Murder investigator breached judge’s media instructions while giving evidence

One of the lead investigators in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case admitted accessing Facebook while still giving evidence in Yorgen Fenech’s trial, despite explicit instructions from the Judge to avoid media coverage and communication about the proceedings.

Inspector Kurt Zahra made the admission on Thursday after the defence questioned how he knew it had raised concerns about whether parts of his testimony amounted to perjury when the matter had been discussed while he was outside the courtroom.

Zahra has been undergoing an extensive cross-examination by Fenech’s defence over the police investigation into Caruana Galizia’s 2017 assassination, particularly the handling of evidence concerning former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri.

The issue arose after Zahra referred before the jurors to the defence having accused him of perjury.

Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca objected, pointing out that Zahra had previously given his word that he would not follow reporting about the trial while his testimony remained unfinished.

The jurors and Zahra were ordered out of the courtroom while the matter was discussed.

Zahra initially said he had access to media but did not follow reports while testifying. After being recalled, however, he acknowledged scrolling through Facebook and seeing material concerning the proceedings.

“I don’t read articles, I was just scrolling on Facebook,” Zahra told the court.

Judge Edwina Grima sternly reminded the inspector that he had been instructed not to expose himself to coverage of the proceedings. She noted that he had been allowed to return home rather than being kept apart only because the defence had not insisted on his isolation.

Zahra apologised.

The court ordered jurors to disregard Zahra’s statement that the defence had accused him of perjury and said they would receive appropriate directions.

The incident interrupted another tense cross-examination focusing heavily on Schembri.

Defence lawyer Giannella de Marco confronted Zahra with Melvin Theuma’s letter and recordings which, according to the defence, implicated Schembri more extensively in events surrounding the murder.

Zahra maintained that Theuma had consistently identified Fenech as the sole mastermind and repeatedly declined to interpret a section of the letter which the defence argued portrayed Schembri as a co-mastermind.

Zahra also said he had not personally handled most of Theuma’s recordings, saying fellow investigator Keith Arnaud had dealt with them.

He nevertheless confirmed that Fenech frequently mentioned Schembri because the former OPM chief of staff was allegedly passing him considerable information about the ongoing police investigation.

The trial continues.