Packed court as Costa captain hears evidence

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An Italian court will decide if Francesco Schettino, the captain of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship, should face a full trial next year for the deaths of 32 people. NBC's Claudio Lavanga reports.By Claudio Lavanga, NBC NewsGROSSETO, Italy -- The captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that crashed into an Italian reef appeared in court Monday to hear the evidence against him, while hundreds of passengers who survived the deadly shipwreck and the families of those who died in it showed up just "to look him in the eye."

The case of Francesco Schettino, 51, was of such enormous interest that a theater had to be turned into a courtroom in the Tuscan city of Grosseto to accommodate all those who had a legitimate claim to be at the closed-door hearing over the disaster.

As dozens of experts, lawyers and prosecutors packed the building, all eyes were on Schettino, who returned to Tuscany for the first time since his arrest to, in his own words, “Face my accusers.”




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