Overview
- The Court of Cassation’s Fifth Criminal Section released reasons confirming that jealousy arising from a partner’s infidelity cannot reduce criminal liability for stalking or aggravated assault.
- The judges stated that such jealousy may qualify as the aggravating circumstance of acting for trivial or abject motives, reflecting the aim of control and possession over the victim.
- The court rejected the claimed mitigation of acting in a state of anger, citing longstanding case law including a 1996 ruling that deems jealousy and revenge morally reprehensible.
- Liability findings for violent and persecutory conduct against a Milan woman and her new partner were upheld, with the victims described as living in sustained fear.
- The justices annulled only the sentencing measure due to a defect in penalty quantification and remanded to a different section of the Milan Court of Appeal to set the sanction, after an initial term of 9 months and 10 days was converted to a €5,600 fine.