KOTA KINABALU: A 49-year-old man was discharged and acquitted by the Sessions Court here of a charge of possessing 32.23gm of syabu without his defence being called.
Judge A. Akhiruddin Acho ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish a
prima facie case against Rohide Tudan.
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Rohide was accused of committing the offence at 5.40pm on May 14, 2023, at the car park of a house in Kampung Talantang, Kota Marudu, under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act, punishable under Section 39A(2) of the same Act, which carries a jail term of between five years and life imprisonment and at least 10 strokes of the cane upon conviction.
The prosecution called six witnesses during the hearing, and the court held that the absence of clear and reliable evidence regarding the handling, safekeeping and continuity of the exhibits cast significant doubt on the integrity and identity of the items allegedly recovered from the accused, stressing that strict adherence to the chain of custody in drug-related offences was essential to rule out tampering, substitution or contamination.
The court found a fundamental gap in the prosecution’s case which was fatal to the reliability of the evidence concerning possession and identity of the alleged drugs, ordered the bail deposit, if any, to be refunded and the exhibits disposed of upon expiry of the appeal period, with the ruling delivered via Zoom, while Deputy Public Prosecutor Tam Phou Jin appeared for the prosecution and counsel Sylyester Kuan represented Rohide.
