The Mafia mega-trial begins, the first level of judgment. Thanks to the repentant boss Buscetta, the true name of the Sicilian Mafia is now known: “Cosa Nostra.” The mafiosi on trial are confident that, as always, everything will be resolved in court. But this time it’s different: Falcone and Borsellino are determined to get to the bottom of the matter, to the third level of judgment, and to consider all the crimes and murders, hundreds of them, in a single trial, a single context, a single theory. When they realize this, the mafiosi begin theatrical scenes in the courtroom to undermine the trial: some try to strip, some claim they can’t hear the judge, some faint, some complain about the police’s scrutiny. There were 475 defendants and over 200 defense lawyers. The first-degree trial of the mega-trial concluded on December 16, 1987, with 19 life sentences and prison sentences totaling 2,665 years. The third-degree trial, which confirmed almost all the sentences, concluded on January 30, 1992. It was the largest criminal trial ever held in the world. It was followed by the attacks that led to the deaths of judges Falcone and Borsellino and the capture of the instigator and boss of the Mafia, Totò Riina, who died in prison.
