Threat to a political body, investigations into the mayor Chiara Frontini and her husband Fabio Cavini concluded

Viterbo – Municipality – It all started with a complaint from councilor Marco Bruzziches – Prosecutors will decide the procedure to follow in a short time

by Daniele Camilli

Viterbo – Chiara Frontini-Fabio Cavini, the investigations are concluded. The decision of the prosecutors is imminent and they could request dismissal, indictment or immediate trial.

The mayor Chiara Frontini and her husband Fabio Cavini were investigated for threatening a political body, this is the hypothesis of the crime, after the complaint presented by the city councilor Marco Bruzziches following a dinner held at his home. There is also a 3-hour recording of that meeting that Bruzziches handed over to the Viterbo prosecutor’s office. Prosecutors Massimiliano Siddi and Chiara Capezzuto are dealing with the case.

The dinner in question dates back to September 26th last year. At that moment Bruzziches is the majority municipal councilor and delegate for heritage and is working, as he himself has repeatedly declared, to put the properties of Palazzo dei Priori back on track.

Viterbo – The wedding of Chiara Frontini and Fabio Cavini

On the evening of September 26th, Bruzziches, his wife Annamaria Formini, the mayor Chiara Frontini and her husband Fabio Cavini were at the table. And one of the topics under discussion would have been the municipal heritage. At a certain point in the meeting Cavini would have said: “If I want to hurt, I understand who in your family status is weaker and then I go to hit that person”. And then: “Unfortunately I am his black soul and that is why I am very hated, because sometimes I have to do very bad things.” Phrases made known by Bruzziches on March 12th with a press release.

Fabio Cavini played an important role, as recognized by many, during the 2022 electoral campaign which brought Frontini to the top of the Palazzo dei Priori. According to Bruzziches, following the electoral victory, Cavini would then cut himself out “the role of political consultant to the majority” during the first retreat of the city councilors of Viterbo 2020. “It was the mayor Chiara Frontini who proposed it – said Bruzziches – and everyone said yes. Everyone interfaced with Cavini, it was the norm, because he was seen as the solver.”

In December 2023, councilor Bruzziches went to the prosecutor’s office and filed a complaint against unknown persons and left the majority in the city council, leaving the delegation to the estate. Justifying everything, in the middle of a city council meeting, by “serious facts” that allegedly happened to him and his family.

After the complaint, the prosecutor’s office opened an investigation against unknown persons and interviewed several people informed of the facts. Among these is the former president of the city council Letizia Chiatti, also a majority councilor. She also later moved to the opposition.

In March the prosecutor’s investigation file passed from unknown persons to known persons, namely Chiara Frontini and Fabio Cavini. The crime is a threat, article 612 of the penal code which provides for a fine of up to 1032 euros and in the most serious cases imprisonment of up to one year. Subsequently, however, probably after having listened to the people informed of the facts and the recordings presented by Bruzziches, the hypothesis of the prosecutor’s office becomes a threat to a political body, article 338 of the penal code. Punishment in case of guilt, from one to seven years.

For Cavini’s lawyer, Giovanni Labate, this is a hypothesis of a crime that “does not exist”. For Frontini’s lawyer, Roberto Massatani, “the mayor declared herself completely innocent and completely unrelated to the charges”. Both, Frontini and Cavini, were heard by the prosecutor’s office. Both presented briefs. TO Frontini herself confirmed it in the city council meeting on 4 April.

Viterbo – Palace of Justice

What happens once the investigations are concluded? The perspectives are different. The first, the request for indictment or dismissal before the GUP. The second, the request for immediate judgment.

Should there be a request for indictment or dismissal, it would go before the preliminary hearing judge (gup). First, the notice of conclusion of the preliminary investigations would be communicated, then, once the terms that the suspects have for their defense have expired, the request for indictment would be made, after which there would be the preliminary hearing. Alternatively there is the possibility of requesting archiving. If accepted, the case is closed.

If the prosecutors were to ask for immediate trial, if the judge were to accept it, he would issue a provision which would be notified to the defendants who from then on would have a deadline to decide whether to request alternative rites, such as the abbreviated trial or plea bargaining, or whether to hold the hearing directly.

The request for immediate trial is therefore an exercise in criminal action which, if accepted by the judge, skips the preliminary hearing phase, while with the request for committal to trial the preliminary hearing takes place before the judge for preliminary hearings. (gup).

Immediate judgment can be initiated both by the public prosecutor and by the accused himself. The public prosecutor would have the obligation to ask the judge to issue the decree ordering immediate trial in the event that, from the brevity of the investigations, evidence of obvious criminality should emerge. However, it would be necessary not only for the evidence to appear evident, thus providing suitable elements to support the accusation in court, but also for the people against whom the investigations were carried out to be interrogated or who at least were invited to do so. , as well as that no more than 90 days have passed since the registration of the crime report in the register referred to in the art. 335 of the criminal procedure code.

Daniele Camilli

Articles: But isn’t it the case that the mayor Chiara Frontini resigns? by Carlo Galeotti – Marco Bruzziches: “Fabio Cavini was the political consultant of the majority and all the councilors saw him as the “solver”” – The lawyer Stefano Falcioni: “If the hypothesis of crime against Frontini and Cavini will be ascertained , a dark side would emerge in the management of the majority” – The lawyer Giovanni Labate: “The Bruzziches affair, the accusation for Frontini and Cavini is a threat to a political body…” – The lawyer of Chiara Frontini: “The mayor has declared herself completely innocent and completely unrelated to the charges” – Chiara Frontini: “A little while ago I went to the prosecutor’s office in relation to the complaint by councilor Bruzziches”

Presumption of innocence

In the Italian criminal system the presumption of innocence applies until the final sentence. Presumption of innocence which is based on article 27 of the Italian constitution according to which a person “is not considered guilty until finally convicted”.

April 17, 2024