Man accused of cannabis cultivation ‘not guilty’ after statements ‘discarded or inadmissible
A man yesterday walked away from charges of cultivation and possession of cannabis after a court found that his statement was inadmissible, while also discarding a witness’ statement after she failed to give her disposition during proceedings.
On 17 June 2008, police from the Drug Squad executed a search warrant issued against Sean Anthony McGahern, a 33year-old UK national who resided in Gżira.
Upon their arrival, they found a certain Alison Aquilina and her mother and during the search conducted in the said residence, on the ledge of the bedroom’s window, they found six pots, which they suspected to contain cannabis plants.
A court-appointed expert found that some of the plants yielded a negative result, while one plant, which weighed 5.43 grams (without roots), had the substance Tetrahydrocannabinol at a purity of 3.4%.
Aquilina was arrested and escorted to Police Headquarters for further investigations.
She would give a statement to the police on 17 June 2008, which was confirmed under oath before the Inquiring Magistrate.
McGahern also gave a statement to the police on 12 August 2008, but the accused was prevented from exercising his right to obtain legal advice prior to being interrogated, as Maltese Law did not provide this right to an arrested person at the time.
Subsequent case law was quoted by the court, with Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras ruling that the accused’s statement was inadmissible.
With regard to Aquilina, while her statement was confirmed on oath before the Inquiring Magistrate, she did not give her deposition during these proceedings, although she did appear before the court during the sitting held on 23 October 2012, when, however, the accused failed to appear.
This meant that while Aquilina’s statement “certainly constituted determining and decisive evidence in finding the accused guilty of some of the charges in this case,” McGahren was precluded from confronting the witness’ statement through cross-examination and, as a result, a fair defence.
Since there was no other evidence to support the charges, the court found the accused not guilty, and ordered the destruction of the plants.