Italian Court to Reopen Senna Trial

The infamous trial over the death of Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna is set to begin again after the Italian Supreme Court cancelled the verdict of the Appeals Court, nearly nine years after the death of the popular driver, Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport reported today.

Senna was killed while driving a Williams in an accident during the San Marino Grand Prix on May 1, 1994. The judicial process began shortly after Senna's death at the Imola circuit.

Italian state prosecutor Maurizio Passarini had charged Williams technical director Patrick Head and former chief designer Adrian Newey with manslaughter, arguing that Senna's fatal crash was caused by a failure of the steering column. The prosecutor claimed it had been poorly designed and prepared by the Grove-based outfit.

After extensive investigation, both Newey and Head were acquitted in November 1999, five and a half years after the death of the three-time World Champion. The Appeals Court in Italy rejected the prosecution's demand for a one-year suspended sentence against Head and Newey.

Judge Antonio Costanzo also acquitted Federico Bendinelli and Giorgio Poggi - the men in charge of the Imola circuit back then - and FIA official Ronald de Bruynseraede, who were also charged with manslaughter.

Costanzo ruled the reason for Senna's crash was the breaking of the steering column fitted to Senna's Williams-Renault, but he ruled there weren't enough proof in order to lay the blame on the defendants. Appeals Court Judge Francesco Mario Agnoli ruled that even the breaking of the steering column couldn't be ascertained due to lack of proof.

However, the Italian Supreme Court today accepted the petition from prosecutor Rinaldo Rosini, and the appeal process is to be repeated, as it has been found there were contradictory facts in the original process.

Rosini, with his appeal, has claimed the ruling was contradictory, explaining that it was wrong for the appeal judges to rule that there was no proof that linked the action of the defendants with the death of Senna. He also claimed that it was a mistake to rule that the breaking of the steering column was not proved, as originally ruled by the judge.

No official dates have been set for the beginning of the appeal, although it is unlikely that it will start before next summer.