Luigi was
arrested on the night of the murder. Such small evidence as there was
could have been ascertained in twenty-four hours, and yet the prisoner
was never brought to trial till the 3rd of May, 1858; that is, eighteen
months afterwards. On that day Luigi Bonci was arraigned before the
civil and criminal court of Perugia, on the two counts of parricide, and
of having illegal arms in his possession. The Court was composed of the
President, Judge, Assistant Judge, and Deputy Judge of the district.
These gentlemen (all, I should state, lay officials) were assisted by the
public prosecutor and the Government counsel for the defence. The course
of proceedings is stated to have been as follows: prayers were first
offered up for the Divine guidance, the prisoner was introduced and
identified, the written depositions were read over, a narrative of the
facts was given by the president, the prisoner was called upon to reply
to the charges alleged against him, the witnesses for the crown and for
the prisoner were heard respectively, the counsel for the prosecution
called upon the court to condemn the prisoner, and was replied to by the
counsel for the defence; the discussion was then declared closed, and
after the judges had retired and deliberated, their sentence was given.
All the facts I have been able to put together about the case are
gathered from this sentence and from those of the courts of appeal.
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