Murder trial: Doctor says accused's friend's nose was possibly broken by blow

Trial by jury for 2013 St. Paul's Bay murder resumes, as jury hears that a friend of the accused had sustained a broken nose on the night of the murder.

Note: A previous version of this article had reported that the accused's nose had been broken. The error is regretted.

The trial by jury of Bulgarian national Emil Atanasov resumed this afternoon, with a series of medical and forensic experts explaining their findings and taking questions from jurors.

Medical doctor Jonathan Joslin, who had examined the accused and his friend Zoran Jocic after his arrest, testified that Jocic had dried blood in his nostril and that his left eye was bloodshot.

"X-ray imaging had confirmed that Jocic's nasal bone had been fractured," he said.

The doctor had classified his injuries as being “grievous per durata,” which the doctor explained, meant that they would heal after more than 21 days. He added that, were the fractures to heal within 21 days, the injury would be reclassified as slight.

Asked what could have caused the fracture, Joslin replied that a strong blow could break the nose and cause bleeding, as had happened in this case.

Atanasov claims to have acted in self-defence when he fatally stabbed Dragoljub, a Serb, in 2014.  He is pleading not guilty to the wilful homicide of Dragoljub, inflicting grievous bodily harm on Zoran Jocic and carrying a knife during the commission of a crime.

The accused had admitted to stabbing the Serb - a friend of his flatmate - during his interrogation but had claimed he had stabbed him in self-defence after a drunken argument over loud music at night had descended into fisticuffs during which Jocic also suffered a broken nose.

The trial continues, with Judge Antonio Mizzi presiding the trial.

Assistant Attorney General Philip Galea Farrugia and lawyer Elaine Mercieca are prosecuting. Lawyer Malcolm Mifsud is defence counsel to Atanasov.