GEORGE TOWN – DAP’s National Legal Bureau chairman and Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh said the Johor Baru High Court’s decision today on the conviction of a clerk for causing the death of eight teen cyclists cannot be taken further to the Court of Appeal unless the accused obtains leave to appeal first.
Ramkarpal said the magistrate had acquitted the accused Sam Ke Ting twice in the lower court, first at the end of the prosecution’s case and again at the end of the defence’s case.
“I further believe that the magistrate has made various findings of fact resulting in Sam’s acquittals, which are normally not interfered with on appeal unless found to be perverse.
“Although the high court has the power to reverse the findings of the magistrate, this is normally not done as appellate courts are usually slow to disturb the findings of fact of a lower court,” he said in a statement today.
Ramkarpal said whether the high court judge had committed any error justifying leave to appeal to the appellate court remains to be seen after a careful study of his grounds of judgment.
“But I am of the view that Sam should file an application for leave to appeal against the said decision to the Court of Appeal urgently, since she had been acquitted twice before by the magistrate, which suggests that there are doubts as to whether she committed the offence she was charged with.
“I am further of the view that Sam can apply for a stay of execution of her sentence in the event leave is allowed by the Court of Appeal and be released on bail pending the said appeal,” he added.
Ramkarpal said every effort should be made to appeal the high court decision to the Court of Appeal immediately, particularly in light of the fact that Sam had previously been found not guilty of the offence she was charged with.
He added that the DAP National Legal Bureau is also prepared to provide legal assistance to Sam and her legal team in the filing and hearing of the said application. – The Vibes, April 13, 2022
