Rome mayor moves to delay start of trial on lying charges

Rome mayor moves to delay start of trial on lying charges - Brownsville Herald: US & World News

Gregorio Borgia

Rome mayor moves to delay start of trial on lying charges

A man reads Virginia Raggi's Facebook post in which she said she was innocent, in Rome Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018. She said she was opting for the "immediate judgment" procedure, which allows her to skip the Jan. 9 preliminary hearing and proceed directly to trial at a later date. Rome's mayor is seeking to delay the start of her trial on charges that she lied about a City Hall appointment until after Italy's March 4 general election, where Raggi's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement is hoping to wrest control of the Italian government for the first time. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Gregorio Borgia

Rome mayor moves to delay start of trial on lying charges

FILE - In this photo taken Saturday, Nov 26, 2016, Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi and 5-Star Movement leader Beppe Grillo attend a political rally in Rome. Rome's mayor is seeking to delay the start of her trial on charges that she lied about a City Hall appointment until after Italy's March 4 general election, where Raggi's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement is hoping to wrest control of the Italian government for the first time. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Posted: Wednesday, January 3, 2018 10:02 am

Rome mayor moves to delay start of trial on lying charges Associated Press |

ROME (AP) — Rome's mayor is seeking to delay the start of her trial on charges that she lied about a City Hall appointment.

In a Facebook post Wednesday, Mayor Virginia Raggi said she was innocent. She said she was opting for the "immediate judgment" procedure, which allows her to skip the Jan. 9 preliminary hearing and proceed directly to trial at a later date. She says that will "determine the truth as soon as possible."

The move, however, will likely postpone the start of the trial until after Italy's March 4 general election, where Raggi's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement is hoping to wrest control of the Italian government for the first time.

Raggi has been the movement's highest-profile office-holder, but her administration has been bedeviled by the appointment scandal and Rome's continued decay.