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PUTRAJAYA – Despite spending at least four nights in prison, convicted clerk Sam Ke Ting refuses to blame the judiciary’s system or its officers for her fate, and will allow the required legal processes to take their course, her lawyer said today.
Muhammad Faizal Mokhtar, speaking to reporters at the Court of Appeal after Sam’s proceeding, said his client expressed that she has come to terms with whatever the outcome may be, stressing she is an ordinary law-abiding citizen prepared to prove her case.
“Sam sends a message to all that she is fine and well, while thanking police and the Prison Department officers. And despite much debate by the public about her case, she stressed that she respects the sovereignty of the law.
“She says she will accept any decision by the courts, while expressing her disappointment at individuals blaming the judiciary system for the judgment in her case,” said Faizal.
He said that his client strongly disagreed with any racially charged comments surrounding the case, accepting that the incident involved issues that crossed between personal safety and humanitarian aspects.
“We are fighting for personal freedom where someone is innocent until proven guilty, while on the other hand the prosecution is arguing the questions of human values to understand how eight lives can be lost.
“So if we view it from this angle, there will be two outcomes which will favour different people,” he said.
Sam, 27, was today allowed to be released on bail with a RM10,000 bond by the Court of Appeal, with the three-judge bench also granting her leave to challenge her conviction.
On April 13, the Johor Baru High Court sentenced her to six years’ imprisonment and fined her RM6,000 after finding her guilty of reckless driving which caused the death of eight teenage cyclists five years ago.
High court judge Abu Bakar Katar had reversed the magistrates’ court’s findings, saying that the learned judge from the lower court had made an “error”.
Abu Bakar said Sam was responsible for the deaths of the teenagers who were riding modified bicycles, popularly known as “basikal lajak”, in Johor Baru at 3.20am, on February 18, 2017, adding that she drove “recklessly” at a speed of roughly 50kph.
Faizal today said that Sam was aware and prepared for the appellate court to reject her application today, leaving her with no other avenue to appeal her case and be forced to serve out her sentence.
He said his next course of action would be to file a notice of appeal to the Johor Baru High Court and judge Datuk Abu Bakar Katar within 14 days for the judge to produce and submit his full grounds of judgment in Sam’s conviction.
These complete grounds, he said, would then be the subject of contention in Sam’ conviction appeal.
Faizal included the six legal questions they planned to include as part of their appeal, the first being whether an unsworn statement by the accused can be accepted as an explanation in her defence.
They are also seeking an interpretation on whether Sam’s driving or the presence of the bicyclists was the deciding factor that caused “a dangerous situation” as within the Road Transport Act 1987.
The third question is one whether the exhibits adduced in court by individuals who were never present during proceedings can be accepted, while the fourth question is on whether Sam’s driving speed or the presence of the cyclists posed a greater risk.
The final two questions seek to clarify if Sam has the burden of proof to show she was driving carefully, or if such burdens lie with the cyclists. The final question seeks to establish if the burden of proof was on her to be more careful on known risks of driving in a dark, curvy, and hilly road. – The Vibes, April 18, 2022.
