From Science to Street Realm. How Psychophysiology Research Has Been Useful to Avoid a Wrong Charge in the Spaccarotella Trial

On November 2007, several Lazio fans attacked Juventus fans in a petrol station on the highway close to Arezzo. Two Police patrols from the opposite side of the highway tried unsuccessfully to break the scuffle by sounding horns. Thus officer Spaccarotella shot a warning shot to call fans attention on Police. The guys run away and Spaccarotella suspected a getaway after a major crime and run after to get the plate number of the fleeing car. Unfortunately he did it (for 200 yards) holding pistol in “condition zero” and a second shot went off accidentally because he lost balance at the end of the run, while the car was leaving the station. The bullet entered the rear-side window and hit Sandri in the neck, killing him. Although Spaccarotella always denied voluntary shooting and even less the will to kill, social pressure and three eyewitnesses, who reported that the officer had intentionally aimed two-handed toward the car, turned the charge from manslaughter to voluntary homicide. In the trial we provided evidence of high probability of accidental discharge due to psychophysiological reactions of the agent and that the dynamic conditions made practically impossible to hit voluntarily even a visible target (Sandri was invisible to the shooter). Finally it was demonstrated that the “credible eyewitnesses” memory had been widely reconfigured and affected by personal belief and interpretation. The final charge was manslaughter, a six-year instead of 14-jail term.