No tyre marks, no crushed bones: Defence challenges eyewitness accounts in murder trial of senior cop accused of running down teen with Ativa

IPOH, Aug 13 — The High Court here today heard that 17-year-old Muhammad Zaharif Affendi Muhd Zamrie was not run over by the vehicle driven by senior police officer DSP Mohd Nazri Abdul Razak, as claimed by eyewitnesses.

In his submission at the close of the prosecution’s case before Judge Datuk Bhupindar Singh Gucharan Singh Preet, lead defence counsel M. Athimulan argued that the “run over” theory was inconsistent with objective forensic and medical evidence.

He pointed out that the forensic pathologist had confirmed that the victim’s injuries were not consistent with being run over, as there were no crushed bones, destroyed organs, or tyre marks on the deceased’s body or clothing.

“My Lord, we respectfully submit that this medical evidence is a scientific and objective truth; it is not prone to the fallibility of human perception. It directly refutes the eyewitnesses’ core claim,” he submitted.

He contended that the eyewitness accounts were inherently unreliable because they were contradicted by expert medical evidence.

Athimulan said the absence of tyre marks on the deceased’s body and shirt supported the defence’s submission that the incident was a tragedy in which the teenager was “thrown” from the motorcycle upon contact, rather than intentionally “run over”, with the injuries suffered being consistent with a fall on the road.

He said the medical evidence completely ruled out all probabilities of the ocular evidence (direct oral testimony of an eyewitness) being true and, therefore, the defence counsel team respectfully submitted that the ocular evidence should be rejected.

“The eyewitness’s testimonies were flawed with perception of a traumatic event and influenced by social media impact,” he said.

Furthermore, Athimulan addressed the critical implications from the failure to tender “black box” (Event Data Records – EDR) data from the Perodua Ativa, particularly as the data was central to reconstructing the incident and determining mens rea (intent) under Section 300 of the Penal Code.

“It is respectfully submitted that, without black box data, the prosecution cannot prove whether the accused attempted to brake, or the accused swerved, or tried to avoid the collision, and whether the speed was consistent with loss of control rather than deliberate aim.

“My Lord, we are submitting that these are not minor gaps, but they are central to the prosecution’s theory of malicious intent. The charge against the accused is a most serious crime under the Penal Code, alleging murder by means of intentional vehicular conduct,” Athimulan said.

Deputy public prosecutors Afzainizam Abdul Aziz, Nasrul Hadi Abdul Ghani and Monisha Pandey appeared for the prosecution.

The accused was represented by a legal team comprising Athimulan, Datuk Mior Faridalathrash Wahid and Aiman Hakim Kamaruzzaman.

The trial will resume at 10 am tomorrow.

Mohd Nazri was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code with causing the death of Muhammad Zaharif Affendi near Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Jati on Dec 15, 2023, between 11.55 am and 12.32 pm.

The offence is punishable with either a death penalty or imprisonment of between 30 and 40 years, plus a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane if the death penalty is not imposed, upon conviction. — Bernama