Qbajjar murder trial | Defence slams Attorney General for 'glossing over inconvenient evidence'

A lawyer defending a pensioner on trial for murder has denounced the Attorney General’s Office for arguing that the accused had “only been punched four times,” during his closing arguments.

Defence lawyer Jason Azzopardi accused the prosecution of glossing over evidence that didn’t help its case. Dr Azzopardi is defending 67 year-old Gerald Galea, who is accused of the murder of John Spiteri and the attempted murder of Spiteri’s son, Matthew.

The incident was sparked by the accused’s objection to the mutilation of a tamarisk tree in Qbajjar car park, Marsalforn in June 2013. The jury had heard medical experts testify that Spiteri had died of injuries caused by being run over by a car, driven by Galea.

"I have difficulty containing my reaction to hearing the prosecution say yesterday the he was ‘only punched four times'," Dr Azzopardi said. "Tell that to a beaten housewife, the next time we have a person in court."

Dr Azzopardi is defending Galea together with lawyer Arthur Azzopardi.

“Shame. The Office of the Attorney General whose role is to uphold the law, is supporting violence. It beggars belief, it is shameful. The Office is there to protect us from bullies. The law is clearly not the same for all,” said the lawyer, his tone of voice rising and nearly breaking with emotion.

“This is supposed to be the best friend of the accused. So are up to four blows OK? Not even once! Is this the state of rule of law? That whoever is stronger, wins? So we raise our children to abhor violence and then the State tells you that up to four punches are ok? ‘Oh, but he left hospital the next day and fractures heal by themselves.’ Shame!"

The accused’s Daihatsu Terios had been hurtling towards the low wall and he was not wearing a seatbelt, the lawyer said. "The accused could not see where he was going... the Terios had hit the wall practically head-on near the exit," he said.

Dr Azzopardi argued that the prosecution failed to mention that the accused got out of the car and started asking 'but why?'. "This is vital because it neutralises the criminal intent... it was confirmed by Matthew Spiteri from the witness stand. It was the body language of someone begging."

The lawyer noted that under cross-examination Spiteri had “got hot under the collar” and said the prosecution “conveniently failed to mention details that could help the accused”.

“Do you know that in 8 hours of replies and tissues, there was no mention of the fact that the Terios’ bonnett was undamaged? This is not a detail, but a crucial fact.  Spiteri had told us that his head was on the bonnet. A court expert with 40 years of experience who had seen thousands of crashes said there was no impact with the bonnet. Not just any witness... can you say he’s trying to pull a fast one, that he was imprecise?"

A neighbour had testified that the accused was unrecognisable and that it was as if he had been punched by a "professional boxer”. Azzopardi argued that the testimony implied that the powerful blows to Galea's face had been delivered before the crash and not after as Spiteri claimed.

Azzopardi pointed out that the prosecution’s cross-examination of the accused was remarkably short in comparison to previous trials, which normally took more than a full day. “They had nothing to ask him.”

Azzopardi accused Matthew Spiteri of “trying to pull a fast one” on the jury, pointing out a number of his assertions which had been disproven by other witnesses.

"Is it a minor detail, when you have Dr Mario Scerri telling us how the impact happened. You know what this means? It means that when Matthew Spiteri testified and acted it out, rolling on the floor, he was lying.”

“Matthew Spiteri was supposed to be running as fast as the car, in his flip flops. In 8 hours [of closing arguments], the prosecution didn’t find a second to explain how he grabbed a door pillar on a moving car which had the rear window up - and deliver blows strong enough to cause those injuries.”

“Let’s assume for argument’s sake that he was telling the truth. The judge had asked a question and he had said that he had punched Gerald Galea twice. But Mario Scerri said he was punched at least 4 times.”

“One punch can be lethal,” Azzopardi said, recalling the 1974 case of Charlie l-Boxer who had killed a man during a bout with a single punch. “And he was wearing boxing gloves. Since when are 4 blows negligible?”

Azzopardi recalled that the prosecution had emphasised the screeching tyres, mentioned only by Spiteri in his testimony, pointing out that this could not have happened because of the gravel surface.

“Do you see how someone is trying to twist the story to suit his needs?” he asked. “These appear to be details, but they are not. Now you know that you cannot rely on Matthew Spiteri’s testimony.”

“It is a thing of wonder. The prosecution wants you to believe that a soft spoken, perfect gentleman who gives his free time to good causes, who would clear leaves from lakes, who would refer to ‘hurting the tree’ who is not even capable of speaking audibly during his first interrogation, whose world consists of him and his wife, who always enjoyed the trust of his neighbourhood, whose brother said was incapable of hurting an ant, who would take his mother to Ta’ Pinu every day, who was due to return to the USA to be near his bereaved wife. That this man transformed into a person who drove after two men in broad daylight to kill them, in a public carpark, in front of everyone - because of a tree.”

Azzopardi insisted that the presence of a death did not necessarily mean there was a murder. He said it was not a crime to be fearful and terrified. "It is not a crime to be a 63-year-old who does not want to continue being beaten.”

The defence lawyer said blood stains proved the victim had pummeled the accused through an open car door. John Spiteri had physically entered the Terios, Azzopardi said, instilling fear in the accused.

"It’s not for nothing that he was afraid for his life... put yourself in his shoes at that time. What more evidence do you require? Is it normal for someone to be so close to you inside your car? Spiteri said he saw his father punch the accused, but he omitted to say that his father then opened the door and carried on punching him as he sat in the driver’s seat. He was not terrified for nothing,” the lawyer exclaimed.

Judge Antonio Mizzi is expected to begin his summing up tomorrow morning, after the completion of which, the jury will retire to reach a verdict.

Lawyers Giannella Busuttil and Kevin Valletta from the Office of the Attorney General are prosecuting. Galea is being defended by lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Jason Azzopardi. Lawyer Joe Giglio is representing the Spiteri family parte civile.