Charlot Zahra
Stephen Caruana, 28 from Qormi, was remanded in custody after being arraigned in court yesterday over the murder of another Qormi man at the assailant’s residence in the early hours of Friday morning.
Caruana, born in Pieta’, was charged with shooting a Benelli shotgun at Neville Baldacchino with the aim of killing him or putting his life in real danger, thereby causing his death, on 19 December 2008 at around 1am in Drama Street.
He was also charged with firing his shotgun in a residence, illegal possession of the same firearm, as well as failing to notify the police commissioner about its possession.
Caruana pleaded not guilty on all counts.
The defence, led by lawyers Gianella Caruana Curran, Arthur Azzopardi and Emmanuel Mallia (who however was not present in court for the hearing) asked the court to grant bail to the accused.
At first Caruana Curran was going to ask police Inspector Chris Pullicino, who was prosecuting together with Police Inspector Daniel Zammit, to testify about the number of witnesses that the prosecution was going to present in court during the compilation of evidence, however she did not do so.
In her submissions, Caruana Curran said that the circumstances of the case were well-known: the accused had found a person illegally in his house and had reacted all of a sudden as a result of this.
She said that the accused had cooperated fully with the police and had even reported the crime himself.
Moreover, Caruana Curran said that the only witness was the accused himself, as his wife cannot even testify for the prosecution, therefore there was no danger that the accused could interfere with the prosecution’s witnesses.
She added that the accused had a wife and four young children who needed his care and attention.
The prosecution objected to this request, saying that they were going to present various witnesses which were related to the accused, therefore there was real danger of interference with the prosecution’s witnesses.
As to the defence’s plea regarding his wife and family, the prosecution said that due to the witnesses who would be testifying in the course of the proceedings, it would not be advisable for the accused to stay at home with his wife.
The Magistrates’ Court denied bail, and remanded the accused in custody at the Corradino Correctional Facility (CCF). In its ruling, the court said that it was “premature” for the accused to be granted bail at this stage of proceedings.
At this stage, the defence requested the court to order the release of the keys to the accused’s house; however Magistrate Meli said that he could not accede to this request as these proceedings were separate from those of the on-site inquiry, which were in the hands of another Magistrate.
Caruana was taken from the Police General Headquarters in Floriana to the Law Courts’ building in Valletta shortly after 3pm in a police vehicle.
He was kept in the lock-up till 3.30pm, when he was escorted to the lift and taken to the ground floor. Here his handcuffs were removed, and he had a consultation with his lawyers.
The accused’s relatives could be seen waiting impatiently on the ground floor of the Law Courts’ building.
As soon as the court proceedings started at around 4.10pm, duty magistrate Silvio Meli, who was presiding over the hearing, reprimanded the accused for smiling.
“Why are you smiling?” Magistrate Meli asked him.
On his part, the accused replied: “I’m not smiling.”
Lawyer Edward Gatt appeared as “parte civile” for the victim’s family.
The case continues.
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