The author wants to draw the scholars’attention to a cross-section of the Paduan penal judicial world with reference to scientific and forensic aspects. The research is based on the Maleficio (Criminal tribunal) section of the rettorato (office of local chief executive) archive in Padua and the documents examine corpus refer to the lawyer Zorzi Marenzi’s work between 1751 and 1757. In particular, the author outlines this lawyer’s defensive options when he is faced with the crime of abortion and the use he makes of Academic scientific advice during trials. The city of Padua is the traditional seat of one of the most important and eminent western universities but its relationship with the administration of justice by the Venetian magistracy is difficult and controversial. Legal counsel is marked, in a positive or negative sense, by the difficulties of this relation and Marenzi, an imposing figure in the Paduan forum for thirty-eight years, was ultimately defeated.
Keywords: Law; advocacy; Forensic science; academic scientific advice; Studium; trial; Padua