Trials / The private investigator boom "A detective is the best defense" More and more lawyers hire detectives. For them to inquire and gather evidence. Often with resounding results. A journey among Italian-style Paul Drakes. Their faults... "The beggar woman was called to the Court of Assizes and her memorable deposition was put on record. That's how we won the trial." The full credit for this happy end, as summarized by Titta Madia, lawyer, must be given to former police sergeant Mario Buccarella. It was he who, on behalf of the lawyer, spent whole nights hanging around Colle Oppio, a shelter for the Roman homeless, in search of the woman who had witnessed the humiliations caused to his client, Sergio Cioin, by the man he had murdered with five gunshots. Thanks to the sergeant, the accused was sentenced to 14 years confirmed by the Appeal Court, compared with the 30-year term requested by the Public Prosecutor. While Parliament is discussing the way to strengthen the defense's powers, Perry Mason starts turning to Paul Drake, this practice being now provided for in article 38 of the penal code's momentary dispositions. Little wonder, thus, that even a man like Giuseppe "Piddu" Madonia, a Caltanissetta "boss" and member of Cosa Nostra's "cupola", charged with commissioning the Capaci murder, turned to a private eye from Vicenza, Silvio Redaelli, to provide evidence that he was not in Sicily when Giovanni Falcone and his escort blew off. "Organized crime is a very particular issue: as I have already made known to Federpol, whose chief is former police general Servolini, I don't exclude that recourse to private investigators may conceal an attempt to found a counterpolice corps". This was Carlo Taormina's flat comment. A battle-field lawyer, and one who hires detectives only too often, with mixed success, as he himself admits: "In the Cerciello case they turned out to be relatively helpful, but at the trial for Rocco Papalia's murder, two months ago, they enabled me to get my client's acquittal". The general opinion among lawyers offices is that clear-cut results are only achieved when lesser offenses are involved, even in complex cases. As reported by Giuliano Pisapia, speaker of the House of Deputies Commission of Justice: "She was a distinguished Iranian lady of 40, with two children. She was separating from her husband. One day, the police found some cocaine in her house. Because she could afford doing so, she decided to hire an investigator". The private enquiry brought to light a plot hatched by her husband, who intercepted her phone calls and knew all her habits and movements, and showed that even a meeting with a police sergeant had taken place. Mrs. Gazzali, this was her name, was then absolved on the grounds that she had not committed the crime: "We could have started a legal proceeding, and claim the indictment of those who had tried to frame her, but we dropped it". Pisapia touches on a sore point when saying that the woman could afford the expense: the cost of private investigations is the main hindrance to their popularity. "You are asking how much we paid? Some tens of millions", recalls lawyer Alessandro Gamberini. A large software manufacturer in Bologna reported having been robbed of at least one billion worth: "We turned to Delta agency, that provided evidence for the theft, and we handed over the results to the magistrate". There are those who admit having paid out of their own pockets, like Nino Marazzita. Famous for the role he played in the Pacciani case, where he applied to Miriam Tomponzi's agency and legal adviser Carmelo Lavorino, director of "Detective and Crime" magazine, Marazzita admits having financed his own clients, when necessary: "Guidaguy Moustafa had been serving 6 years in jail, when I accepted to advocate him. He had been convicted of allegedly murdering a Brazilian prostitute in Catania. On the day of the crime, as he claimed, he was in Milan, where the police stopped him". The Court of Assizes had restricted the enquiry to the police department, whereas evidence was in the Carabinieri's files. Moustafa had been stopped for an identification by a Carabinieri patrol, on the evening of the homicide. "I proved that with the help of an investigator, a freelance". Marazzita called for the rehearing of that trial. Apart from rather high fees, also owing to the time spent in conducting an investigation, another sore-point in the relationship between lawyers and detective is trust. "America is still too far away. For instance, big lawyers offices there rely on full-time investigators, working exclusively for them, whom lawyers blindly trust. Here, you must apply to an initially unknown freelance", explains Osvaldo Fassari. Ennio Amodio, Silvio Berlusconi's defender, who declares he is not a fancier of private eyes, adds: "A flaw in their investigations is that they don't have the same powers as the police and that they can't follow real investigating leads". Paul Drake still has a long way to go, before being able to help Perry Mason. Author: Daria Lucca