Ex-salesman facing death gets reprieve, court brands ex-lawyers ‘incompetent’
PUTRAJAYA: A former salesman secured a reprieve after the Court of Appeal branded his previous lawyers “incompetent” and ordered a retrial of a drug trafficking charge for which he was convicted two years ago.
A three-member bench, chaired by Justice Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, said there was merit in the appeal of Cheah Wai Luck, 36, who was sentenced to death after he was found guilty of trafficking methamphetamine six years ago.
Vazeer said any counsel appointed by an accused person should take proper instructions from his client and use his professional expertise to raise all the defences available to his client.
“In the present case, the appellant was under remand. His previous lawyers should have communicated with him in order to put forward his defence before the court,” said Vazeer, who sat with Justices Azman Abdullah and Azhahari Kamal Ramli.
Vazeer said the bench was satisfied that this was not done for Cheah.
“We feel this is an injustice to the appellant. The appeal against conviction and sentence is allowed and the High Court order is set aside.
“The appropriate order should be a retrial so that he can put forward his defence before a new trial judge,” he added.
On Feb 26, 2021, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur imposed the death sentence on Cheah after finding him guilty of trafficking 184.35g of methamphetamine at a condominium in Setapak on June 17, 2017.
Earlier, counsel Nur Hayati Omar, who appeared for Cheah today, said the team of three lawyers appointed to represent the accused did not meet him while he was in prison.
She said Cheah did not have the opportunity to inform his lawyers of his version of the incident and the existence of a person identified as “Ah Chun”.
“He was unable to reveal that Ah Chun also had access to the condominium before he (Cheah) was arrested,” she said.
Nur Hayati said the lawyers had failed to advance Cheah’s defence at the prosecution stage, which resulted in him being denied the right to a fair trial.
Meanwhile, deputy public prosecutor K Mangai submitted that it would be unfair to accuse the appellant’s previous lawyers of incompetence without giving them a chance to clarify.
She said the lawyers could have spoken to the appellant in court before or after proceedings and that he could have disclosed details about “Ah Chun” occupying the room where the drugs were said to be found.
“Without establishing these facts, the defence’s contention of being represented by flagrantly incompetent counsel should fail,” she said.
Desain Rumah Kabin
Rumah Kabin Kontena
Harga Rumah Kabin
Kos Rumah Kontena
Rumah Kabin 2 Tingkat
Rumah Kabin Panas
Rumah Kabin Murah
Sewa Rumah Kabin
Heavy Duty Cabin
Light Duty Cabin
Source