Defence bid to dissolve jury in attempted murder trial rejected
The accused is denying charges of a drive-by shooting
Madame Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera on Tuesday rejected a request by the defence to dissolve a trial by jury over an attempted murder.
Carl Caruana, 29, stands accused of the attempted murder of Christian Muscat, who was shot at from a car in Marsascala on November 20, 2019. He is also accused of the illegal possession of a firearm
He is pleading not guilty.
The request by the defence for the dissolution of the jury was raised after the prosecution introduced arguments about the accused’s alleged complicity in the crime, as a reaction to a defence claim that it was not Caruana who had fired at Muscat, but someone else in the car.
In an earlier sitting, the jury heard testimony from a Jurgen Fenech, who was allegedly in the BMW with the accused on the day of the shooting. He told the jury he did not know who fired the shots as he ducked his head in the car.
On Tuesday, the defence argued that for the prosecution to bring forward an argument of complicity against Caruana, criminal proceedings had to be taken against Fenech.
Yet the prosecution had declared that no steps would be taken against Fenech. It also noted how Fenech was never cautioned, neither when he testified in Court nor during site visits. The prosecution’s argument would have been legally sustainable had criminal proceedings against Fenech been initiated and concluded.
Therefore, reference to complicity at this stage in the jury created prejudice against the accused, and that was why the defence called for the jury to be dissolved.
On its part, the prosecution said the reference to complicity was put forward as a direct response to the defence’s argument that it was Fenech who carried out the shooting, not Caruana.
The court denied the defence’s request and decided to allow the prosecution to continue its arguments regarding the alleged complicity of the accused in the crime.
Attorney General lawyers Kaylie Bonnet, Dejan Darmanin and Luigi Gulia are prosecuting. Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi, Ishmael Psaila and Amadeus Cachia are representing the accused.