LIVE | Yorgen Fenech trial: Defence requests dissolution of jury over tablet news headlines

Court adjourned

Court is adjourned until 2:30pm.

When we return, Judge Edwina Grima is expected to deliver her decision on the defence’s request for the dissolution of the jury.

‘The situation is simply too problematic to ignore’

Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca replies that the stage the trial has reached should not be a factor when assessing whether prejudice has occurred.

He acknowledges that dissolving the jury is an “uncomfortable request for everyone,” particularly after all the time and effort invested in the proceedings, but insists that the situation is simply too problematic to ignore.

The defence again points to the jurors having had unsupervised access to outside material, with Mercieca continuing to cite examples of content that was not evidence heard in court.

He refers to an article from the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation with the headline “How corrupt influence enabled murder,” stressing that this was neither a quote heard during the jury trial nor a declaration emerging from evidence.

Mercieca points to editorials accessible through the tablets, including one headlined “Muscat cannot rewrite the history of Daphne’s murder.”

Dissolution would be ‘insult to jurors,’ prosecution argues

Prosecutor Anthony Vella argues that it would be “an insult to the jurors” for the entire trial to be dissolved after everything they have gone through simply because they “could have” seen headlines concerning matters discussed in court.

He concludes that the court can address the jurors directly before deliberation and remind them that their decision must be based solely on the facts and evidence presented in the courtroom.

The court also has the option to instruct them to disregard anything they may have seen in the headlines, as well as any material they may have read before the jury trial began.

Prosecution turns to IT expert’s report

Turning to IT expert Martin Bajada’s report, the prosecutor stresses that the news headlines identified were those which could have appeared on the tablets, rather than proof that jurors had actually seen each of them.

He adds that the headlines generally reflected matters which had taken place inside the courtroom.

On the headline referring to Fenech’s request for a presidential pardon, Vella says this was published after jurors had already been shown the audio-visual recording of Fenech’s own police statement, which constitutes admissible evidence.

Vella also responds to the defence’s comparison with a juror who was removed during last year’s Maksar trial after being found using a tablet.

He distinguishes that case by saying the tablet belonged to the juror personally and was not provided by the court, giving him unrestricted access to the internet.

Prosecution objects

Prosecutor Anthony Vella objects to the defence’s request for the dissolution of the jury.

He argues that the application could have been raised earlier in the sitting while the parties were waiting for the recording of the site visit to be brought to court, thereby avoiding an unnecessary loss of time.

Vella argues that the use of tablets during a jury trial is not regulated by law and that the issue should not lead to the dissolution of the jury.

Defence requests dissolution of jury

The lawyer reads out a number of headlines, including one suggesting that the defence had additional evidence from Keith Schembri’s device.

Another headline stated: “It’s an evil cover-up, Yorgen Fenech says, as jurors hear about pardon request.”

Mercieca also notes that jurors had access to other unrelated content through the tablets, including the headline concerning that jurors have access to BBQ nights, a gym, and pools.

He says this is precisely why jurors have been kept away from their families, arguing that otherwise there would be little purpose in sequestration.

According to the defence, however, jurors were effectively “infiltrated with third-party opinions” through the news headlines accessible on their tablets.

Mercieca formally requests the dissolution of the jury. This “should never have happened”, he says.

Headlines and third-party influence

Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca raises concerns over jurors having had access to news headlines through the tablets provided to them during the trial.

The jurors have not yet entered the courtroom this morning.

Mercieca says considerable time and resources have been invested into keeping the jury sequestered from outside influences, and further argues that those efforts have been undermined by their access to press headlines.

He says the number and nature of the headlines identified are concerning, particularly because some do not simply reflect what happened inside the courtroom but contain opinions or refer to matters jurors were not meant to be exposed to.

Mercieca points specifically to headlines concerning Fenech’s request for a presidential pardon.

He specifically stresses that, before the proceedings began, the court ordered that no reference to the request could be made inside or outside the courtroom.

He argues that the jury’s decision should be based solely on what they hear and see in court, saying their “box” should only be filled with evidence presented during the proceedings.

The site visit recording: officers ‘did not even open a drawer’ at Schembri’s villa

Judge Edwina Grima returns to the courtroom after listening to the site visit recording.

The recording focuses on searches carried out at Keith Schembri’s villa.

It includes a statement made by SOCO officer Michelle Camilleri, in which she says that investigators “did not even open a drawer or wardrobe.”

She added that officer would gladly have done so if given the opportunity.

The defence requests for this statement to be included in the official acts of the proceedings.

Sitting to resume soon

IT expert Martin Bajada has arrived at court.

The sitting is expected to resume shortly.

Court expert goes home to pick up recording

IT expert Martin Bajada has gone home to retrieve the recording.

The sitting will continue once he arrives back at court.

Sitting suspended

The judge observes that the question in dispute is unlikely to have a significant bearing on the official record, since scene-of-crime officer Michelle Camilleri has already given evidence during the trial.

Grima adds that if expert Martin Bajada is in possession of the sitting’s recording, it must be brought to court.

The judge suspends the sitting until the recording is found and heard.

‘The court cannot go backwards’

Judge Edwina Grima responds that the court cannot go backwards and amend the record of the site visit.

She further insists that any objection or correction should have been raised before the prosecution formally closed its evidence.

The prosecution also jumps in, asking why the issue is being raised now.

Defence returns to Schembri’s villa search

Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca asks to include a question he put to scene-of-crime officer Michelle Camilleri about who was present during the search of Keith Schembri’s Mellieha villa.

Camilleri had testified that officers were instructed to only collect items indicated to them by Schembri.

When asked whether she had searched jackets or bags, Camilleri replied that she had not since she “was not allowed.”

Mercieca appears to want this issue to be clarified in the official verbal record of the site visit.

Judge enters without jurors

As the day begins, Judge Edwina Grima enters the courtroom. However, the jurors’ seats are still empty.

Hall 22 is full of people this morning as the public awaits the defence to begin presenting its case.

Good morning

Good morning and welcome back to MaltaToday's live coverage of Yorgen Fenech's jury trial for his involvement in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Today's sitting will mark the first led by the defence, as the prosecution rested it's case yesterday.

The prosecution's final witness was Andrew Caruana Galizia.

The victim's son gave an emotional testimony in which he recalled his final months with his mother, the day of her murder, and the months that followed.

While we wait, click here for a quick recap of what happened on Thursday.