he son of a top Italian film director who ran over and killed two 16-year-old Roman girls in the centre of the Italian capital in December 2019 on Thursday plea-bargained five years and four months in jail on appeal, down from a first-instance conviction of eight years.
Paolo Genovese's son Pietro, 21, has said he is "shocked and
devastated at what happened", saying he had only set off along
Corso Francia after the light had turned green.
Pietro Genovese was again found guilty of vehicular homicide in
the deaths of Gaia Von Freymann and
Camilla Romagnoli.
The girls are thought to have tried to cross the very busy
road near the upscale Parioli district despite the
pedestrian-crossing light being red.
The young man reportedly tested positive for alcohol, but
early reports that he also tested positive for drugs were said
to be unfounded.
A prosecutor said he was driving too fast, at about 80 km an
hour.
But the girls were also said to have been "rash" in trying to
cross the busy road.
The case shocked Italy.
Autopsy results showed Genovese's car caved in the
girls' skulls, killing them instantly.
Other fractures were found, but no sign of their being hit or
dragged by other vehicles, contradicting eye witness reports.
Rome-born director and screenwriter Paolo Genovese, 54, got an
economic degree from Rome university before starting his career
at McCann Erickson, directing over one hundred commercials and
winning several awards.
In 1998 he started collaborating with Luca Miniero co-writing
and co-directing the short film La scoperta di Walter; the duo
made their feature film debut in 2002, with the critical
acclaimed comedy film A Neapolitan Spell.
Genovese made his solo-directing debut in 2010 with the La
banda dei Babbi Natale (The Father Christmas Gang).
In 2016, his film Perfect Strangers won the Best Screenplay
in an International Narrative Feature Film Award at the Tribeca
Film Festival, and was awarded best film at the David di
Donatello Awards, Italy's Oscars.
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