The Getty Story Plays Out

Here's a new Associated Press story telling readers of this blog what they knew was going to happen: as the ink dries on the newly-signed agreement between the Getty and Italy, in which the museum returns 40 pieces to Italy, Italy is dropping civil charges against Marion True. That should happen when her trial resumes tomorrow. "True's position is certainly less serious. ... In this case, returning the artifacts can be considered an extenuating circumstance," Maurizio Fiorilli, one of the state prosecutors, told reporters after the deal was signed at the Culture Ministry in Rome this week. Fiorilli handles the civil case, while it is his colleague Paolo Ferri who prosecutes the criminal charges. But as Fiorilli told me this summer, the criminal charges could be pleaded out in exchange for a few months in prison. No word on whether True would agree to this sort of deal, but she is undoubtedly eager to be through with this chapter of her life. UPDATE: True's camp is not interested in a plea bargain, I've been told. They want to prove her innocence of the charges, and intend to see the trial through, though in Italy that process may take many more years.