Updated at 4.10pm

A man accused of murder during an armed robbery 25 years ago has had his acquittal confirmed on appeal.

Melchior Spiteri stood accused of killing Vittorio Cassone back in 1993. 

The criminal court of appeal confirmed the 'not guilty' verdict a jury had passed on Mr Spiteri back in 2016 and made it clear that all submissions in cases had to be made in open court. 

This, the appeals court said, was important as the integrity of criminal justice was founded upon having fair, public hearings.

That statement was prompted by an incident that had taken place in the closing stages of Mr Spiteri’s jury trial. Just before the presiding judge was about to conclude his address to the jurors, defence lawyer Franco Debono had asked, via court marshall, to speak to the court.

Defence and prosecution lawyers had convened in the judge's chambers, where the judge was asked by the defence to replace the chief juror, who like Mr Spiteri was a Cospicua resident and who had made disparaging comments about the court in a series of Facebook posts. 

The judge spoke to the juror in question privately, and an hour or so later called defence and prosecution lawyers into his chambers once again and told them that Dr Debono’s objection was being rejected.

That jury found Mr Spiteri not guilty, and following the verdict the Attorney General had seized upon that episode to seek to annul the verdict and force a new trial. The AG did not, however, prove how the events on that final day had in any way influenced the jurors’ decision, thereby resulting in any breach in the administration of justice.

The appeals court dismissed the Attorney General’s reasoning, criticising the “ambiguity” in the AG’s stance.

Before the initial verdict, the prosecution had not echoed the defence’s request to dissolve the jury, believing that the outcome would be favourable to it. Neither had it asked for the trial to be dissolved because the judge had spoken to the juror in private.

“It was only when the not guilty verdict was returned that the AG found an objection,” the appeals court noted.

The appeals court also noted that there was no record of the defence having asked for the juror to be replaced, although both sides acknowledged that this had happened, since the matter had been discussed in an informal manner inside the judge’s chambers.

The court of appeal, presided over by Chief Justice Joseph Azzopardi alongside Mr Justice Joseph Zammit McKeon and Madam Justice Edwina Grima, while rejecting the appeal on the basis of lack of evidence, sent out a strong message reaffirming the independence of the judiciary as fundamental to the rule of law.

Any request had always to be made in open court and any communication with the presiding judge or magistrate was never to take place in any other manner, the court declared.

All submissions must be done in open court “so that the principle of transparency is not tarnished,” the court went on.

“No advocate is to dare put any requests to the court unless in open court, even if such requests are made in the presence of all parties concerned and even if made with good intentions,” the court declared, adding that whatever took place during proceedings was to be noted in the minutes of the court.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri assisted the accused.