Defence lawyers yesterday objected to a psychiatrist testifying on the mental state of Erin Tanti, the drama teacher accused of murdering his 15-year-old student, Lisa Maria Zahra.
Mr Tanti is pleading not guilty to the murder of Ms Zahra on March 19 and assisting her to commit suicide at Dingli Cliffs. He is also charged with defiling her, participating in sexual acts and being in possession of indecent images of the girl.
Psychiatrist Anton Grech asked the court to release him from professional secrecy so he would be able to testify on his findings after examining Mr Tanti. However, the defence team, lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha, objected.
They said they were not aware under what circumstances Dr Grech had examined their client and wanted to study the situation further before the witness was heard.
At the start of the sitting, lawyers Steve Tonna Lowell, Joe Giglio and Giannella de Marco, for the victim’s family, asked Magistrate Audrey Demicoli for one of Ms Zahra’s young female friends to testify behind closed doors. This, they argued, was because of the sensitivity of the matter and the fact that the girl was a minor.
The magistrate noted that the proceedings had been held in open court and, so, she would not allow witnesses to be treated differently. Dr Sciriha and police inspectors Keith Arnaud and Sylvana Briffa, for the prosecution, did not object to the request and the witness was heard behind closed doors.
At the last sitting, Ms Zahra’s father, Tony, had to be restrained by police officers when he charged towards the dock, where Mr Tanti was seated. He was being questioned about his reaction when he found out that a man had been inside his home with his teenage daughter. There was a moment of silence before Mr Zahra turned and, pointing at Mr Tanti, shouted: “You abused my daughter. You broke into my house and abused my daughter.”
As they tried to calm Mr Zahra down, Mr Tanti was led out of the courtroom and taken to the lock-up in a bid to restore order.
The case continues on August 14.