A man serving an 18-year jail term over a road rage incident in 2005 is seeking a re-trial claiming that his conviction case had hinged on his police statement which had not been made in the presence of his lawyer. Stephen Pirotta, 46, made this request in an application filed against the Attorney General and the Police Commissioner. In 2010, a trial by jury had found Mr Pirotta guilty of stabbing a motorist in the chest as he sat in his car in Qormi. The victim had been protesting that Mr Pirotta had hit his side mirror while overtaking. After trying to drive to St Luke's Hospital, the victim passed out in Hamrun but was taken to hospital in an ambulance, where emergency surgery saved his life. Mr Pirotta's legal challenge is based on the fact that when he had admitted to stabbing another motorist during interrogation on September 28, 2005 , he had been denied the right of legal assistance. In his application, Mr Pirotta argued that his admission was a crucial piece of evidence, as otherwise the case would probably not have been solved. At the time, there were no law provisions ensuring the right to legal assistance during interrogation and access to the police file for the...
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