"The shots went off accidentally; I didn't mean to fire. I pulled the gun wrong, and I was forced to intervene to defend my son." Antonio Martinez used these words before Tempio's investigating judge, Marcella Pinna, during his preliminary hearing.

This morning the 41-year-old man from Tempio appeared before the judge, accused of having fired gunshots at a young Moroccan man , events which occurred in Cannigione on 27 June .

Martinez, defended by criminal lawyer Jacopo Merlini, gave spontaneous statements admitting that he made a mistake, especially in pulling out the gun he had in the car (a .357 Magnum). He said the shots were fired while two people, the victim and a fellow Italian, were trying to wrestle the gun from him inside his car . Martinez also stated that he was forced to intervene to protect his 17-year-old son, who was involved in the fight.

The investigating judge of the Tempio Court ordered the man to serve a prison sentence; criminal lawyer Jacopo Merlini requested that the sentence be revoked. Tempio's prosecutor, Alessandro Bosco, disputes the aggravating circumstance of racial hatred.

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