The prosecution in criminal proceedings concerning Melvin Theuma’s phantom job could not rest its case on Wednesday because lawyers from the Attorney General’s office had not yet checked testimonies given a fortnight ago.
This meant they could not tell if further evidence needed to be compiled.
That declaration by the prosecuting inspectors triggered a lengthy rebuttal by one of the defence lawyers whose minuted arguments were jointly taken up by the other lawyers who requested the court to declare the prosecution’s evidence closed.
A decision on that is to be taken by presiding Magistrate Monica Vella who wrapped up Wednesday’s brief hearing with a clear warning to the prosecution.
“The court is making it clear to both the prosecution and the AG’s office that such behaviour as manifested today, is not acceptable,” said Magistrate Vella.
Case files kept within the court’s chambers were accessible to all lawyers, both defence and prosecution.
“This court’s chamber was never closed to any lawyer,” remarked the magistrate, turning down a suggestion to notify the AG’s office of Wednesday’s outcome.
That was not the normal practice adopted by the court in any other case and “no one had a higher right than anyone else at law, concluded the magistrate.
During the previous sitting, the prosecution had produced two witnesses.
A bank representative and a top official from the state-owned housing maintenance and embellishment company who was the successor of Anthony Muscat, the former CEO under whose office Theuma had got his messenger-driver job for which he never turned up.
The former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri, the former head of customer care at the Office of the Prime Minister, Sandro Craus together with former family ministry secretary Anthony Mario Ellul and Anthony Muscat are all pleading not guilty to theft and misappropriation.
All four former senior government officials stand accused alongside businessman Yorgen Fenech, who is likewise pleading not guilty.
Investigations confirmed that Theuma, the self-confessed middleman in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, had been given the job on the government payroll just five months before the October 2017 assassination.
On Wednesday, the prosecution was expected to inform the court whether they had any further evidence to produce.
But when the hearing started, Inspector Nicholas Vella informed the court that he had communicated with AG lawyers who said that since they had not checked the testimonies given at the previous sitting, they were not yet in a position to declare whether any further evidence would be called for.
Lawyer Stefano Filletti rebutted that the prosecuting officers had already declared that they had no more evidence to produce.
The prosecution was unnecessarily prolonging the proceedings.
The case file was in the court’s chambers and all that the AG lawyers had to do was check that file and inform the court what further evidence they needed, if at all.
The court had also done its best to ensure that the transcripts of the last sitting’s testimonies were completed and included in that file, continued Filletti.
There was no justification as to why the prosecution had failed to follow that course set out by the court.
His client objected to such useless delay that was prejudicial not only to his right to a fair hearing and was also a challenge to the court, said Filletti, requesting the court to declare the prosecution’s evidence as closed.
The request was taken up by all the defence jointly.
The court declared that a decision would be taken at a later stage.
The case continues.
Inspectors Nicholas Vella and Brian Paul Camilleri prosecuted.
Lawyers Edward Gatt and Mark Vassallo are counsel to Schembri. Lawyers Charles Mercieca, Gianluca Caruana Curran and Marion Camilleri are counsel to Fenech. Lawyer Stefano Filletti is counsel to Muscat. Lawyers Michael Sciriha and Roberto Spiteri are counsel to Craus. Lawyers Vince Micallef and Jacob Portelli are counsel to Ellul.