GIULIANI AND GAGGIO v. ITALY JUDGMENT
21
building materials. Lastly, the test shots had shown that, when they were hit
by a bullet, objects made up of building materials “exploded” in a similar
manner to that seen in the video footage and caused damage to the cartridge
casing. The tests performed showed that disintegration occurred differently
when such objects were thrown against a vehicle (the dust was produced
after rather than simultaneously with fragmentation, and in smaller
quantities).
90. The second shot fired by M.P. had left a mark on the wall of the
church on Piazza Alimonda (at a height of 5.3 metres). The first shot had hit
Carlo Giuliani. The ballistics tests had been unable to establish the original
trajectory of that bullet. However, the experts appointed by the public
prosecutor's office had taken into account the fact that the jeep was
1.96 metres high and that the stone seen on the video had been at a height of
around 1.9 m when the image was recorded. They had therefore fired some
test shots, positioning the weapon around 1.3 metres from a stone suspended
1.9 metres above the ground: the bullet had been deflected downwards and
hit the “collecting tray” (located 1.75 metres from the weapon) at heights of
between 1.1 and 1.8 metres. These data tallied with the statements of certain
demonstrators who had been eyewitnesses to the events, according to whom
Carlo Giuliani had been about two metres from the jeep when he was shot
dead. The prosecuting authorities' experts had not had these statements
available to them at the time they had carried out their work.
91. The foregoing considerations suggested that, as concluded by the
prosecuting authorities' experts, the shot had been fired upwards, above
Carlo Giuliani, who was 1.65 m tall. The stone had disintegrated 1.9 metres
above the ground.
3. M.P.'s angle of vision
92. M.P.'s angle of vision had probably been restricted by the jeep's
spare wheel. However, it was difficult to be certain on that point as M.P.'s
face did not appear on any of the photographs in the file, whereas they
clearly showed his hand holding the weapon. The pictures suggested,
however, that he had been half-lying (in posizione semidistesa) or crouching
on the floor, as confirmed by M.P.'s own statements and those of D.R. and
the demonstrator Predonzani. That led to the conclusion that M.P. had been
unable to see the persons close to the jeep's rear door below the spare wheel,
and that he had fired the shots in an attempt to intimidate the demonstrators.
4. Legal characterisation of M.P.'s actions
93. Having thus reconstructed the facts, the investigating judge
addressed the legal characterisation of M.P.'s actions. The prosecuting
authorities had advanced two hypotheses in that regard (see paragraph 72
above): (a) that M.P. had fired as high in the air as possible with the sole