On Wednesday, Malta’s Court of Criminal Appeal overturned a man previously sentenced to five years in prison for rape after the judge determined the court was not “morally convinced” the sexual act in issue was nonconsensual.
The case originates in April 2020 and concerns a man and a woman with a decades-long intimate connection. The woman claimed that under her will, she would bite or forcibly penetrate him during a visit to his residence. She ran from the scene and later notified the police, getting a medical examination verifying little bruises and bitemarks.
No gynecological exam was carried out, though.
The initial judgment in September 2023 depended on the woman’s testimony backed by statements from her brother, sister-in-law, and a doctor—all of whom said she looked visibly shaken and traumatized after the event.
Conversely, the man maintained the sexual contact was consensual, started by the woman, and he had stopped right when she showed unease. He also observed they had spoken later that day without her pointing to any misdeeds.
Presiding over the appeal, Judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera stated the court was confronted with contradictory statements and inadequate proof to eliminate reasonable doubt. The court was not morally convinced that nonconsent had been clearly established given the pair’s “colorful and adventurous” sexual past.
The initial five-year prison sentence was therefore overturned.
Attorneys Stephen Tonna Lowell and Charles Mercieca represented the defendant.
