Martina Rossi, Cassation: “He died to escape rape, the only procedural truth”

“The only procedural truth that appears to be confirmed in the evaluation of the many clues examined is that of the attempted sexual violence”. This is what the judges of the Fourth Criminal Section of the Court of Cassation write in the reasons for the sentence with which last October 7 they confirmed the two 3-year sentences for Luca Vanneschi and Alessandro Albertoni, the two Aretini convicted of attempted group sexual violence in relation to the death of Martina Rossi, the twenty-year-old Genoese student who died on 3 August 2011 when she fell from the terrace of the ‘Santa Ana’ hotel in Palma de Mallorca. “The referral judges considered certain the coexistence of Albertoni and Vanneschi inside room 609 when Martina fell from the balcony – underline the ‘ermellini – as well as the reasons of a logical order on the basis of which it was excluded that Vanneschi was sleeping, and the sexual nature of the attack against Martina was recognized ”. “The fact that Vanneschi was also involved in the attempt of sexual violence with an at least facilitating role was clarified by the Florentine Court through a broad reasoning, which starts from deductive elements referring to the moments in which Martina was in room 609, in the presence of both “the defendants” and up to the moment of his fall from the balcony of that room “reads the reasons. “Likewise, it was possible to recall how both Albertoni and Vanneschi tried, from the first phase of the investigations, to pollute the evidential framework, agreeing with the other two occupants of room 609 a convenient version” underline the judges of the Cassation . “Martina, after going up to room 609 with a pair of short shorts, fell from the sixth floor without shorts but only with panties – continue the supreme judges – Martina’s roommates both report that the girl went up to room 609 wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, while when he fell from the sixth floor he was no longer wearing shorts and was wearing only briefs, as well as a t-shirt ”. Finally, for the Supreme Court, “there are no elements whatsoever to be able to accredit the thesis of drug use by Martina together with Albertoni, derived from the assertions of the same accused, a thesis that, in addition to colliding with the objective data of the negative results of the laboratory tests is founded on fragile deductive bases ”. The confirmation of the sentences in the Supreme Court came after the Appeal bis of Florence which sentenced the two defendants to 3 years for attempted group sexual violence, having been charged with death for some time as a result of another crime. In the first instance before the Court of Arezzo on 14 December 2018 Vanneschi and his friend Albertoni were sentenced to 6 years in prison for attempted rape and death as a result of another crime. On 9 June 2020, the Court of Appeal of Florence then acquitted them “because the fact does not exist”. The Supreme Court, however, on 21 January overturned the acquittal sentence by ordering a new trial for the two defendants. From there we arrived at the encore appeal in Florence, confirmed by the supreme judges on 7 October last.