Two brothers accused of supplying the explosive that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia are not to be referred to by their family nickname, which is to be struck off the bill of indictment and any documents shown to jurors at their trial, a court has ordered.

Robert and Adrian Agius, commonly referred to as Tal-Maksar, have successfully challenged that nickname reference through one of several preliminary pleas raised in respect of the bill of indictment during the pre-trial stages.

The brothers, together with Jamie Vella and George Degiorgio, stand jointly but variously accused under one bill of indictment over their alleged involvement in the 2017 murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia and that of lawyer Carmel Chircop, two years before. Chircop was gunned down inside a Birkirkara garage complex on October 8, 2015.

Degiorgio and Vella stand accused of having allegedly perpetrated that murder while the Agius brothers are accused as accomplices.

Robert Agius and Vella are separately accused of supplying the explosive device used in the car bomb that killed Caruana Galizia in October 2017.

George Degiorgio, alongside his brother Alfred Degiorgio, is currently serving a 40-year jail term after both brothers registered a guilty plea at the start of their trial for their role as hitmen in the journalist’s assassination. That sentence was subsequently confirmed on appeal.

Meanwhile, the compilation of evidence in respect of the Agius brothers, Vella and Degiorgio has been wrapped up and the relative bill of indictment issued by the attorney general.

All four co-accused filed several pre-trial pleas, with arguments thrashed out before the Criminal Court.

It could lead jurors to link them to certain family members notorious in the criminal world

On Friday, Madam Justice Edwina Grima delivered judgment on those pleas, upholding the first one put forward by the Agius siblings and Vella.

They argued that reference to the Agius’s family nickname of Tal-Maksar in the bill of indictment and the records of the compilation of evidence caused prejudice to the accused since it could lead jurors to link them to certain family members notorious in the criminal world.

As for Vella, that nickname was nowhere attached to him. But he also objected to its use since his own name could also be linked to the nickname by the jurors, thus resulting in prejudice in his regard.

The attorney general rebutted that a nickname was “a state of fact which served to prove the accused’s identity” and was not at all “denigrating or descriptive” casting a shadow upon the accused. Indeed, several witnesses also referred to the Agius brothers by nickname when testifying during the compilation stage.

The court observed that within the local context nicknames were a means of identification since sometimes it was easier to refer to someone by nickname than name and surname.

However, the court had to consider whether the use of the Tal-Maksar nickname during the trial by jury could somehow prejudice the accused by linking them in the mind of jurors to “a circle of people who may have had a criminal reputation in the past”. If that were so, then that would be an indirect reference to the accused’s criminal history and such a reference is prohibited at law, except in specific circumstances.

Any reference to the accused’s criminal character or past convictions are totally banned during a trial and it is for the judge to direct the jurors along those lines.

In this case, neither the Agius brothers nor Vella had failed to point out how the nickname was linked to some criminal behaviour, observed Judge Grima. All they said was that Raymond Agius, the brothers’ father, was a murder victim some years back. However, as a matter of fact, all media coverage of this case concerning the Chircop and Caruana Galizia murders referred to the Agius brothers by their family and business nickname.

In light of such circumstances, the court deemed that the use of this nickname within the local context now bore notorious overtones and could be associated to criminal behaviour which, in turn, could be attributed not only to the brothers but also to their co-accused.

To avoid any possible prejudice, it would be wise for any reference to the Tal-Maksar surname to be removed from the bill of indictment. Such cancellation would not change the facts narrated by the attorney general and the subsequent accusations in the bill of indictment.

When questioning witnesses at the upcoming trial the prosecution must phrase its questions in such manner as to avoid referring to the nickname

Moreover, when questioning witnesses at the upcoming trial the prosecution must phrase its questions in such manner as to avoid referring to the nickname, even though the witnesses might use that nickname when answering. The court has no control over that, observed the judge.

The nickname was also to be struck off any documents from the records of the compilation which were to be handed to the jurors.

The court also upheld another plea concerning reference to Agius’s past convictions.

The request was deemed quite “superfluous” by the court since in terms of law, no reference to the defendant’s past criminal history was allowed at the trial and was not to be made known to the jurors. It is only after the verdict is delivered and only in case of a guilty outcome that any criminal precedents of the accused are taken into consideration for sentencing purposes.

Other pleas related to statements released by Adrian Agius in October 2015, testimonies based on footage related to the Chircop murder, challenges to Vince Muscat’s testimony as well as reports in English submitted by experts from the Netherlands Forensic Institute, were turned down.

Lawyers Alfred Abela and René Darmanin are counsel to Robert and Adrian Agius, as well as Vella who is also assisted by lawyer Ishmael Psaila.

Lawyers Noel Bianco and Leslie Cuschieri are assisting Degiorgio.