Adverse weather conditions could not deter a 97-year old woman from making the crossing from Gozo to Malta to stand by her son who is currently at the centre of a trial by jury over the 2013 murder of a father as well as the attempted murder of the latter's son.

Gerald Galea, 67, Gozitan-born but long-resident in the USA, was moved to tears upon catching sight of his frail mother, huddled in a shawl seated at the public gallery alongside his wife and sister. Relatives of the accused, one of nine siblings, have regularly turned up at the trial but for the mother, a firm devotee of the Ta’ Pinu shrine, today's was the first visit.

Mr Galea stands accused of the murder of John Spiteri, 54, and the attempted murder of the latter's son, Matthew, following an incident which had broken out at the Qbajjar car park in summer 2013.

The accused, a former Ford manufacturing engineer and fond lover of nature, testified yesterday on how the deceased’s son had been hacking away at a tamarisk tree bruka to clear a site for their food kiosk. The violent incident was allegedly sparked off when the accused threatened to report the matter to the police.

Lawyer Jason Azzopardi, who alongside lawyer Arthur Azzopardi, is handling the defence, continued to make final submissions where he had left off yesterday afternoon, criticising the prosecution for having failed to mention in the bill of indictment that the tree was a protected species.

Addressing the jurors, Dr Azzopardi pointed out that under Maltese law “cutting down these protected species carries with it a fine of up to €25,000. This is a law enacted in 2001. Why is the bill of indictment leaving out important facts”?

All that was said was that the victim had been trimming some branches. No reference was made either to the fact that the accused had been punched by the victim before being run over by the Terios driven by the accused. “Would you know that he had grievous injuries that take over 30 days to heal from the bill of indictment? No.”

In fact, his injuries had been so bad that even the accused's brother, testifying earlier on, had declared that the accused had “looked like something out of a horror movie...he was unrecognisable.”

“In our system…it is said that the best friend of the accused is the prosecution,” declared Dr Azzopardi pointing out that the police are to investigate and gather evidence both against and in favour of the suspect. “The aim of the prosecution is not to convict at all costs, but to see that justice is served,” he went on, adding that the lawyers handling the prosecution were not at fault if the evidence was not properly gathered.

The defence also underlined various inconsistencies in the version of events as described by the victim's son who had witnessed the whole scene.

Matthew Spiteri’s testimony about the accused's driving manoeuvres had been contradicted by statements made by the court-appointed mechanical expert who had explained in court last week that the front right tyre of the Terios had been deflated. This meant that the driver, Mr Galea, could not have performed such manoeuvres. Why was Matthew Spiteri not speaking the truth, questioned the defence.

“The reason why is not for me to say, but it definitely could not be true.”

The victim's son had also testified that his father had opened his arms before hitting the bonnet of the Terios. Yet forensic expert Dr Mario Scerri had ruled out such a possibility when he testified that, had a person of the stature of the victim landed on the bonnet, there would certainly have been some dent.

The same medical expert had also spoken of the fright, fight or flight reaction of a person faced with a similar situation as the accused when stunned by a punch from the victim which allegedly fractured his orbital bone.

Besides experiencing excruciating pain, Mr Galea must have been temporarily blinded in one eye.
“He couldn’t even see,” Dr Azzopardi argued. “Is the Attorney General serious in saying that there was the specific intent to kill?”

While testifying yesterday, the accused had said that his only thought at the time had been to get away from the two men and their ‘big (tree-pruning) knife’ thinking repeatedly that he was going to die.

Matthew Spiteri had also described how he escaped being run over by the accused by wrapping his arm around the door pillar of the Terios. Yet the defence cast doubt upon this version both because the rear window had been closed and also on account of the forward momentum of the moving car.

Stressing once again that such shortcomings in evidence were no fault of the prosecuting lawyers, Dr Azzopardi argued that the jury was bound to acquit unless guilt was proved beyond reasonable doubt.

The trial continues tomorrow morning.

Lawyers Giannella Busuttil and Kevin Valletta from the AG’s office are prosecuting. Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Arthur Azzopardi are defence counsel. Lawyer Joseph Giglio is appearing parte civile.