Jurors in the Yorgen Fenech trial were able to see news headlines and images on court tablets, but could not access the full articles, an IT expert told the court.
Martin Bajada was asked to examine the tablets after the defence raised concerns that jurors could access news websites and potentially view reporting about the case, despite being required to base their verdict only on evidence heard in court.
In a trial by jury, jurors are expected to decide the case solely on the evidence presented in court. They are therefore instructed not to consume media coverage of the proceedings, to avoid being influenced by information that has not been tested in court or ruled admissible as evidence.
Bajada presented his findings to the court on a pen drive, telling jurors that the tablets had been able to display headlines, photos and, in some cases, bylines linked to news articles.
However, he said the jurors were not able to open or read the actual stories.
He said he found 489 headlines over nine days of activity and concluded that none appeared to have prejudiced the jury, apart from one headline referring to Fenech’s presidential pardon request.
Bajada said that headline appeared after the pardon had already been mentioned in court and after Fenech’s statement had been presented to jurors.
Defence lawyer Giannella De Marco questioned Bajada on how this could have happened, with the expert explaining that when jurors clicked on certain trial documents, Google’s algorithm would sometimes generate headlines.
He said the visible headlines came from several news sites, including Times of Malta, MaltaToday, NET, ONE and The Shift. He said social media was not accessible from the tablets and that YouTube activity mostly involved music.
De Marco asked whether online-only publications or blogs could also appear, mentioning sites such as Amphora Media, Justice for Daphne and The Maltese Herald. Bajada said he would have noticed if a particular blog had appeared.
Asked how the situation had occurred, Bajada said it had come as a surprise to him too, but said the system would now be fixed.
“To me, it was a shock that this happened,” he said. “But trust me, there won’t be any sign of internet access on the tablets from now on.”
The defence and prosecution are being given time to analyse the hundreds of headlines before deciding whether to take any further steps.
Bajada’s testimony has now concluded, with Inspector Kurt Zahra returning to the witness stand.
Fenech denies charges of complicity in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder and involvement in a criminal organisation.
