GROSSETO, Italy (AP) — Francesco Schettino, accused by survivors, politicians and the media of dereliction of duty after the 2012 shipwreck of the Costa Concordia cruise liner under his command killed 32, testified in his own defense for the first time Tuesday, defiant and gesticulating under questioning from Italian prosecutors. The testimony had a theatrical flair, with Schettino hunched over a table on a stage, at times studying a photo of the ship's radar, while prosecutors in the front row of the auditorium played bit-by-bit audio segments from the ship's bridge the night of Jan. 13, 2012, when the cruise liner hit rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio, tearing a huge gash in the hull. The exchange that has most defined his image is a recording of a port official in colorful, angry language ordering him back on board to oversee the evacuation of passengers. During his testimony, Schettino said he allowed the approach to Giglio "to kill three birds with one stone"— pay homage to a retired commander living there, who it turned out was on the mainland; do a favor for the maître d', who was from Giglio; and for marketing reasons.
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