Two men have objected to the taking of electronic samples of their voices, claiming it would breach their right to be silent. Ronnie MacKay, an AFM soldier from Marsa aged 31 and Futsal player Chris Brincat, 27 of Floriana, are pleading not guilty to having, on 27 September last year, tried to bribe Nigerian defender Sunday Eboh of Naxxar Lions.
It was the Nigerian player himself who reported the case to the Malta Football Association. The court was told that recordings of the alleged bribery attempt existed, having been made by Eboh himself.
Police Inspector Melvin Camilleri asked the court to authorise a voice comparison test to confirm that the voices on the tape were those of the accused. But lawyers Franco Debono and Veronique Dalli objected.
Magistrate Carol Peralta was hearing the compilation of evidence against Brincat and MacKay from Marsa, who stand accused of attempting to bribe the Naxxar player prior to a First Division game against Gzira in September 2012.
The prosecution said that the Nigerian footballer had received a phone call from Brincat's brother Germaine, asking him to meet before the game. Eboh found Mackay and Brincat waiting for him, when an attempt to bribe him was made.
After Eboh informed the MFA of the incident the association reported the allegation to the police, and suspended Brincat for life from professional football. Eboh told the court he had recorded the conversation with the accused, and had passed the mobile recording to the police.
Inspector Melvin Camilleri asked the court to appoint an expert to compare the voice on the recordings with that of the accused. The defence objected to the request, stating that it would breach the accused’s right to silence
The prosecution brought to the court's attention its prerogative to order the taking of intimate samples, however the defence countered that while the law contemplates the instances where a court can order the taking of samples like DNA and fingerprints, the law does not discuss the taking of voice samples. A court order at this stage would impinge on the rights of the accused, Dr Debono argued.
The two defence lawyers also informed the court that in the coming days they would be presenting a constitutional case regarding the right to silence in a separate case. In their constitutional application the lawyers are stating that the right to silence extends over discussions not related to the offence, in order to protect the suspect from having his voice recognised by an investigating officer who could then say that he had heard his voice and hence can recognise it.
Magistrate Peralta postponed the case to 10 October, asking the prosecution to file a detailed report explaining why the court should uphold the request.
Dr Veronique Dalli and Dr Dean Hili are appearing for Chris Brincat, who is accused with attempting to bribe the Nigerian footballer, while Dr Franco Debono is appearing for MacKay, who also faces charges of relapsing and committing a crime he was duty bound to prevent.