ITALY: Lex Romana

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The last romantic, as Rome's daily Il Messagero put it last week, is the way most Italians still think of Raffaele Mi-nichiello, the disgruntled U.S. Marine who commandeered a TWA Boeing 707 at carbine point all the way from California to Rome in 1969. Minichiello's 6,900-mile, 17-hr. 48-min. record for long-distance hijacking still stands, as does his unique place in the folklore of Naples which claims him for its own, though he was born 80 miles away in the mountain town of Melito Irpino. Last week Minichiello set yet another outrageous mark as one of Italy's most favored criminals.

Minichiello originally faced up to 32 years in prison on three charges connected with importing a "weapon of war," his M-l carbine, and three counts of assaulting and kidnaping the plane crew and an Italian police official. Last November, a criminal court in Rome managed to limit his penalty to 71 years after the defense eloquently described him as a "Don Quixote without Dulcinea, without Sancho Panza, who instead of mounting his Rocinante flew across the skies."

General Amnesty. Last week when his case came up for appeal, his defense attorneys startled the judges by producing in court a locally bought hunting rifle with the same ballistic characteristics as Minichiello's M-l and arguing that therefore the charges against him of importing a "weapon of war" should be dropped. The court saw merit in the argument and reduced his sentence to 3½ years. After the decision was handed down, the losing Italian prosecutor walked over to Minichiello, patted him on the back, and admonished him to "be a good boy from now on." A two-year general amnesty granted most Italian prisoners by President Giuseppe Saragat last May automatically reduced that 3½year stretch to 18 months, which was almost exactly the amount of time that Minichiello had already served. Thus, this week he will walk out of Rome's Queen of Heaven Prison a free man.*

Well, not entirely free. He still cannot return to the U.S., where a Brooklyn, N.Y., grand jury indicted him on charges of air piracy, kidnaping and assault, carrying penalties of 20 years to death. But there is no point in U.S. officials seeking to press charges. Italy is a member of a European convention prohibiting extradition on charges carrying the death penalty.