Decision of the Third Assize Court of Appeal of Rome No. 17 of 18 July 2016

The Third Assize Court of Appeal reverted the 2013 verdict of first instance on the conviction of five medical staff members of the ‘Sandro Pertini’ Hospital in Rome for having caused the death, through serious omission behaviors, of Stefano Cucchi, an arrested person who was in their custody at the Hospital. By its decision, the Appeal Court acquitted all the accused because of the lacking of evidence that Cucchi’s death could be prevented if the accused did not fail to provide him with correct diagnosis and therapy for inanition (serious malnutrition accompanied by blood values below the minimum parameters).