Nicola Gratteri, chief prosecutor of Naples, appeared on the La7 programme In Onda and expressed strong criticism of a bill on self-defense filed in the Senate by League senator Claudio Borghi. The bill, introduced after the conviction of jeweler Mario Roggero, would amend Article 52 of the penal code to make any reaction against an armed attack inside one's home or business non-punishable, regardless of the proportionality of the means used, the persistence of the danger, or the strictly defensive nature of the conduct.

Gratteri described the proposal as a folly reminiscent of the Wild West. He argued that if one were to justify the pursuit of attackers outside a jewelry store for nearly one hundred meters and their killing from behind as legitimate defense, then there would be no further need for courts or law enforcement.

According to a poll conducted by Alessandra Ghisleri published in La Stampa, public opinion on the Roggero case is nearly evenly split: 45.4 percent of respondents considered the episode to be legitimate defense, while 44.8 percent did not. The survey also found that opinions on the matter cut across traditional party lines.

During the same interview, Gratteri commented on the dispute between Palermo prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia and Justice Minister Carlo Nordio regarding conditions in Italian prisons. De Lucia had stated at a conference that prisons are no longer under state control, that call conferences take place between inmates inside and contacts outside, and that control of penitentiaries belongs to criminal organizations. Nordio replied that de Lucia had lost control of himself and that it was gravely inappropriate for a prosecutor to offend the entire penitentiary police corps.

Gratteri sided with de Lucia, saying he shared his alarm and had been raising the same concern for ten years. He recalled having proposed years ago, when Cafiero De Raho was national anti-mafia prosecutor, the installation of frequency jammers in every prison to block mobile phone use by inmates. Gratteri noted that an experimentation with jammers is currently underway at the Poggioreale prison in Naples, following discussions with the current director of the DAP, but stated that the country is ten years behind on the issue.