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News Legal/General News BANTING MURDER TRIAL: Judge: Police report cannot be used to contradict testimony
News Legal/General News BANTING MURDER TRIAL: Judge: Police report cannot be used to contradict testimony 
| BANTING MURDER TRIAL: Judge: Police report cannot be used to contradict testimony |
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| Tuesday, 31 January 2012 01:35pm | |
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©The New Straits Times (Used by permission) SHAH ALAM: The High Court has dismissed the defence's application to cross-examine a witness on his police report in the Banting murder trial to show inconsistencies in his evidence. Judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir yesterday ruled that the police report cannot be used to contradict, or corroborate, the witness's evidence. He said the report was not a first information report, making it inadmissible. Akhtar made this ruling following counsel Gurbachan Singh's application to use the report to cross-examine interrogating officer Chief Inspector N. Govindan. Gurbachan made the application on Friday while Govindan was on the stand. Govindan was testifying in the trial of lawyer N. Pathmanabhan, 41, and his farm hands T. Thilaiyalagan, 19; R. Matan, 20; and R. Kathava-rayan, 30, who are charged with the murders of Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya, 47; driver Kamaruddin Shansuddin, 44; Noorhisham Mohamad, 38; and Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32, at a farm in Tanjung Sepat, Banting, on Aug 30, 2010. Proceedings yesterday also saw 98 exhibits being tendered in court. Among the items tendered by the director of the forensics division of the Chemist Department, Lim Kong Boon, were swab sticks, hair samples, a spade, a piece of wood, pieces of tree bark, blood specimens, gunny sack, zinc sheets, soil samples and a pair of shoes. Lim, 57, took almost the entire morning to tender the exhibits, which he carefully inspected and certify that those were the items he was requested to analyse. When questioned by deputy public prosecutor Idham Abd Ghani, the witness said he received the 98 items in two stages. "On Sept 27, 2010 at 9.23am, I received 39 exhibits from Assistant Superintendent of Police Ishak Yaakob for analysis. "I also received 59 items on Oct 11, 2010, at 11.06am." Lim said the exhibits were later kept in a cold room and freezer, depending on the size of the items, under lock and key. Besides the 98 items, Lim had, on Jan 12, also tendered 54 other exhibits which he also received from Ishak on Sept 15, 17 and 22, 2010. In total, the witness had tendered 152 exhibits in the trial so far. Hearing continues today. Set as favourite Share Email This Comments (0)
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