Live: Degiorgios implicate Keith Schembri, Chris Cardona in Daphne murder
Jurors continue to hear evidence in the trial by jury of Yorgen Fenech
The Degiorgio brothers are expected to testify in the trial by jury of Yorgen Fenech, who is pleading not guilty to having commissioned Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder.
On Tuesday, convicted hitman Vince Muscat concluded his testimony on the murder. He recalled to jurors that the Degiorgio brothers told him “we have powerful people behind us” after they were arrested for the murder.
He also said he knew of the impending police raid that led to their arrest in December 2017.
Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, is serving a 15-year sentence for his own role in the murder, as part of a deal that also requires him to provide information about the 2017 assassination.
More witnesses are expected to testify on Wednesday.
Attorney General lawyers Anthony Vella, Godwin Cini and Danika Vella are leading the prosecution.
Lawyers Giannella de Marco, Charles Mercieca and Gianluca Caruana Curran are appearing for the defendant.
Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia are appearing on behalf of the victim's family.
Judge Edwina Grima is presiding over the case.
Refresh for the latest updates
LIVE BLOG
Degiorgio accuses court of jury influence
12.37pm Degiorgio starts shouting at the lawyer, then turns to the jurors: "Be careful."
Judge Edwina Grima slams the table and orders him to stop.
Cini continues questioning the witness. "Why didn't you mention everything to the inquiring magistrate?"
"So that Arnaud would start investigating. They only charged us in court. They didn't take Keith Schembri to court!" he shouts.
Degiorgio claims that he was not allowed to testify in his jury trial. "Two homicides in one jury... you should be ashamed. You tried influencing the jurors in our jury. I don't know how you sleep at night."
Prosecution questions Degiorgio on Schembri claim
12.31pm Cini asks why Degiorgio waited until the jury to implicate Keith Schembri in the case.
"Why did Koħħu yesterday say that I used to send texts to Daphne when in seven years he never mentioned it?" he argues.
"How do you know what Koħħu said yesterday?"
"I have my sources."
"Who told you?"
"The newspapers."
'Police never took action'
12.24pm Lawyer Godwin Cini asks George Degiorgio how Chris Cardona got involved.
"Because in 2015 it was Chris Cardona who gave me the orders. Don't look so surprised," he said.
Cini points out that Degiorgio testified in the magisterial inquiry and compilation of evidence for this case. In his previous testimony, he never mentioned Keith Schembri.
"Because the police never took action on this. We spent six years going down to the police depot. Liars believe the police," he says.
'Cardona told us Keith Schembri sent Melvin'
12.17pm George Degiorgio says three people were involved in the murder plot: "Me, Koħħu, Melvin Theuma, Chris Cardona, Keith Schembri and David Gatt."
"Keith went to Melvin asking that we kill Daphne. We asked him directly. After, we called David Gatt so that we could meet Chris Cardona. The next day, we went to Cardona and asked him who sent Theuma. Cardona told us Keith Schembri sent Melvin Theuma."
"How did Keith Schembri get involved?" Cini asks.
"How would I know?" he responds.
'Melvin told us Schembri sent him'
12.11pm Lawyer Godwin Cini asks about Melvin Theuma, and how he approached the two over the plot.
"Melvin Theuma didn't tell you about how he came down to the potato shed, asked for Alfred and told us to hurry up. I told him to tell Keith Schembri that he'll know when we're ready. Theuma lowered his head, smiled, and left," George Degiorgio says.
"Why did you tell him this?" Cini asks.
"Because Melvin told us that [Keith] Schembri sent him. We wanted to know who hired him to kill Daphne."
'The murder started in 2015'
12.10pm Lawyer Godwin Cini asks George Degiorgio why he is more comfortable testifying about the 2015 plan.
"The murder started in 2015," he says.
Cini challenges him on this. He refers to Degiorgio's previous testimony in the magisterial inquiry, where he suggests that the two plans were separate.
"What happened between 2015 and 2017?" he asks.
"Nothing happened, everything stopped," Degiorgio says.
He confirms it was Melvin Theuma that approached him and his brother "around April or May in 2017" about the plan to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia.
George Degiorgio testifies
12.03pm George Degiorgio is next to testify, but like his brother, he is using his pending human rights case as a reason not to testify.
Judge Edina Grima warns him that he must testify, otherwise the court will take action against him.
"Take as much action as you want. Do you have another 40 years for me?"
"Address the court with respect," the judge warns him.
"I won't testify. I'll testify on the 2015 plot, not the 2017 one. I hope one day someone is arraigned on the 2015 plot," he says, referring to an alleged, separate 2015 murder plot against Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Blast 'cooked' victim's brain
11.58am The next witnesses are Marie Therese Camilleri and Ali Sarfraz, both forensic pathologists who carry out post-mortems.
The two were responsible for preparing a post-mortem report on Daphne Caruana Galizia's body. The final cause of death was deemed to be blast injuries.
"The heat actually cooked the brain. We mentioned this in our report," they say.
Degiorgio arrested for contempt of court
11.47am Given Degiorgio's repeated refusal to testify, Judge Edwina Grima has ordered his arrest and that he be arraigned in court within 48 hours for contempt of court.
That marks the end of his testimony.
Alfred Degiorgio refuses to elaborate on claim
Edited at 12pm with further detail
11.44am The prosecution starts questioning Alfred Degiorgio again, this time about his claim that Chris Cardona, Keith Schembri and David Gatt were involved in the murder plot.
"I confirm that the three were involved in the case," he says.
"Can you specify the type of involvement?" lawyer Godwin Cini asks.
"I won't answer."
Degiorgio makes a remark that the police only went to search Keith Schembri's Castille officer "after they cleaned it up".
Degiorgio wants protection before testifying
11.37am Judge Edwina Grima warns Alfred Degiorgio again that he is obligated to testify in these proceedings.
"If I testify, what protections will you grant my family?" he asks the judge. "You have no idea how dangerous these three people are," he says, referring to David Gatt, Keith Schembri and Chris Cardona.
The judge says the court can offer protection.
Back in session
11.34am Judge Edwina Grima is back in the courtroom. The jurors enter too. Alfred Degiorgio continues to testify - or rather, continues to refuse testimony.
Lawyer Gianella Demarco asks him about call logs with David Gatt. She suggests that he and David Gatt were in contact between January and October 2017.
Alfred Degiorgio refuses to answer.
Demarco says she has no more questions to put to the witness.
Judge tells Degiorgio to testify
10.55am As Alfred Degiorgio continues to refuse testimony, Judge Edwina Grima tells him that action will be taken against him.
"You need to testify, and the court will take steps against you if you don't testify," she warns.
"I'm not going to testify."
"I am going to take action against you."
"I'm not going to testify."
The court takes a 15-minute break.
Alfred Degiorgio repeats allegation
10.44am Defence lawyer Gianella Demarco begins cross-examining Alfred Degiorgio. She asks him to repeat what he said at the start of his testimony.
"I have no doubt that Chris Cardona, David Gatt and Keith Schembri are involved in this case," he repeats.
"Why are you saying this?" she asks.
"I won't answer."
She puts a series of other questions to him, including about Melvin Theuma and about their request for a presidential pardon, but he refuses to answer.
Degiorgio implicates Chris Cardona, Keith Schembri
10.40am The prosecution continues to put questions to Alfred Degiorgio, but his response is the same for each one: "I won't answer."
A quick clarification on his opening remark. When Degiorgio went up to the stand, his first comment was: "Without a doubt, David Gatt, Chris Cardona and Keith Schembri were involved."
If you need a refresher as to who these people are, you can refer to this handy article.
Degiorgio refuses to testify
10.30am Judge Edwina Grima asks why he is not responding.
"My case hasn't been decided. For you, [points to judge] it has," Alfred Degiorgio says.
"I will order action against you," the judge warns him.
"I'm not going to testify."
'My testimony would shock you all'
10.22am Lawyer Gowdin Cini tells Degiorgio that he was found guilty of the crime even after the decision was appealed. "The law obliges you to testify."
Degiorgio's response: "I won't respond. If I testify, I would shock you all. You [points to the judge] breached my human rights."
Cini asks a series of questions, including who approached him about the murder, what was the motive, and what the plan entailed. Degiorgio chooses not to respond to any of the questions.
A quick point of law
10.20am Charles Mercieca asks if he understood well that the court will allow the witness not to answer certain questions.
Judge Edwina Grima says she was clear: the prosecution will ask its questions and the witness can choose not to answer.
The jurors are brought back out again.
Alfred Degiorgio testifies
10.15am Alfred Degiorgio is brought to the witness stand. Before a question can be put to him, he starts mentioning David Gatt, Chris Cardona and Keith Schembri, but the court stops him in his tracks.
Degiorgio then says he cannot answer any questions because he is contesting his sentence in the European Court of Human Rights.
The judge points out the case is closed. Questions will be put to him, and he will decide whether he wants to answer.
Before the first question can be put to him, Charles Mercieca raises a point of law and the jurors are sent out.
3D images of Bidnija
10.10am Formosa is going into a lot of technical detail about the 3D models he developed of the crime scene. He shows the jurors a 3D image of the entire zone, with elevation data from one point to another.
In another 3D image, jurors are being shown the car with Caruana Galizia's remains inside.
His testimony ends there, with no cross-examination.
Reconstructing the crime scene
9.43am After that pause, the jurors enter the courtroom. Before they come out, Judge Edwina Grima takes the opportunity to let the prosecution and defence know that the jurors are seeing these pauses as "a waste of time".
"Just letting you know," she says.
The first witness of the day is criminologist Saviour Formosa. He tells the court he was instructed to reconstruct the crime scene using 3D mapping.
Formosa presents various documents to the court, including a video from the crime scene and footage of the car on site.
He says the data was generated through laser scanning - a process that took six months to conclude.
48 hours' notice
9.34am The court drew the defence's attention to the fact that the Attorney General does not carry out investigations, while stating that the court has adopted a system whereby the prosecution informs who will testify in the proceedings on the following day, this due to the process being voluminous and also for logistical purposes.
This makes it possible for the parties, within a restricted timeframe, to properly prepare themselves for the next sitting.
The court ordered the prosecution to give, as far as possible, 48 hours' notice to the court and the defence of the witnesses and documents it intends to bring in the following days.
Prosecution and defence clash
9.27am Prosecuting lawyer Anthony Vella says it is doing its best to inform the court as early as possible of the witnesses that will be brought to testify on any given day.
Vella also says the prosecution is "perplexed" by the accusation, after the defence presented documents in court that were not previously exhibited in the acts of the case.
Charles Mercieca is quick to rebut: "I am surprised the prosecution is focusing on that instead of investigating Chris Cardona and Keith Schembri"
Degiorgio brothers expected to testify
9.14am The judge has emerged from her chambers. Before the jurors come out, the defence is raising a point of law.
Lawyer Charles Mercieca says the prosecution was supposed to provide the names of witnesses at least two days before they are scheduled to testify in court.
He says this rule has not been adhered to, as the defence was only informed yesterday that certain witnesses - including the Degiorgio brothers - are expected to testify today.
Welcome
8.53am Good morning and welcome to our live blog of the trial by jury of Yorgen Fenech. We will be sharing the latest updates from the trial in this space.