A driver who sped off when police tried blocking his path at Marsascala on Wednesday was remanded in custody after pleading not guilty to drug charges and damage caused in the car chase leading to his arrest.
Kurt Buttigieg, a 39-year-old Marsa resident, was chased along Triq il-Qaliet, crashing into a police vehicle in his attempt to get away, until he was finally arrested on site.
The incident happened at around 11.30am when officers, acting upon a tip-off, tried stopping the Toyota Hilux pickup truck driven by the suspect.
In the ensuing car chase, police spotted the driver throwing a suspicious packet out of the vehicle, later discovering around a kilo of cocaine in the suspect’s possession.
A search of the man’s home also yielded a firearm.
He was arrested and escorted to court on Friday morning, pleading not guilty to aggravated possession of cocaine, failing to obey legitimate police orders, reckless and dangerous driving, willful damage to third party property exceeding €2,500, unlicensed possession of a firearm and relapsing.
A request for bail was objected to by the prosecution who claimed that investigations were still ongoing and that certain documents discovered at the accused’s home needed to be followed up.
Yet, defence lawyers Matthew Xuereb and Roberto Spiteri strongly rebutted those arguments, highlighting the fact that since the prosecution itself had declared that there were no civilian witnesses to testify, there was no fear of tampering with evidence.
The lawyers also touched upon the topical issue of disclosure, arguing that unless the police made available all material evidence against the accused, his defence was seriously hampered.
How could his lawyers offer the accused effective advice unless offered full disclosure by investigators, in terms of law, argued Xuereb, stressing the importance of this issue which, if successfully challenged before the constitutional courts, could result in nullity of the criminal process.
Disclosure laws, also in terms of EU directives, are specifically intended to ensure equality of arms by providing the defence with all evidence, both in favour of and against the accused, safeguarding the accused’s right to a fair hearing.
The police could have granted police bail under strict conditions to gain more time to investigate, rather than object to bail on the sole basis that “investigations are still ongoing”, argued Xuereb.
After hearing submissions by both parties the court, presided over by magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit, turned down the request for bail in view of the prosecution’s objections. Inspectors Marshall Mallia and Justine Grech prosecuted. Lawyers Matthew Xuereb and Roberto Spiteri were defence counsel.