Alberto Stasi defense announces new evidence outside 2007 case files
Lawyers for Alberto Stasi stated that new findings outside the original 2007 investigation are ready, as experts clash over undisclosed bicycle DNA tests.
Defense announces new evidence
Alberto Stasi's defense team has gathered new material to challenge his final conviction for the 2007 murder of Chiara Poggi. Lawyer Giada Boccellari confirmed the new findings on the La7 morning broadcast Omnibus during a discussion with journalist Carmelo Schininà. Stasi, who is 43 years old, is serving a 16-year prison sentence following Poggi's death on 13 August 2007 at her family home in Garlasco. The public prosecutor's office in Pavia recently reopened the case, placing Andrea Sempio, an acquaintance of the victim's brother, under formal investigation. Boccellari stated that the defense holds multiple new findings that do not originate from the initial inquiries conducted nineteen years ago.
What I can certainly say is that the defense has other elements available today, one of which will cause a particular stir in my judgment, but which does not concern the 2007 investigations.
Disputed DNA findings on bicycle pedals
The defense announcement follows disclosures regarding forensic genetic testing conducted on Stasi's burgundy bicycle during the initial homicide inquiry. Initial laboratory analyses had indicated the presence of Poggi's genetic material on the bicycle pedals, which formed a central part of the prosecution's case. However, two subsequent forensic tests produced completely negative results for the victim's DNA on the same components. Stasi's defense team contends that investigators never communicated these negative test outcomes to them during the original proceedings. Legal representatives maintain that withholding those findings prevented the defense team from requesting complementary analyses or challenging the biological evidence in 2007.
- Chiara Poggi is killed at her family home in Garlasco
- Forensic testing on Alberto Stasi's bicycle pedals yields two negative results after an initial positive
- Defense lawyer Giada Boccellari announces new exculpatory material outside the 2007 inquiry
Expert consultants clash over disclosure
The disclosure of the negative test outcomes led to public disputes between technical consultants who participated in the original proceedings. Geneticist Marzio Capra, who worked with the Poggi family's legal team, stated on the television program Quarto Grado that he signed the official report on the 24th after reviewing the findings. Capra asserted that forensic specialists from the Carabinieri RIS division informed Stasi's expert consultants, Avato and Fabbri, during a technical meeting at the time. Former defense consultant Avato rejected Capra's account, stating that the defense pool received neither the electropherograms nor any verbal confirmation of the negative tests.
We were neither informed nor presented with the electropherograms for discussion. Communication was due, but nothing was given to us.
Procedural conditions for trial revision
Former technical consultants from Stasi's defense pool are now preparing defamation lawsuits against Capra following his statements regarding the notifications. At the same time, the possibility of a formal petition to revise Stasi's conviction depends on the progress of the Pavia prosecutor's inquiry into Sempio. Criminal defense lawyer Daniele Bocciolini stated in an interview with Fanpage that Stasi's attorneys have not yet formally submitted a request for revision to the appellate court. Bocciolini noted that Italian law imposes no deadline for filing a revision request, but advised that the defense should acquire every piece of evidentiary data beforehand because a favorable verdict is never guaranteed.
