Judges say Berlusconi trial goes on despite conviction overturned for British lawyer

Berlusconi corruption trial to continue

MILAN — A panel of judges ruled Saturday that Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s trial on corruption charges will continue, despite a ruling by Italy’s highest appellate court that overturned the conviction of the lawyer the Italian leader allegedly bribed.

The judges rebuffed a bid by Berlusconi’s defense lawyers to suspend the premier’s trial until the high court makes public its reasons in concluding the statute of limitations had run out in the case of David Mills.

The British lawyer was found guilty by Italian courts of accepting a €600,000 bribe to lie in court to protect Berlusconi’s business interests and was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison. The verdict and sentence were upheld on the first level of appeals, which had said the alleged corruption had taken place in February 2000. The latest ruling on Thursday, however, changed that date to Nov. 11, 1999.

Berlusconi’s lawyer Niccolo Ghedini requested that the trial be suspended until he has time to study the appellate court decision, which must be issued within three months. He said that the reasoning could help determine if the alleged crime occurred even earlier, in 1998.

“We are not seeking the expiration of the statute of limitations, but a verdict of innocence,” Ghedini said, echoing Berlusconi’s insistence on Friday that he wants the trial to continue so he can win an acquittal.

Still, Berlusconi’s defense team had been working feverishly for a way for the premier to avoid or put off this trial and a separate criminal trial linked to the billionaire’s Mediaset media empire.

The judges set the next date for March 26, which keeps the clock ticking on the statute of limitations.

The appellate court ruling overturning the criminal conviction of Berlusconi’s British lawyer was only a partial victory for the premier, who is being tried for having ordered the bribe, since the court ruled that a crime had been committed.