Prosecution Dysfunctions: One too Many!

The High Court acquitted a man of trafficking 81kg of marijuana because the prosecution did not call two people who could have helped establish his guilt.

Yesterday, judge Datuk Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad acquitted them without calling his defence. "The prosecution did not call the two as witnesses in the trial. Furthermore, the investigating officer had produced one set of keys as evidence while the arresting officer had produced another, he noted.

"Although I may feel the accused is guilty, I am still bound by law to rule the prosecution has failed to prove a prima facie case," he said.

On 25th Jan 2007, reported on NSTP, High Court Judge Datuk V.T. Singham said the "Prosecution failed miserably to prove a prima facie case against a murder case. One of the accused is Azman Ismail, 26, known as Man Datuk, the son of former Ipoh mayor Datuk Ismail Shah Bodin. Singham said: "They (prosecutors) promised they would prove that the accused brought the deceased to Ikhwan Auto, where he was beaten, punched, kicked and stamped on, and that he became unconscious due to the repeated assault," he said. Singham said the prosecution’s opening speech had, in fact, misled the court because none of the statements made were established by them." Another disturbing issue raised by Singham was the appointment of a junior police officer with the rank of cadet assistant superintendent as the investigating officer. "The police officer, a graduate in business administration, had joined the force for just two months when he was instructed to take over this case, which was a serious crime of murder."

Another case was also thrown out of court for shoddy work

TEMERLOH: Investigations described by a judge here as “shoddy” allowed a businessman charged with drug trafficking to walk out of court a free man. High Court judge Mohd Apandi Ali ordered Rosli Rikidin, 34, who was charged with trafficking 9,712gm of cannabis, to be released.In his judgment, Justice Mohd Apandi said the accused was lucky because “the investigations were certainly shoddy.” “What was supposed to be a sting operation was, in the end, bungled and blundered by the police,” he said.

Repco Low walked out of court a free man without his defence being called. Sessions judge Akhtar Tahir ruled that the prosecution had failed to adduce any evidence to show the former executive chairman of Repco Holdings Bhd had tried to “create a misleading appearance” on Repco share prices, which went crashing down by over RM100 in December 1997. “The court is uncertain whether the accused himself is conscious that the dealer’s representative took up the shares at any offered price,” said Akhtar.

"Only God knows the truth"!

Do you agree with this conclusion?