The trial would not be Mr. Berlusconi's first. Over the years, he has emerged largely unscathed from a dizzying list of legal troubles, including charges of corruption, tax evasion and bribing judges. In each case, he was either acquitted on appeal or the statute of limitations in the cases ran out.

The author neglects to mention that in one case acquittal was granted on the dubious grounds of good behavior since he had got himself elected Council President. As for the Statute of Limitations the author further neglects that Berlusconi had ad personam laws passed that greatly reduced the statute of limitations for his alleged crimes and greatly lengthened trials.  In other cases he passed a law abolishing the crime.

In all rulings the facts were asserted as corresponding to truth. This resulted in such curious sentences as, "The facts have been found to be true, but they no longer constitute a crime." In other cases, fall guys such as Cesare Previti took the rap. The present case of Mills, definitively condemned for false testimony, for which Berlusconi must stand trial concerns a case in which Mills' testimony effectively let Berlusconi off the hook in a trial. This is of course one of those cases Ms. Donadio neglects to mention.

de Gondi:

saying the women should be "ashamed" of themselves.

how dare they question the phallus-in-chief?

could italy be about to take the biggest shit in its history?

3 women judges... oh man. i hope they let us know how they really feel, there aren't too many more trying tests of a nation's democracy than its judiciary taking down its richest and most powerful enemy from pole position.

italy will be able to hold its head high if this goes through... in its way it's as epic as mubarak's come-uppance, to whom b. bears an uncannily cartoon-sinister resemblance, least of which due to a follicular collision with a tar pit.

his business empire should be dismantled and its riches redistributed to the ripped off populace.

politically seismic times for the bel paese.

meanwhile san remo churns out its vapid filler, framed by a nauseating ad from ENI.

aaargh

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

It depends on how he proceeds. If he officialises his refusal to appear, the judge can rule that the trial be held with the defendant in contumacia. If he just brays through the press, he will just be liable to prove he was unable to attend the hearing if he doesn't show up, in which case the judge will order that his absence be verified. If he persists in not appearing without a valid "impediment" the judges may eventually rule that the trial be held in contumacia.

This is one of the main technicalities in following Berlusconi's trials. He has almost never appeared in court through the use of impediments to prolong his trials indefinitely, all the while fabricated laws or decrees to reduce the statutes of limitations or, as below, changing the cards on the table to invalidate the trial(s).

If the trial is held in contumacia it can no longer be blocked by impediments of the defendant, thus depriving Berlusconi of a precious arm to drag out the trial.

This charade has been carried on the past two decades by Berlusconi or his cohorts- Cesare Previti, above all- with varying success in quashing trials.

Berlusconi may also enter a plea bargain within thirty days with the automatic reduction of his sentence by one-third. This tactic might permit him to continue to run for office. It is unlikely he will use this expedient as he is prone to wage war to get his way.

There have been several laws proposed by his mignons since October to quash this impending trial. One law simply proposed to change the jurisdictions for sexual crimes making it a crime subject to local authority. In this hypothesis the charges of statutory rape would have been under the jurisdiction of Monza rather than Milan. I really see no advantage in this solution other than buying time.

Another proposed bill would make it difficult, if not impossible, for prosecutors to challenge a law in court to force a ruling by the supreme court. Since most of Berlusconi's ad personam laws are anti-constitutional, they get shot down. However in the meantime they have assorted their effects.

His situation is difficult as far as decrees go as the President of the Republic has made it clear he will not sign ad personam laws again. Berlusconi uses decrees to create irrevocable situations. A decree has a short life if not converted into law but its effects remain regardless.

This afternoon Berlusconi has put a vote of confidence on an omnibus law in the Senate. It no doubt contains articles that are designed to through a wrench into the present situation. The bill will have no problem passing the Senate. However, if it must go through the House, it will be very risky. I'll let you know when there is more information on this.

I think we're letting ourselves be distracted by the morbid business of the statutory rape charges.

The prosecutors would do well to go for the charges of abuse of office in pressuring the Milan police to release somebody from custody.

Keynesianism is intellectually hard, as evidenced by the inability of many trained economists to get it - Paul Krugman

This contention may have been discussed in the Di Censo ruling. Effectively, in one police document there was a minor error on the year of her birth. However, this is grasping at straws. It was a bona fide error that incidently has nothing to do with Berlusconi's defense. I think this will likely come up in the independant trial against Emilio Fede, Nicole Minetti and Lele Mora. They were running the show and were in a position to know how old Ruby was.

They were well aware of Berlusconi's tastes.

Meanwhile in Milan... « Joe Saward's Grand Prix Blog

Berlusconi claims that he made the phone call to avoid a diplomatic incident as he thought she was a niece of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.