KUALA KUBU BAHRU:
The Session’s Court today heard the case for and subsequently discharged 48-year-old Vikraman Munusamy on two counts relating to the possession and consumption of Cannabis.
In July 2019, the 45-year-old ice seller was sitting at a table on his front porch when he was approached by several police officers dressed in plain clothes. They introduced themselves and conducted a body search of Vikraman in which they came up empty-handed. The police proceeded to search said table where they found several loose compact blocks, an envelope containing a few more compact blocks and a green plastic bag. The compact blocks were tested and amounted to 89.23g of cannabis. They arrested Vikraman and brought him into custody.
While in custody, the father-of-2 who was faced with diabetes was unable to obtain sufficient medical treatment when needed. He subsequently lost his leg to the disease via a below-knee amputation of the leg.
In trial today, after hearing submissions from both the prosecution and defence, Puan Hakim Nurul Mardhiah Binti Mohammed Redza held that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case and acquitted the accused without calling for a defence to be put forward. In criminal cases, the burden of proof (the onus of proving something) is on the prosecution and so it is the prosecution’s duty to show that there is a credible allegation against the accused. If they succeed in this endeavour, only then does the defence rise to present their case. In both stages, the opponent may attempt to discredit the evidence of their opposition via cross-examination or other such tactics.