A Panamanian man who had been sentenced to 18 years imprisonment and fined €20,000 on conviction for conspiracy to import cocaine had his trial quashed by the Criminal Appeals Court today.

Jose Edgar Pena was taken to court in June 2008 and convicted in 2010.

During the trial, the court was told that the quantity of imported cocaine was equivalent to 15,000 doses.

During the appeal, defence counsel Joe Brincat said there had not been proper appreciation of the evidence. Furthermore, certain aspects of the address to the jury by the judge had mis-directed the jurors and negatively impacted on their verdict. Among these aspects, was the fact that the jurors were told to decide on their gut feeling.

Furthermore, the definition of conspiring to import was not explained to them.

The court upheld the appeal, saying, in particular, that there was a difference between deciding on the basis of one's gut feeling, and deciding on the basis of the evidence.

The trial by jury was therefore annulled and Mr Pena was placed back in the position he was before the trial. He was granted bail and a re-trial will be held.