Thai nationals Masoh Daloh, 35, and Romuelee Yakoh, 46, were arrested after police ambushed a Thai-registered Honda Civic in the Taman Tasik Titiwangsa car park in Kuala Lumpur at 12.10am on 20 February 2002.[1][2] Officers found altogether 34,942 grams of cannabis hidden in the car, which laboratory analysis confirmed.[1][2]
Death sentences
On 12 May 2008 Justice Mohtarudin Baki convicted both men under section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and imposed the mandatory death sentence, finding the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt.[1] The pair had claimed trial, with seven prosecution witnesses testifying and both accused giving evidence in their defence.[1][3] Both men appealed.[3]
Acquittal on appeal
On 29 October 2009 the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya allowed their appeal against conviction and sentence.[2] The court held that the tip-off about the trafficking had reached the commanding officer, who was never called as a witness, making it inadmissible evidence that should have been excluded.[2] The ambush watch was kept from 30 to 50 metres away in an unlit car park darkened by trees and shrubs, undermining identification evidence.[2]
The court also found no driving licence, surveillance trail or ownership evidence placing the first accused behind the wheel on the drive from Narathiwat in Thailand, and noted jackets that were not theirs on the driver’s seat and the keys left in the ignition, so the men’s account of two other occupants could not be dismissed as fabrication.[2] With more than one inference open, the trial judge should have given the accused the benefit of the doubt.[2]