Court appoints retired judge to analyse messages for threats received by Daphne Caruana Galizia… sources to be protected
Retired judge Michael Mallia will be analysing messages received by murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, in search of threats against he journalist, whilst also protecting her sources, a court has decided.
The unusual step was agreed to by both parties in the compilation of evidence against the men accused of her murder, reports MaltaToday.
The Malta Independent reports that in a relatively brief sitting this morning before magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit, in which a number of technical witnesses were heard, homicide squad inspector Kurt Zahra asked the court to appoint “an expert, a former judge or magistrate who had worked in the field of criminal law,” to analyse messages received by Caruana Galizia on her mobile and to decide whether they were threats or not, whilst protecting her sources.
The Times reports that assessing Ms Caruana Galizia’s mobile phone was first raised by defence lawyers earlier on in proceedings, with the prosecution suggesting that an expert, ideally a retired member of the bench well-versed in criminal law, should be appointed to handle the task.
Earlier on in the sitting, IT court-appointed expert Keith Cutajar returned to the witness stand to explain that expert data recovery firms overseas had warned him that it was extremely difficult to restore a corrupted micro SD card.