Degiorgios lose bid to have Caruana Galizia murder retrial

A request for a retrial filed by the convicted murderers of Daphne Caruana Galizia has been thrown out by the Court of Criminal Appeal.

In October 2022, the brothers registered a last-minute admission when they were about to face trial by jury, and consequently were sentenced to 40 years in jail each.

Barely two weeks later they filed an application for a retrial before the Court of Appeal in its superior jurisdiction.

The brothers claimed they had only admitted to the murder after their long-term lawyer William Cuschieri renounced his brief.

They also argued that Alfred Degiorgio was not in a position to freely consent to the admission, as a days-long hunger strike had weakened him.

On Wednesday, the court rejected these and all of their further arguments, and confirmed the Degiorgio’s 40-year jail term.

The court noted that that Alfred Degiorgio’s medical assessments found no issues with his mental faculties.

His alleged poor mental state had not been flagged by his defence before the reading out of the bill of indictment, the court added.

The court was presided over by hief Justice Mark Chetcuti and Justices Joseph R Micallef and Giovanni Grixti.