Italy’s high court overturns guilty verdict for Berlusconi’s UK lawyer accused of taking bribe

Berlusconi lawyer has guilty verdict overturned

ROME — Italy’s highest court overturned a guilty verdict Thursday for a British lawyer accused of taking a bribe to lie in court in the 1990s to protect Premier Silvio Berlusconi, ruling that the statute of limitations had expired.

But the ruling by the Court of Cassation was only a partial victory for Berlusconi, who is on trial in Milan on related charges that he ordered the payment to attorney David Mills. Although the court determined that the wrongdoing occurred too long ago to punish Mills, it affirmed that a crime had been committed.

The ruling, which is final, opens the way for Berlusconi’s trial on corruption charges to continue after being put on hold pending the outcome of Mills’ appeal. The next hearing is scheduled for Saturday.

Mills and Berlusconi have denied wrongdoing, with the premier saying he is the victim of politically motivated prosecutors.

There was no immediate reaction from Berlusconi after the ruling, but Mills said he was relieved and grateful to his family and lawyers for their support.

“I am very relieved that this saga has finally now come to an end and happy to be able to get back to a normal life again,” he said in a statement.

Mills was found guilty of corruption in February 2009 and sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison. Lower court judges ruled that he received $600,000 to give false testimony in two 1990s trials to shield Berlusconi and his Fininvest holding company from charges relating to the purchase of U.S. film rights.

An appeals court in October upheld the decision.

In his arguments Thursday, Prosecutor Gianfranco Ciani insisted that Mills took the bribe, but in a surprise move he recommended that the 2009 conviction be thrown out because the statute of limitations had expired.

The outcome of the case hinged largely on the timing of when the actual crime occurred, and whether the type of corruption was simple or the more serious corruption in a judicial setting. Ciani told the high court that there was no doubt that the money changed hands in a judicial situation, but said the alleged crime dated from Nov. 11, 1999. Previous courts have held that the corruption occurred in late February 2000.

The high court ruled in the related civil portion of the case that since Mills did indeed receive the bribe, he was liable for €250,000 ($337,225) in damages to the government. Mills was also ordered Thursday to pay €10,000 ($13,550) in court costs.

One opposition leader, Antonio di Pietro, a former anti-corruption prosecutor, called it a “disgrace” that Mills would be found guilty of “the serious crime of corruption” but be absolved “thanks to the usual subterfuge, in this case by creating delays.”

In Berlusconi’s portion of the case, prosecutors accused the premier of having ordered the payment.

Berlusconi’s portion of the trial had been put on hold by an immunity law sparing him from prosecution while in office. But the trial resumed in December after Italy’s Constitutional Court overturned the law as unconstitutional.

In a bid to get another immunity law on the books, Berlusconi’s allies in the lower chamber of parliament passed a bill earlier this month that would allow the premier and Cabinet ministers to postpone for six months hearings in any trial in which they are implicated.

The measure still requires approval in the Senate, where Berlusconi’s conservatives also enjoy a comfortable majority.

Berlusconi, a media magnate-turned-politician, has faced numerous trials for his Milan business dealings. He has always been acquitted or seen the statute of limitations expire.

Associated Press writer Marco Pedersini contributed to this report.