The latest development in the hearings of Wolgang Rieke, the truck driver accused of hitting and killing Davide Rebellin, has seen the presiding judge 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 length of three years and 11 months.
However, the judge at the Vicenza court, Dr Roberto Venditti, has rejected the petition, considering the sentence too light in view of Rieke's behaviour, La Gazzetta dello Sport has reported.
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Rieke, who had previously been charged with a non-fatal hit-and-run and driving under the influence of alcohol, reportedly hit recently retired Rebellin in Montebello Vicentino on November 30, 2022. Eyewitnesses at the scene reported seeing Rieke leave his truck and approach Rebellin's body before driving away.
He returned to Germany but was soon identified and traced following a cooperative investigation by Italian, German, Austrian, and Slovenian police. In June police apprehended him in Münster before his extradition to Italy was approved by a German court the next month.
Rieke will stand trial facing charges of vehicular homicide and failure to provide assistance after hitting Rebellin, who died instantly at the scene. The first hearing in the trial has been set for April 22, 2024. Until then, he will remain in Vicenza prison, where he has been held since August.
"We are satisfied with this rejection and we thank the judiciary again for the work they have done and the attention they have paid to Davide's case," Rebellin's brother Carlo said, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
