Massimo Carlotto (born 22 July 1956) is an Italian writer and playwright.

Carlotto was at the center of one of the most controversial legal cases in Italian contemporary history.

In 1976, a 25-year-old student, Margherita Magello, was found dead at her home, killed by 59 stab wounds.

Massimo Carlotto, a 19-year-old student member of Lotta Continua, happened upon the victim after hearing her cries. He found her bleeding and dying inside of a wardrobe. Instead of notifying the police, he panicked and fled. He was soon arrested and charged with homicide. He never wavered in maintaining his innocence.

In the first trial, he was acquitted for lack of evidence by the Criminal Court of Padua but was then sentenced upon appeal to 18 years imprisonment by the Court Call^{[clarification needed]} the Venice. This sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 1982.

He became a fugitive, first in France and then in Mexico, where he was captured after three years on the run and extradited to Italy. A large popular movement took up Carlotto's cause; in addition, a number of prominent figures signed a petition on his behalf including Ettore Gallo, Jorge Amado, Nilde Iotti, Norberto Bobbio, Giandomenico Pisapia, and Ferdinando Imposimato.

In 1989, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial, sending the case back to the Court of Appeal of Venice to establish whether Carlotto should be acquitted in accordance with the old or the new penal code. In 1990, the question of constitutional legitimacy was raised. In 1991, the Italian Constitutional Court rendered its decision, but the President of the Court's retirement meant yet another trial was necessary, during which Carlotto, suffering from a serious metabolic disease, was sentenced to 16 years in prison. This new conviction violated, Carlotto's lawyers argued, the principle of double jeopardy/ne bis in idem.

Public opinion was on Carlotto's side and in 1993 the Italian President, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, granted him a pardon.