High Court orders retrial

SHAH ALAM: A High Court here set aside the conviction of a woman whose car ploughed into several diners outside a restaurant in Petaling Jaya five years ago, killing a sales promoter.

However, Charlene Joseph Jindi, from Sarawak, will have to revisit the events of that tragic night because the court ordered a retrial of her reckless driving charge.

Justice Su Geok Yiam, in her judgment yesterday morning, ruled that magistrate Azroul Hisham Azulan had misdirected himself on the standard of proof in relation to the prosecution’s case and the defence’s case.

She allowed the appeal against the conviction, in which Charlene, 26, had been sentenced to two years’ jail and fined RM8,000.

The judge then ordered the case to be re-heard by a different magistrate.

In the afternoon, the case was mentioned again at the Petaling Jaya magistrate’s court before magistrate Mohd Ibrahim Mohd Gulam.

Charlene’s counsel Edmund Bon, who appeared with Nik Mohamed Ikhwan Nik Mahamud, sought an adjournment so he could seek instructions from his client. The magistrate fixed Oct 16 for a re-mention.

Charlene, now working in the advertising line, had on July 1, 2003 claimed trial to driving in a reckless and dangerous manner, which caused the death of 19-year-old Nur Shuhaila Tajudin, along Jalan 14/14 in Section 14, Petaling Jaya, at about 2.15am on May 25, 2003.

On June 6 last year, she was convicted of the offence after a trial that heard testimonies from 13 prosecution and two defence witnesses.