The most recent improvement within the hearings of Wolgang Rieke, the truck driver accused of hitting and killing Davide Rebellin, has seen the presiding choose reject his request for a plea deal.
Rieke’s lawyer had proposed a two-year, 11-month plea deal for the 63-year-old truck driver, a petition which was revised on Wednesday to a size of three years and 11 months.
Nonetheless, the choose on the Vicenza court docket, Dr Roberto Venditti, has rejected the petition, contemplating the sentence too gentle in view of Rieke’s behaviour, La Gazzetta dello Sport has reported.
Rieke, who had beforehand been charged with a non-fatal hit-and-run and driving inebriated, reportedly hit just lately retired Rebellin in Montebello Vicentino on November 30, 2022. Eyewitnesses on the scene reported seeing Rieke depart his truck and method Rebellin’s physique earlier than driving away.
He returned to Germany however was quickly recognized and traced following a cooperative investigation by Italian, German, Austrian, and Slovenian police. In June police apprehended him in Münster earlier than his extradition to Italy was accredited by a German court docket the following month.
Rieke will stand trial dealing with fees of vehicular murder and failure to offer help after hitting Rebellin, who died immediately on the scene. The primary listening to within the trial has been set for April 22, 2024. Till then, he’ll stay in Vicenza jail, the place he has been held since August.
“We’re happy with this rejection and we thank the judiciary once more for the work they’ve performed and the eye they’ve paid to Davide’s case,” Rebellin’s brother Carlo mentioned, in response to La Gazzetta dello Sport.