Prosecutor lays into Concordia captain

(ANSA) - Grosseto, January 22 - Grosseto prosecutor Alessandro Leopizzi was unsparing in his criticism of Francesco Schettino during his closing arguments in the trial of the former Costa Concordia captain for multiple counts of manslaughter and dereliction of duty in relation to the partial sinking of the cruise liner after it hit rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio in January 2012, leaving 32 people dead.
    Schettino "had an exuberance that led him to be insincere," began Leopizzi, citing a report by the former Costa Cruises commander Mario Terenzio Palombo, before insisting that the accident on January 13, 2012, was due to "human factors" and that the cruise liner was not a "rattletrap".
    The prosecutor then listed a series of alleged negligent acts by the then captain, from the leisurely dinner with a Moldovan woman shortly before the accident to his claim that he did not know about the rocks near Giglio and his failure to acquire an adequate nautical map of the area. Leopizzi went on to describe Schettino's conduct on the bridge as "inadequate".
    "The first officer is the person primarily interested" in route changes "but he does not point up his officers' inertia, he too remains silent and says nothing," said the prosecutor in reference to accusations by Schettino that it was his officers' inaction that caused the tragedy. "He doesn't remind his men, he doesn't suggest, he doesn't give orders. Schettino's conduct was equally inadequate." Schettino is the only person on trial after Costa Cruises and a number of crew members and company staff reached plea bargains with prosecutors in July 2013.
    In addition to the closing arguments, which are scheduled to run for at least two days, hearings are scheduled for 39 civil attorneys defending passengers of the Concordia who have filed civil suits for damages against Costa Cruises and Schettino.