Three men accused of killing Daphne Caruana Galizia were back in court on Thursday morning, as the compilation of evidence against them resumed. A contested IT expert was the main witness.

Highlights from Thursday's case:

• Devices used were never used again after the bomb was sparked. 
• Thousands of phone calls were analysed, but two particular numbers stood out at the moment of the explosion.
• Defence lawyers demanded to know if there had been any threats made to Daphne Caruana Galizia on her phone call profiles - despite a court order which said those logs should be protected.

Minute-by-minute:

11.02am: The case has been adjourned to April 12. 

10.57am: The IT expert insists that he can only tell the court that there was a communication between two devices but not who was behind each device, and who made the call. Dr Bajada's testimony is over. 

10.50am: Elaborating on the devices used, Dr Bajada says GPS is used for a variety of reasons. Some GPS relay messages to another device to get it to do something. In this case there were two particular IMEIs (International Mobile Equipment Identity). They were never used again after the day of the explosion. 

10.40am: Lawyers from the prosecution and defence are engaging in a verbal ping pong over safeguarding the rights of their clients. Each accuses the other side of raising their voices.

10.37am: If you're catching up with us now, Martin Bajada, an IT expert who analysed the phone data after the car bomb, is on the witness stand giving testimony. His testimony is being challenged by defence lawyer William Cuschieri. 

Experts and top army officials investigating the scene of the crime. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

10.33am: Dr Bajada says that before the arraignment of the three men, a cloned phone had not been fully analysed. He says he now has the full information but since the magisterial inquiry is still underway he cannot reveal the information. 

10.23am: Lawyer Cuschieri challenges Dr Bajada to say whether his sources were journalistic in nature. Magistrate warns Dr Cuschieri not to put questions which could breach a court ban.

Lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia intervenes making reference to decree given by Magistrate Anthony Vella to protect Caruana Galizia’s sources, following a case filed by the Institute of Maltese journalists in late October 2017.

10.21am: "Could you say with moral certainty that that message set off the  bomb," lawyer asks.

"I never said that and it was not my brief to determine that," Bajada replies in a calm tone at the witness stand.

"I never said that GPS is illegal or that a GPS set off the bomb. I am not an investigator. My brief was to analyse facts."

10.15am: The devices were used on three dates - on January 10, 2017, in August and on the day of the bombing. The SMS sent on the day of the car bomb was linked to the Bidnija antenna.

10.09am: The IT expert says that at the specific moment when the bomb was sparked a particular device was used. It was a Nokia 105 communicating with the other device. He reached this conclusion through call profiles analysis.

10.07am: Dr Bajada says he checked all the phone calls made at the time of the explosion. Thousands of phone calls were analysed, but two particular numbers stood out at the moment of the explosion, the IT expert says.

Were the users identified, the lawyer asks.

"It doesn't work that way. A SIM device was analysed. It’s a unique number of a mobile or device, like a chassis."

Lawyer grills expert over the device - "so you couldn’t tell with moral certainty."

Dr Bajada hits back. "Yes, I could. That message could not be sent to a mobile but to a specific device."

10am: The IT expert says his only contact with the FBI was a meeting with them at the police headquarters.

9.56am: Questioned by the defence lawyers, Dr Bajada replies that he was authorised to investigate each of the tasks he was assigned to.

Was there an explicit magisterial decree, lawyer William Cuschieri asks.

"I don’t know if there was a decree. But I was expressly authorised by the magistrate," Dr Bajada replies. 

9.50am: The case finally gets going. Martin Bajada takes to the witness stand. 

He says he analysed call profiles, reconstruction of cell calls of the victim and hand on the data to Europol. He also analysed 112 calls on the day of the car bomb and inspected CCTV footage, among others.

Today, this data cannot be presented because the magistrate had imposed a ban on sources.

9.33am: Two armed guards stand outside the courtroom as family members and lawyers assemble.

9.25am: Thursday morning's session has already been hotly contested before it started. A judge last week rejected yet another attempt to stop court-appointed IT expert Martin Bajada from testifying in the ongoing compilation of evidence against the three men. Alfred Degiorgio, one of the accused, filed a constitutional application claiming that his right to a fair hearing would be breached if the expert was allowed to testify.

Daphne Caruana Galizia pictured in 2017.

The controversy stems from a 1993 case where Dr Bajada was convicted of theft and fraud by the UK courts.

However, his position as expert was green lighted by a decision of the superior courts in 2017.

9.15am: In a sitting three weeks ago, the almost three-hour session featured some ill-tempered exchanges between lawyers and the bench, with defence lawyer William Cuschieri in particular getting into some tense conversations at times.

Read: Lawyers argue as Daphne murder suspects return to court

Background:

Degiorgio brothers Alfred and George and Vince Muscat face charges of having planted and detonated the bomb which killed the journalist in October 2017.

Court experts have testified about a boat spotted entering and exiting the Grand Harbour on the day of the murder, which investigators say is Alfred Degiorgio’s Maya.

Police witnesses also testified about items they had confiscated from a Żebbuġ site on the day police had arrested the three suspects.

The three suspects have filed separate proceedings against authorities, saying their arrest and searches of their homes had breached their fundamental rights.

The key players:

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit is presiding.

Lawyer Martin Fenech is appearing for Vince Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, 55.

Lawyers William Cuschieri and Martha Muscat are representing Alfred Degiorgio, known as il-Fulu, 53.

Lawyer Josette Sultana is appearing for Alfred's brother George Degiorgio, known as iċ-Ċiniz, 55.

Philip Galea Farrugia from the Attorney General's office and inspectors Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra are prosecuting.

Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Eve Borg Costanzi are appearing parte civile.