Lawyers representing the seven scientists and engineers convicted of manslaughter for advice they gave ahead of the deadly L'Aquila earthquake in 2009 are expected to have lodged formal appeals against the verdict in the first few days of March. The researchers' conviction last October - and the six-year jail sentences handed down to each of the accused - shocked many in the scientific world and beyond, triggering warnings that many experts would now be scared to give advice for fear of prosecution. Francesco Petrelli - lawyer for convicted volcanologist Franco Barberi - said that the verdict will be "subject to a crossfire of criticisms".
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