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Italy high court dismisses bribery charges against ex-Berlusconi lawyer

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation on Thursday overturned the bribery conviction of David Mills, a British barrister and former lawyer to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The court agreed with prosecutors who said the statute of limitations had expired, but fined Mills €250,000 for damaging the state's reputation and ordered Mills to pay €10,000 for legal costs. Mills was sentenced last February to four-and-a-half years in prison for allegedly accepting USD $600,000 in bribes for offering false testimony at two trials in 1997 and 1998 involving Berlusconi's broadcasting company Mediaset. An appeals court upheld his conviction in October. It appears likely that prosecutors will drop charges against Berlusconi associated with the incident since the court ruled the statute of limitations has expired. Berlusconi's trial was scheduled to resume Friday. Berlusconi's trial was postponed in January so that the court could hear Mills's appeal. Proceedings were previously delayed late last year while the court determined whether Berlusconi was immune from prosecution. In October, the Italian Constitutional Court struck down a law granting top Italian lawmakers immunity from prosecution while in office. Berlusconi was removed as a defendant in the case after the 2007 passage of the immunity law. The bribery and corruption trial against Berlusconi and Mills began in early 2007. Mills's allegedly false testimony was given during trials at which Berlusconi was acquitted of paying kickbacks to the late Socialist premier Bettino Craxi.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 26, 2010 (boomark / email).