Italy appeals court upholds conviction of 2 Americans in death of Rome officer but reduces sentences
ROME, Italy (KGO) -- An Italian appeals court on Wednesday upheld the convictions of two Bay Area men in the slaying of an Italian plainclothes police officer during a botched sting operation but reduced their sentences. The new trial was ordered after Italy's highest court threw out their original convictions.
Italy's highest court just reduced Finnegan Elder's sentence for killing a police officer in Rome to 15 years, two months. The judges apparently agreed with the defense argument that he did not know that the plainclothes officers who confronted the young men were, in fact, police.
Gabriel Natale Hjorth had his sentences reduced to 11 years, two months. He was able break free from one officer, while Elder was pinned on his back until he stabbed the other officer 11 times.
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The Associated Press reported from Rome that lawyer Francesco Petrelli, who represented Natale-Hjorth, said the appeals court clearly recognized that there was a different level of participation by his client.
"There was a reduction, mainly of the responsibility," he said, adding that "there was a shift from intentional malice to negligence."
The defendants get credit for the five years they've already served in prison and could get more time off for good behavior.
They initially received life sentences.
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They were found guilty in the July 2019 slaying of Carabinieri Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega. Prosecutors had asked that Finnegan be sentenced to 23 years and nine months and 23 years for Natale-Hjorth. Cerciello Rega was stabbed 11 times with a knife brought from the hotel room.
Italy's highest Cassation Court ordered a new trial last year, saying it hadn't been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants, with limited Italian language skills, had understood that they were dealing with Italian police officers when they went to meet an alleged drug dealer in Rome.
The killing of the officer in the storied Carabinieri paramilitary police corps shocked Italy. Cerciello Rega, 35, was mourned as a national hero.
Prosecutors alleged Elder stabbed Cerciello Rega with a knife that he brought with him on his trip to Europe and that Natale-Hjorth helped him hide the knife in their hotel room. Under Italian law, an accomplice in an alleged murder can also be charged with murder without carrying out the slaying.
Prosecutors contend the young Americans concocted a plot involving a stolen bag and cellphone after their failed attempt to buy cocaine with 80 euros ($96) in Rome's Trastevere nightlife district. Natale-Hjorth and Elder testified they had paid for the cocaine but didn't receive it.
Elder's Italian attorneys released this statement, including comments from his family:
"At today's hearing, defense attorneys for Finnegan Elder - Renato Borzone and Roberto Capra - reviewed the case's latest developments, highlighting the Italy Supreme Court's instructions to correctly re-examine the facts and responsibilities surrounding the tragic events of July 26, 2019.
Specifically, the defense attorneys for the young American clarified that the facts and evidence collected conclusively show that the two young men could not have possibly known they were confronting law enforcement officers, as the carabinieri were dressed in civilian attire and did not display their identification cards.
The trial, which has been ongoing for five years, has exposed two contrasting accounts of the key facts. However, an abundance of evidence indicates that the two young Americans were unaware they were facing police officers. And, if aggravating circumstances are excluded, it totally changes the assessment of the facts."
Leah Elder, Finnegan Elder's mother, also released a brief statement at the hearing today:
"This trial is unfortunately connected to the tragedy of a person's death, a grave fact that has marked and will forever mark the lives of all the families involved. From the very beginning, my son has declared that he did not understand they were carabinieri and that he had reacted to a blocking attempt. But he was unable to reconcile the fact that no one believed him. Bringing out the truth of the facts would help Finnegan take full responsibility for the pain he caused with his tragic reaction. I hope that, even as he pays for his mistake, he will also open up to hope for the future."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
