Sam Ke Ting has cleared the first hurdle to appeal against her six-year jail sentence and RM6,000 fine for reckless driving that killed eight teen cyclists in Johor in 2017.
The clerk also gets to stay out of custody pending the disposal of her appeal.
A three-person Court of Appeal bench unanimously allowed the 27-year-old’s leave to appeal during open-court proceedings this morning.
The court - presided by judge P Ravindran along with Lee Heng Cheong and Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali - will later set a hearing date to hear the merits of her appeal.
The bench also allowed her to stay the jail sentence and fine pending appeal.
The court also maintained her existing RM10,000 bail in one surety (from the Magistrate’s Court).
As the reckless driving case initially originated at the Magistrate’s Court rather than the Sessions Court, she needed to obtain leave from the Court of Appeal before she could proceed with the appeal.
On Wednesday last week, the Johor Bahru High Court overturned her acquittal for reckless driving. Judge Abu Bakar Katar also denied an application by Sam’s lawyers for a stay of the sentence pending appeal.
No objections by DPP
During proceedings today, deputy public prosecutor Manoj Kurup raised no objections to the applications by defence counsel Muhammad Faizal Mokhtar for leave to appeal as well as stay on the sentencing.
Among the issues of law that the Court of Appeal will look into during a later hearing of the appeal proper is whether the accused's unsworn statement from the dock can be accepted as an explanation by the defence against the reckless driving charge.
During the defence stage of her case before the Magistrate's Court, Sam had chosen to give an unsworn statement from the dock.
If she had opted to take the witness stand and give evidence, the prosecution would have had the opportunity to cross-examine her over her version of events behind the accident.
Another issue of law before the Court of Appeal is whether Sam's car speed of 45.33kph on the day of the incident can be regarded as dangerous to the teen cyclists.
When met by the media after proceedings this morning, Faizal said his client has been treated well while in prison in Johor and she expressed her gratitude to concerned members of the public.
The lawyer said Sam, however, is disappointed with the criticism hurled against the judiciary when her acquittal was overturned.
Faizal said his client is a law-abiding citizen who believes in the sovereignty of the law and concurs with any decision of the court (while still exercising her right to appeal).
The lawyer also said that his client - while expressing sympathies with the families of the deceased - is fighting to clear her name in the case.
“She has expressed disappointment when certain quarters faulted the judicial system when she failed (at the High Court).
“Her case is not about racial issue but the important universal issue (of justice) and not a narrow-minded issue,” Faizal said. - Mkini
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