In April 1290, Bettino di Megliodeglialtri Ricci confessed in court that he had tried to frame his enemies from the Boattieri clan for assault. As described in his sentence, Bettino first bloodied his hand with a knife and then went into the Boattieri's neighborhood to pick a fight. He surprised Baldo and Giacomo Boattieri from behind, provoking one of them to shove him and say, “What are you doing in this neighborhood?” This was precisely the reaction Bettino was hoping for. Now that they had “come to words” and made physical contact, Bettino held up his bleeding hand and cried out that he had been wounded. From there it is unclear how Bettino landed in court, but evidently his ruse was not very convincing. He confessed that he had contrived this plot with one of Tommaso Ricci's sons after the notary Giacomo Biasmaltorti—later identified as a partisan (ex parte) of the Boattieri clan—had Bettino accused by Giacomo Boattieri and Corso Guglielmi of some unspecified crime. These details suggest that Bettino was pursuing a vendetta through criminal accusations instead of direct violence—a vendetta that involved family friends, not just blood relatives. In light of this confession, the podestà found Bettino guilty of attempting to frame his enemies “falsely, maliciously, and against the truth” and “against the good and peaceful state” of the commune.