the protection and punitive treatment of those who collaborate with justice’ regulates, for the first time, the collaboration of members of mafia-type associations with the Italian judicial system. In this article, I use the broader and more neutral English translation of ‘mafia informers’, as it refers to testimonies provided both in the investigative and judicial phases and is devoid of a moralistic or judgmental component, such as the expressions ‘pentito’, ‘turncoat’, ‘defector’ or ‘supergrass’.

  2. Giuseppe Ayala, Chi ha paura muore ogni giorno: i miei anni con Falcone e Borsellino (Mondadori 2008); Pietro Grasso, Storie di sangue, amici e fantasmi. Ricordi di mafia (Feltrinelli 2017); Raffaello Magi, Dentro la giustizia (L’Ancora del Mediterraneo 2011); Giuseppe Pignatone and Michele Prestipino, Modelli criminali: mafie di ieri e di oggi (Laterza 2019).

  3. Francis AJ Ianni and Elizabeth Reuss-Ianni, A Family Business: Kinship and Social Control in Organized Crime (Russell Sage Foundation 1972); Nando Dalla Chiesa, Il potere mafioso: economia e ideologia (Mazzotta 1976).

  4. See ‘EURO-EXPERT (Cultural Expertise in Europe: What is it Useful for?), What Is Cultural Expertise?’ https://culturalexpertise.net. Accessed 12 March 2023; Livia Holden, Cultural Expertise and Socio-Legal Studies: Studies in Law, Politics, and Society (Emerald Insight 2019).

  5. Corte di Assise di Palermo, Sezione I, Sentenza n. 39/87 R.G., 16 Dicembre 1987; Corte di Assise di Appello di Palermo, Sezione I, Sentenza contro Abbate Giovanni + 386 n. 91/90, 10 Dicembre 1990; Corte Suprema di Cassazione, Sezione I Penale, Sentenza n. 80, 30 gennaio 1992 (n. 23501/91 R.G.).

  6. Corte di Assise di Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Sezione II, Sentenza n. 13/05 Reg. Sent., 15 Settembre 2005; Corte di Assise di Appello di Napoli, Sezione I, Sentenza n. 45/08 R.G., 26 Febbraio 2009; Corte Suprema di Cassazione, Sezione I Penale, Sentenza 55/2010, 15 Gennaio 2010.

  7. Tribunale/GIP di Bologna, Sentenza n. 797/15, 22 Aprile 2016, Rito Abbreviato; Corte d’Appello di Bologna, Sezione III Penale, Sentenza n. 577/2017 R.G., 12 Settembre 2017, Rito Abbreviato; Corte Suprema di Cassazione, Sezione V Penale, Sentenza n. 15041/2019, 24 Ottobre 2018, Rito Abbreviato; Tribunale di Reggio Emilia, Sentenza Abruzzese Palmina + Altri n. 555/2016 R.G., 31 Ottobre 2018, Rito Ordinario; Corte d’Appello di Bologna, Sezione II Penale, Sentenza Aiello Giuseppe + 117 n. 7692/19 R.G., 17 Dicembre 2020, Rito Ordinario; Corte Suprema di Cassazione, Sezione II Penale, Sentenza Aiello + 87 n. 39774/22, 7 Maggio 2022, Rito Ordinario.

  8. Anton Blok, The Mafia of a Sicilian Village 1860–1960: A Study of Violent Peasant Entrepreneurs (Harper and Row 1975); Gaetano Falzone, Storia della mafia (Pan 1975); Giovanni Fiandaca and Costantino Visconti (eds), Scenari di mafia: Orizzonte criminologico e innovazioni normative (G Giappichelli Editore 2010); Henner Hess, Mafia (Laterza 1973); Salvatore Lupo, Storia della mafia: dalle origini ai nostri giorni (Donzelli 1993); Rocco Sciarrone, Mafie vecchie, mafie nuove: radicamento ed espansione (Donzelli 2009).

  9. The trial at first instance was attended by 460 defendants and around 200 defence lawyers took place from 14 February 1986 to 11 December 1987, the day of the sentence (Presiding Judge: Alfonso Giordano). The appeal trial took place from 20 February 1989 to 10 December 1990 (Presiding Judge: Vincenzo Palmegiano). The sentence of the Court of Cassation was delivered on 30 January 1992 (Presiding Judge: Arnaldo Valente).

  10. The rule was introduced by Article 1 of Law 646/1982, known as the ‘Rognoni-La Torre Law’.

  11. Antonio Cavaliere, Il concorso eventuale nel reato associativo: Le ipotesi delle associazioni per delinquere e di tipo mafioso (Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane 2003); Gabriele Fornasari and Silvio Riondato (eds), Reati contro l’ordine pubblico (G Giappichelli Editore 2017); Enrico Mezzetti and Luca Lupària Donati, La legislazione antimafia (Zanichelli 2020); Bartolomeo Romano (ed), Le associazioni di tipo mafioso (UTET 2015); Giuseppe Spagnolo, L’associazione di tipo mafioso (Cedam 1987); Giuliano Turone, Il delitto di associazione mafiosa (Giuffrè 1995).

  12. The trial of Cosa Nostra brought to light the ‘pentitismo’ (the phenomenon of mafia defectors), or ‘dissociation’, as it was defined by Giovanni Falcone (and Marcelle Padovani) in Cose di Cosa Nostra (Rizzoli 1991). See also Gianna Ayala and Matthew Fitzjohn, ‘The Archeology of the Mafia: A Material Investigation of Extortion, Justice and Reprisal in Palermo, Sicily (1982–2012)’ (2013) 45(5) World Archeology 816; Giovanni Tinebra, Roberto Alfonso, and Alessandro Centonze, Fenomenologia del maxiprocesso: venti anni di esperienze (Giuffrè 2011).

  13. Pino Arlacchi, Addio Cosa Nostra: la vita di Tommaso Buscetta (Rizzoli 1994); Tim Shawcross and Martin Young, Men of Honour: The Confessions of Tommaso Buscetta (Collins 1987).

  14. Corte di Assise di Palermo, Sezione I, Sentenza n. 39/87 R.G., 16 Dicembre 1987 [769].

  15. Corte di Assise di Palermo, Sentenza 16 Dicembre 1987 [940].

  16. Alessandra Dino, Mutazioni: Etnografia del mondo di Cosa Nostra (La Zisa 2002); Diego Gambetta, La mafia siciliana: un’industria della protezione privata (Einaudi 1992); Jane Schneider and Peter Schneider, Reversible Destiny: Mafia, Antimafia and the Struggle for Palermo (University of California Press 2003); Jane Schneider and Peter Schneider, ‘Mafia, Antimafia, and the Plural Cultures of Sicily’ (2005) 46(4) Current Anthropology 501.

  17. Corte di Assise di Palermo [3671].

  18. ibid [755].

  19. Corte di Assise di Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Sezione II, Sentenza n. 13/05 Reg. Sent., 15 Settembre 2005 [78]. In the Spartacus trial, 1,300 people were investigated, there were 626 hearings, 508 witnesses (24 of whom were camorra informers) and 90 binders of Court documents were acquired. In addition, the original investigation generated dozens of parallel trials.

  20. Francesco Barbagallo (ed), Camorra e criminalità organizzata in Campania (Liguori 1988); Gigi Di Fiore, La camorra e le sue storie: La criminalità organizzata a Napoli dalle origini alle paranze dei bimbi (Utet 2016); Isaia Sales, La camorra, le camorre (Editori Riuniti 1988).

  21. Corte di Assise di Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Sezione II, Sentenza n. 13/05 Reg. Sentenza, 15 Settembre 2005 [513].

  22. ibid [503].

  23. Anna Ziliotto, ‘Cultural Expertise in Italian Criminal Justice: From Criminal Anthropology to Anthropological Expert Witnessing’ (2019) 8(2) Laws 13; Anna Ziliotto, ‘Lavorare con le competenze culturali: L’antropologia nei tribunali penali italiani’ in Ivan Severi and Federica Tarabusi (eds), I metodi puri impazziscono: Strumenti dell’antropologia e pratiche dell’etnografia al lavoro (Licosia 2019) 203.

  24. In the ascertainment procedure, the Court must establish the existence or otherwise of an adequate combination between the accusatory narration provided by the declarant, the elements capable of ‘enhancing’ their cognitive contribution and the criminal fact itself. See Corte di Assise di Santa Maria di Capua Vetere, 15 Settembre 2005 [471].

  25. The Court was interested in the statements of Tommaso Buscetta, now deceased, because he testified about the relations between Antonio Bardellino, a member of the Nuvoletta Clan, and Cosa Nostra. Bardellino, together with Lorenzo Nuvoletta and Michele Zazza, was considered a member of Cosa Nostra, as declared by Buscetta during the Sicilian trial.

  26. Corte di Assise di Santa Maria di Capua Vetere, 15 Settembre 2005 [355].

  27. On 13 December 1990, Francesco Schiavone called a meeting in Casal di Principe to eliminate his rival, Vincenzo De Falco. On that occasion, the law enforcement raided and arrested Francesco Schiavone and Francesco Bidognetti on charges of illegal possession of weapons and mafia-type association. This arrest is known as the ‘Santa Lucia blitz’. However, in March 1991, the Court of Cassation annulled the pre-trial detention order on the Camorra-type association charge and the defendants were acquitted. Rosaria Capacchione, L’oro Della Camorra (BUR Rizzoli 2008).

  28. ibid.

  29. Roberto Saviano, Gomorra: Viaggio nell’impero economico e nel sogno di dominio della camorra (Mondadori 2006).

  30. Santonastaso reiterated that he wrote the petition on his own initiative and was only blamed by the other two defendants. The Fourth Criminal Section of Rome sentenced Bidognetti to one year and a half of imprisonment and Santonastaso to one year and two months. Carmine D’Aniello, Iovine’s lawyer, was acquitted for not having committed the act. See ‘Camorra, minacce a Saviano e Capacchione: due condanne a Roma’ (ANSAit Cronaca, 24 May 2021). https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/cronaca/2021/05/24/camorraminacce-a-saviano-e-capacchione-due-condanne-a-roma-2_140bc8b6-24bf-4fd9-a10a-bfc3ad6f0f1d.html. Accessed 9 November 2022.

  31. Noora Arajärvi and Livia Holden, ‘Policymaking for Cultural Expertise’ (EURO-EXPERT, 2022). https://culturalexpertise.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/EURO-EXPERTLongPolicyonCulturalExpertise.pdf. Accessed 9 November 2022.

  32. The Aemilia trial originated from the investigation conventionally called Aemilia (coordinated by the DDA Anti-Mafia District Directorate) of Bologna. It was divided into two sections: the trial with ‘abbreviated procedure’, which involved 71 defendants in the first instance, and the trial with ‘ordinary procedure’, which involved 148 defendants in the first instance. The Aemilia trial has in turn generated numerous investigations and trials.

  33. Federica Cabras, ‘Nuovi territori di ‘ndrangheta. Il caso di Reggio Emilia’ (2017) 3(4) Cross 30.

  34. The statements of the ‘Ndrangheta informers in the Aemilia investigation were of secondary importance. They were discussed by the investigators at an advanced stage of the investigation and there was almost no evidence of crime gathered from informers’ statements.

  35. Alberto Alessandri (ed), Espansione della criminalità organizzata nell’attività d’impresa al Nord (G Giappichelli 2017); Pino Arlacchi, La mafia imprenditrice: Dalla Calabria al centro dell’inferno (Il Saggiatore 2007); Stefano Becucci and Monica Massari (eds), Mafie nostre, mafie loro: criminalità organizzata italiana e straniera nel Centro-Nord (Edizioni di Comunità 2001); Nando Dalla Chiesa, Passaggio a Nord: la colonizzazione mafiosa (Edizioni Gruppo Abele 2016); Letizia Paoli, Fratelli di mafia: Cosa Nostra e ‘Ndrangheta (il Mulino 2000); Stefania Pellegrini, L’impresa grigia. Le infiltrazioni mafiose nell’economia legale: Un’indagine sociologico-giuridica (Saggi Ediesse 2018); Rocco Sciarrone (ed), Mafie del Nord, Strategie criminali e contesti locali (Donzelli 2014); Federico Varese, Mafie in movimento: Come il crimine organizzato conquista nuovi territori (Einaudi 2011).

  36. Nicola Gratteri and Antonio Nicaso, Fratelli di sanguez: Storie, boss e affari della ‘ndrangheta, la mafia più potente del mondo (Mondadori 2010).

  37. Tribunale/GIP di Bologna, Sentenza n. 797/15, 22 Aprile 2016 [173].

  38. Giovanna Amato, ‘Mafie etniche, elaborazione e applicazione delle massime di esperienza: le criticità derivanti dall’interazione tra ‘diritto penale giurisprudenziale’ e legalità’ (2015) 1 Diritto Penale Contemporaneo 266.

  39. Salvatore Aleo, Sistema penale e criminalità organizzata. Le figure delittuose associative (Giuffrè 2009); Fiandaca and Visconti (eds), ‘Scenari di mafia’ (n 8); Gabriele Fornasari (ed), Le strategie di contrasto alla criminalità organizzata nella prospettiva di diritto comparato (Cedam 2002); Gaetano Insolera and Tommaso Guerini, Diritto penale e criminalità organizzata (Giappichelli 2022); Sergio Moccia (ed), Criminalità organizzata e risposte ordinamentali: Tra efficienza e garanzia (Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane 1999); Bartolomeo Romano and Giovanni Tinebra (eds), Il diritto penale della criminalità organizzata (Milano: Giuffrè 2013); Anna Sergi, From Mafia to Organised Crime: A Comparative Analysis of Policing Models (Palgrave MacMillan 2017); Costantino Visconti, Contiguità alla mafia e responsabilità penale (G Giappichelli Editore 2003).

  40. Antonello Ciccozzi and Giorgia Decarli, ‘Cultural Expertise in Italian Courts: Contexts, Cases, and Issues’ (2019) 78 Studies in Law, Politics, and Society 35; Mario Ricca, ‘Diritto interculturale e prospettive di sviluppo per le professioni legali: Nuove opportunità per la formazione di giuristi e la consulenza legale’ (2015) Calumet – Intercultural Law and Humanities Review; Ilenia Ruggiu, ‘Test e argomenti culturali nella giurisprudenza italiana e comparata’ (2010) 30(3) Quaderni costituzionali 531; Laura Scudieri, ‘Dalla Cultural Defense al “test culturale”: luci e (soprattutto) ombre del dibattito italiano’ (2018) 1 Sociologia del diritto 125.

  41. Cfr. Sonia Alfano and Adriano Varrica (eds), Per un contrasto europeo al crimine organizzato e alle mafie: La risoluzione del Parlamento Europeo e l’impegno dell’Unione Europea (FrancoAngeli 2012); Fabio Armao, Il sistema mafia: Dall’economia-mondo al dominio locale (Bollati Boringhieri 2000); Vincenzo Patalano, Nuove strategie per la lotta al crimine organizzato transnazionale (G Giappichelli 2003); Fornasari (ed), Le strategie di contrasto alla criminalità organizzata nella prospettiva di diritto comparato (n 39); Marco Santoro, Riconoscere le mafie: cosa sono, come funzionano, come si muovono (Società editrice il Mulino 2015).

  42. Marco Jacquemet, Credibility in Court: Communicative Practices in the Camorra Trials (Cambridge University Press 1996).

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    Anna Ziliotto

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Ziliotto, A. Cultural expertise in mafia trials in Italian law courts. Jindal Global Law Review 14, 259–275 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41020-023-00204-0

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