A judge in Grosseto, a town in Tuscany, announced Wednesday that there was enough evidence to try Sc

ROME -- He was judged guilty by public opinion after his cruise ship, the Costa Concordia, capsized off the tiny Italian island of Giglio last year, killing 32 people and leaving thousands traumatized. Now Captain Francesco Schettino will face justice in a court of law.
A judge in Grosseto, a town in Tuscany, announced Wednesday that there was enough evidence to try Schettino for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship while 4,200 passengers and crew were still aboard. Schettino denies the charges.
The Costa Concordia ran aground in January 2012 as it passed very close to the island's shore. It was one of the most high-profile shipwrecks since the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. Slideshow: Luxury cruise ship runs aground
Schettino's defense team tried to convince Judge Paolo Molino to drop the charge of abandonment of ship, one of the worst and most embarrassing offenses for a captain. But Molino ruled there was enough evidence to suggest the captain left the cruise liner voluntarily hours before the last passenger was rescued, rather than falling off the ship accidentally as he initially claimed.