Salvatore Giuliano Page #4

I don't know anything. I've never been

to Portella della Ginestra.

That's not true.

That's not what you told the judge.

I'm innocent, Your Honor.

I confessed because they beat me.

I'm innocent!

All right! Go back to your seat.

The entire time I was in jail,

I was never mistreated.

After 110 days of lying on my cot

with my hands and feet bound,

I only asked the marshal

to change my position on the cot.

All of us in the cage are innocent!

I don't know them.

We were all afraid of the carabinieri.

I add my demand to that

of my colleagues.

I demand an inquiry into the treatment

of the defendants prior to questioning.

Thejudge then wrote in his verdict.:

'Abusing those who are at the disposal

oflaw enforcement offiicers

is repugnant to any man of conscience;

but there are certain admissions;

certain stories;

that no amount ofbeating

could induce a man to make up.

Furthermore; there is a pattern

in all these depositions;

proceeding from an initial

full and free admission of the facts

to a categorical denial.

This began with the arrival in court;

on June 13; 1950;

of Giuliano's memoir;

in which he stated that

all the picciotti were innocent;

and that their declarations

to the police offiicers

had been made under duress.

In the memoir delivered to the court;

the strategy for their defense

was clearly outlined. "

Giuliano's statements won't be enough

to clear you of the charges.

Your own confessions,

as well as numerous

eyewitness accounts, are against you.

How can you not understand that

this attitude of categorical denial

can only make your situation worse?

Who fired the shots

at Portella della Ginestra?

When the time is right, I'll talk.

You were so brave when you kidnapped

people right in the middle of Palermo.

You were a real expert

in kidnapping.

Let's see if you can exhibit

some of that courage and be a man.

Tell us which of these men

joined Giuliano

in massacring women and children

during an outing in the country.

I kidnapped people,

but I never made a mother cry.

I won't implicate anyone,

but I strongly hope

that those who were at Portella

will come forward one day and confess.

Will you please tell us who is guilty

and who is innocent in those cages?

If you wait too long to talk,

it won't help you any.

As the trial progresses, Pisciotta,

Mannino and I will try to help the court.

Do you want to tell us

who took part in the massacre?

Absolutely not.

When the time is right, I'll talk.

All right. Go on.

Quiet.

The court is in session.

Defendant Gaspare Pisciotta is sick.

This is the text of the letter

he addressed to the judge:

"My liver is enlarged,

my eyes are yellow and I have jaundice.

I need absolute rest.

I can't take part in the hearing,

but I give my consent for

the proceedings to go on without me.

If, in the meantime, certain persons

whom you know should come forward,

please have someone advise me of it.

In that case I will come to court,

on a stretcher if necessary. "

May I say something, Your Honor?

- What is it?

- I must speak to you.

Approach.

Your Honor, I have to unburden myself

of the weight I have in my stomach.

The time has come to talk.

The men who followed Giuliano's orders

and shot at the farmers are:

Giuseppe Genovesi,

Giuseppe Cucinella...

and Giovanni Provenza.

The other men who shot at Portella

are either dead or still at large.

I heard this from Terranova,

who said Giuliano told him.

He won't talk, so I'm talking.

Go back to your seat.

Terranova, come here.

Take him away, quickly!

Clear the courtroom!

Quiet!

I'm innocent.

Your Honor, I'm innocent.

Even though I'm ill...

I've come here to tell the truth...

about the massacre

at Portella della Ginestra.

A document exists

containing the names

of all the men who, on Giuliano's orders,

took part in the massacre,

and the names of those

who were behind it.

That is Giuliano's real memoir.

The memoir in the judge's hands

is completely false,

and Giuliano was forced to write it.

In it Giuliano omitted the names

of the men behind the massacre,

writing a bunch of lies in their place,

telling me nothing about it

and destroying his comrades' lives!

That's why I killed Giuliano.

But there is another memoir,

the real one,

that I myself delivered

to the carabinieri,

with whom I was collaborating,

because, Your Honor,

I wanted to avoid this scandal.

But it's too late now.

Since I now know they're trying

to screw me over, I make the first move!

Gaspare Pisciotta,

do you realize what you are saying?

I said that I collaborated

with the colonel of the carabinieri,

and that prior to that, the police gave me

a free pass, allowing me to come and go.

Your Honor, we can't sit here

and listen to this mumbo jumbo.

I can prove what I'm saying.

I came here to defend something,

but not myself.

We were all loyal servants

of the separatists and the monarchists.

They're in Rome with their seats

in parliament, and we're in jail!

Murder, kidnapping and blackmail -

now it all becomes political.

I collaborated with the police.

We were all informants.

Outlaws, police and the Mafia -

they were an unholy trinity.

I demand that the defendant

show proof of his assertions,

so we can put an end

to this scandalous outbreak,

intended solely to distract the court

from the defendants' true crimes.

Your Honor, I request new testimony

on behalf of Gaspare Pisciotta.

I, defense for Mr. Pisciotta,

move to subpoena

General Luca as witness

so he can be deposed

as to the following facts:

First, whether, as head of

the Outlaw Repression Corps,

he established a direct relationship

with Mr. Pisciotta

while the latter was a fugitive

from the law. Second -

What was your relationship

with Salvatore Giuliano?

Certain informants arranged for me

to meet Giuliano.

That was on December 23, 1949.

Did you meet Gaspare Pisciotta?

I saw him during that meeting.

Your Honor, I request that

the witness be asked

why he saw fit not to arrest

the two outlaws,

Giuliano and Pisciotta,

during this meeting.

I'm sorry, Counsel, but the question

is not relevant at this time.

Then I would like to know

whether the witness informed the ministry

before or after the meeting.

This question is also irrelevant.

At the end of my term, I notified

the ministry of internal affairs,

and I was told not to persist

with this initiative

because of the formation

of the Outlaw Repression Corps.

But the meeting with Giuliano

took place after the formation -

Counsel, quiet, please.

In fact, although I was no longer

inspector general of the police force,

I continued my investigation.

For this reason I went to Sicily once,

where my meeting with Giuliano

was arranged by intermediaries.

Did Giuliano give you the memoir

regarding Portella della Ginestra?

No. After two months or so,

Giuliano sent me a memoir,

which I sent to the authorities in Palermo.

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