JOHOR BARU: After facing drug possession and trafficking charges for almost five years, a local couple has been discharged and acquitted by the High Court here.
Justice Noor Hayati Che Mat freed Teng Wei Xiong, 27, and Chai Ying, 22, of the charges on Tuesday (Feb 4) after ruling that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against them.
She said the decision was made after a thorough review of the case evidence and written submissions.
She also said the prosecution failed to prove that the drugs belonged to the couple or that they had intent to traffic.
“There were inconsistencies in the testimonies, and these contradictions favoured the defence.
“Given the existing doubts and contradictions, after conducting a maximum evaluation, I find that the defence has successfully rebutted the presumption under Section 37 of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and has raised reasonable doubt regarding the prosecution’s case.
“Thus, both accused are acquitted and discharged from all charges against them,” she said.
Previously, they had been jointly charged with trafficking and possessing methamphetamine.
On the first charge, they were accused of trafficking 112g of methamphetamine under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Act, which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.
For the other two charges, they were accused of possessing 136.68g of drugs under Section 6 of the same Act and charged under Section 39A(2), read together with Section 12(2) of the Act and Section 34 of the Penal Code; both punishable under Section 39A(1) of the Act.
The offences were allegedly committed in a room at Jalan Rusa 3 here at 9pm on May 5, 2020.
The case was prosecuted by DPP Juliana Jaafar.
Teng was represented by lawyers Muhammad Abd Kadir and Khairul Nadia, while Chai was represented by Mohd Daud Ismail and Hang Lee Ying.
