The Court of Appeal of Genoa rejected the request for recusal presented by the lawyers of the former CEO of Aspi Giovanni Castellucci and other defendants in the investigation into the collapse of the Morandi Bridge against the judge for the preliminary hearing Paola Faggioni. According to the lawyers, the Gup, who had signed the restrictive measures in the investigation into dangerous noise barriers, had expressed judgments on the main proceedings relating to the collapse of the Morandi bridge, violating the principle of impartiality of the judge. At this point the hearing on Monday will continue, but the lawyers could appeal to the Supreme Court. At least six former managers of Aspi and Spea are under investigation both in the proceedings on the collapse of Morandi and in that on the barriers considered dangerous.
For the judges of the Court of Appeal, "no assessment of the applicants' liability in relation to the specific facts has been formulated" relating to the collapse of Morandi.
The investigating judge Faggioni, according to the magistrates who rejected the request for recusal, "only incidentally expressed himself in relation to the procedural affair arising from the collapse of the bridge".
They add, "of separate proceedings for different facts. He has not expressed an assessment of the guilt or innocence of the current defendants".