Maksar gang trial: Judge addresses jurors ahead of deliberation

Judge Edwina Grima has begun addressing the jurors before sending them to deliberate on their verdict in the Maksar gang trial.

In her address, the judge said that it had not been easy for the jurors to endure the jury process for so long.

She said it had been a difficult journey, but the trial was now drawing to a close. She went on to say that she was certain this experience would be a unique one, and remarked that the jurors might have realised just how difficult it is to sit and listen, and then to judge.

Judge Grima stressed the importance of the jurors reaching a decision impartially, urging them not to be swayed by emotions or sentiments.

She asked them to reach a decision independently, without allowing anyone or anything to influence their judgement.

"You are equal to me here – I am not above you in this process. You will decide based on the evidence you have heard in this courtroom. What you are to decide must be based solely on the evidence presented here – nothing more and nothing less. You cannot reach a verdict because you heard someone say something and allowed it to influence your decision," the judge explained to the jurors.

She reminded them they are not there to judge the crime itself or the victims, but the four individuals standing before them.

 “We’ve heard a lot. I’m sure you have seen and heard things, and perhaps even formed opinions. But now you must set all of that aside and focus only on the evidence you heard in this courtroom. Many arguments were raised about whether the investigation was properly conducted, or whether evidence could have been obtained but wasn't.”

She warned them that “you are not here to fill in what you might feel are gaps in the investigation.”

The trial by jury over the murders of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and lawyer Carmel Chircop continued before Madam Justice Edwina Grima. The accused are ‘Tal-Maksar’ brothers, Robert and Adrian Agius, Jamie Vella and George Degiorgio.

Vella and Robert Agius, Adrian’s younger brother, are accused of complicity in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia by supplying the bomb that killed her in October 2017.Adrian Agius is charged with commissioning the murder of lawyer Carmel Chircop in 2015.Prosecutors insist the hit was also carried out in complicity with Jamie Vella and George Degiorgio who are accused of executing Chircop’s murder.