This was a positive hearing, particularly for the plaintiffs. All requests
made to join the criminal proceedings as co-plaintiffs were accepted. The
panel of judges dismissed defendant objections to civil liability, meaning the
defendants will be tried on civil claims as well as criminal charges. A
request to drop charges against one of the top officials in charge, Salvatore
Gava, was dismissed. The panel did not accept a claim from the plaintiff team
asking that proceedings against Bernardini, separated after the police
official was in a traffic accident last year, be rejoined with the present
action. The next hearing is on July 15. This session will draw up the
timetable for future hearings in the trial, which, as of September, should
start seeing some real developments.