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LAW 544: FORENSIC SCIENCE CASE STUDY: AHMAD NAJIB BIN ARIS V PUBLIC PROSECUTOR (2009) 2 MLJ ________________________________________________________________________________

Date of submission: 5TH JANUARY 2021 Prepared for: MADAM SITI RUVINNA Group: LWHO7F (FIRM 3- ALIA AJMAL &CO.) Prepared by: NAME

MATRIX NUMBER

DEENA BINTI MUHAMAD AJMAL

2017806846

NURNAZIRAH HANI BINTI RAHIM

2017678218

NUR SYAZWINA BINTI MD AZAHAM

2017892396

MUHAMAD IZZAL HAKIM BIN JAMIL

2017678244

ANISATUL AKMALIA BINTI FAHMIZAR

2017678036

NUR ALIA ZAHEERA BINTI MOHD FAIZAL

2017678262

TABLE OF CONTENTS

NO

CONTENT

PAGE

1.0

FACTS AND JUDGEMENT OF THE CASE

1-3

2.0

INVESTIGATION PROCEDURE CONDUCTED AT THE CRIME SCENE

3

2.1

SECURING AND ISOLATING THE CRIME SCENE

4

2.2

CRIME SCENE PROCESSING

5

2.3

COLLECTION OF PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

7

2.4

CHAIN OF CUSTODY

8

3.0

EVIDENCE, EXHIBITS AND ITS RELEVANCE

3.1

EVIDENCE GIVEN BY PW4, PW 5, PW12 AND EXHIBIT P11, P12, P145

8

3.2

EVIDENCE PW9 AND EXHIBIT P18

9

3.3

CLOTHES - EXHIBIT P59A, P61A, P82A AND P42

9-10

3.4

BLUE JEANS – EXHIBIT P68A

10

3.5

BASEBALL CAP AND SWEATER – EXHIBIT P102A AND P67A

10

8

3.6

CCTV TAPES - EXHIBIT P19C AND P19D

11

3.7

PARKING TICKET - EXHIBIT P20

12

3.8

EVIDENCE GIVEN BY THE PATHOLOGY EXPERT (‘PW30’)

12

3.9

EVIDENCE GIVEN BY THE CHEMIST (‘PW27’)

13

3.10

CONFESSION MADE BY THE ACCUSED (P122)

14

4.0

APPENDIX 1- APENDIX 7

15-24

5.0

REFERENCES

25

1. FACTS OF THE CASE On 13th June 2003, around 8.30pm, Pearly a/p Visvanathan (PW3), Ong Lee Cheng and Ong Lay Kian (“deceased”) went to have dinner at Monte Restaurant, Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC), Kuala Lumpur. Around 10.30pm, the deceased went to the basement carpark alone to take their parking ticket in the car, a Proton Tiara bearing the registration number WFN 6871 (P145). Meanwhile, PW3 and Ong Lee Cheng waited for the deceased at the lower floor. However, the deceased still did not show up after 20 minutes had passed. Ong Lee Cheng decided to call the deceased’s mobile phone, but it was not answered. PW3 went to lodge a report to the BSC guard and a police report at Jalan Travers Police Station since they could not find the deceased together with their car. On the same day, around 11.15pm, Ravichandran (PW4), a police officer, noticed a Proton Tiara (P145) had stopped beside the roadside in Taman Perindustrian Jaya, Kelana Jaya. About 30 minutes later, PW4 saw the car was still there. PW4 knocked on the car’s window and observed that the driver was a Malay man while the passenger was a Chinese woman. PW4 requested for their identification cards and reconfirmed their identities. The Malay man verified that his name is “Ahmad Najib bin Aris” which is the accused in this case. He then asked the Chinese woman whether she is “Ong Lay Kian” and the deceased nodded. PW4 asked the accused to step out of the car but he refused. PW4 then saw the deceased make a praying-like gesture so he tried to open the car’s door but failed to do so as the accused sped off. 2 shots were fired by PW4 towards the car but the attempt to pursue the car failed. Therefore, PW4 proceeded to lodge a police report. On 14th June 2003, around 12.00 midnight, Aminah bt Ishak (PW5) and her brother in law were on their way to KLIA. They stopped their car in front of Bangunan Bali at Jalan Sungai Way to wait for another family vehicle and saw the Proton Tiara (P145) 20 feet in front of them. A man who PW5 later identified as the accused, came out from the P145 and asked whether he could borrow a car jack. PW5 also saw a woman in the P145, making gestures to her and the woman seem frightened. PW5 decided to jot down the car’s registration number. The accused went off in the P145 after he failed to fix the tyres. Later, PW5 lodged a police report at Subang Jaya police station. On the same day, around 1.00am, Azizam bin Ismail (PW12), a technician, stopped at a road construction area at Jalan Klang Lama to rest before going back to his office. He noticed a 1

Proton Tiara identified as P145 and saw a woman in the car, lying down in the back seat with no clothes on and her breast exposed. He also saw a man hurriedly run from him and drove away. PW12 continued his way back to office and used the same route to go back home. On his way home, he noticed P145 was still there but no one was in the car. He decided to take the mobile phone which belonged to the deceased and took a sling-on bag with a Maybank Yippie Logo. The bag contained 3 condoms, lighter, cigarettes, ball pen and paper. Around 8.00pm, on the same day, Constable Mohd Zulkefli (PW8) found P145 behind a shop at Jalan Petaling Utama 1, Petaling Jaya. He discovered that the car was unlocked with a flat front tyre and he also detected a lot of blood stains at the back seat of the car. He then brought the car to Petaling Jaya Police Station for further investigation. On 17th June 2003, around noon, E. Soon Tai (PW6) found a burnt body in a manhole at Batu 7, Jalan Klang Lama and immediately called the police and informed them of the discovery. Meanwhile, on the same day around 10.20pm, while DSP Amidon bin Anan (PW15) examined the car, he found that the rear seat was heavily stained with blood, 6 strands of hair and an unpaid parking ticket in the car. Kasinathan Nadeson (PW30), a pathology expert, took a vaginal swab from the deceased and based on the DNA test by Primulapathi a/l Jayakrishnan (PW27), the accused’s semen was found. PW30 also conducted an autopsy on the deceased and found a piece of cloth tied around neck and both of the deceased's hands were tied with cloth. The strangulation by cloth around the neck was the cause of death of the deceased and PW30 did not deny the theory that she died due to bleeding in the abdomen caused by sharp weapons. Furthermore, the colour, texture and composition of the cloth tying the deceased’s hands were the same with the muslin cloth at the accused's workplace and according to Sivakumar a/l Ramiah (PW26), a MAS Storekeeper, the accused usually comes to work wearing a sling bag with a Maybank logo. On 20th June 2003, Supt Ahmad Razali (PW32) inspected the accused’s house at Lot 122, Jalan Pantai Permai 6, Kg Kerinci, Pantai Dalam, KL and found a pair of jeans which had blood stains, a belt and a blue cap. Based on DNA test, the blood matched with the deceased’s. Furthermore, based on analysis of two forensic experts, DSP Amidon bin Anan (PW15) & DSP Mohd Noor bin Ahmad (PW16), the man in the CCTV footage obtained from BSC’s parking lot is the accused.

2

JUDGMENT The High Court evaluated the oral, documentary and circumstantial evidence tendered by the prosecution and concluded that a prima facie case had been made and called for the defence. However, the accused chose to remain silent. Hence, the learned Judge duly convicted the accused on the two charges against him. The accused were sentenced to death for the offence under Section 302 of Penal Code and was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment and ordered to be given 20 strokes of the rottan for the offence under Section 376 of Penal Code. The accused appealed but the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court dismissed the appeal and affirmed the decisions made in the High Court. MOTIVE Based on the testimony of PW4, PW5 and PW12, they saw the Proton Tiara, driven by the accused, stopped beside different roadsides. Inferences can be made from the witnesses’ evidence that the accused had an evil intention or intention to rape the deceased. Furthermore, when the accused prohibited the deceased from stepping out the car when they encountered PW4, who is a police officer but the accused told the deceased that PW4 is a robber, such conduct from the accused showed that he wanted to carry out his evil intentions against the deceased. However, in this case, the court did not state the motive of rape by the accused but only concluded that the accused had the intention to cause death after viewing the evidence as a whole, including the fact that the accused had raped the deceased and there would be no ground to entertain any probability that the accused did what he did other than with the intention of causing death to the deceased. WITNESS There are 44 prosecution witnesses that were called to testify against Ahmad Najib bin Aris as listed in Appendix 1.

2. INVESTIGATION PROCEDURE CONDUCTED AT THE CRIME SCENE Forensic science begins at the crime scene. The crime scene alone offers evidence for an investigation, such as physical evidence, motives and can demonstrate the criminal mind about the crime. In other words, it is any place that relates with the commission of the crime. The location of the criminal activity can be categorised into the primary crime scene and secondary crime scene. 3

To distinguish between these two, the primary crime scene is the site of the original or first criminal activity that occurred while the secondary crime scene is the subsequent crime scene. In this case, the deceased was raped and killed in the car bearing registration number WFN 6871, driven by the accused, that is stated as ‘P145’. Thus, the car is regarded as the primary crime scene where the act of rape and murder was committed by the accused. Next, the secondary crime scene in this case is when the burnt body was found in a manhole at Batu 7, Jalan Klang Lama. 2.1 Securing and Isolating the Crime Scene Crime scenes are dynamic where the first officers to arrive on the scene must be concerned with countless details. The effectiveness of any investigation of the crime scene depends to a large degree on the actions taken by the first officer arriving at the crime scene as they are responsible as much as possible for maintaining and securing the environment. Preserving the scene with minimum contamination and disturbance to physical evidence is one of the most significant aspects of securing the crime scene. An incident’s initial response should be expeditious and methodical.1 The first responder at the scene must assume that the criminal left clues or physical evidence and the information developed from evidence left at the scene may help to reconstruct the crime or prove the identity of the suspect. The idea of a person changing is based on the Locard Exchange Principle where the first officer’s action or inaction may affect the future of the investigation. In this case, the act of securing the crime scene can be seen in the situation where Constable Mohd Zulkefli bin Abdul Ghani known as received instructions to check on Proton Tiara bearing registration number WFN 6871 which was parked behind a shop at No 49, Jalan Petaling Utama 1, and found that there was a blood patch on the left side of the rear seat and the car was straightly been brought to the Petaling Jaya Police Station for further investigation. It can be said that the act done is to secure the environment to ensure that none of the objects are removed and no contamination with the crime scene. Next situation in securing the crime scene can be seen when the burnt body was found by 'PW6' in a manhole at Batu 7, Jalan Klang Lama. PW6 then called the police and informed them of his finding and a police patrol car came to the scene. The police patrol then viewed the scene cautiously upon arrival at the scene and handled the incident as a crime scene, remaining observant of any people, vehicles, incidents, possible evidence, and environmental conditions. As

1

Crime Scene Investigation. (2013, September). A Guide for Law Enforcement , p. 1.

4

additional officers arrived, steps to isolate or cordon the area and to establish the perimeter of the crime scene were immediately undertaken. Although it was not clearly specified in the case, the boundaries that may be what actually occurred at the scene of the crime might include the middle of the scene where the crime took place, any routes of entry or exit, and any locations where evidence may have been discarded or moved. To prevent unauthorized access to the scene, it could be presumed that the ropes or barricades along with strategic positioning of guards are used by the police patrol where no parts of the crime scene, including the body of the deceased, will be altered. Despite it not being mentioned explicitly, it is transpired that the forensic officer would then proceed to investigate the scene of the crime when the crime scene was secured by examining the crime scene. They would usually begin with a briefing on the scene from the investigating officer or first officer and did a walk through next. The goal is to get the concept of the scene of the crime and begin to investigate the scene of the crime. 2.2 Crime Scene Processing In processing a crime scene, it requires a plan of action where it will include careful examination, note taking, sketching, photography and collection of physical evidence. The crime scene needs to be approached in a systematic and methodical way as each crime scene is different and it may not be possible to lay down fixed rules to conduct an investigation. Before any actual work to be done, an investigator should try to stand back at an appropriate vantage point on the periphery of the scene and make up a systematic plan in which how the search should be conducted, what needs to be photographed at the scene and where the possible sources of physical evidence are. The most important among all duties and responsibilities are note taking. It forces investigators to commit observations to writing and to keep a detailed record of everything observed and accomplished. The notes should be clearly and legibly written. It also needs to be specific as possible. The case notes, sketches, tape recordings or photographic negatives are needed to prove any allegations of facts. With that, the notes taken at the crime scene must have the date and time, the type of crime, location and description of area, description of crime and the name of the person requested for the crime scene investigation. In this case, despite it not being expressly stated on how the investigator did the notetaking, it could be presumed that the investigator took an approach of systematic and methodical way in taking a detailed record of the case. This is in consideration of the report which mentioned specific 5

dates, place and time. For example, it was clearly stated that the deceased and her family with friends had dinner together at Bangsar Shopping Centre. The flow of the report can be seen clearly and precisely in the case. Once the investigator has gathered as much information needed and the location is surveyed, the actual crime scene search may begin. In processing a crime scene, it includes surveying the crime scene, photographing and sketching the crime scene, mapping and measuring the crime scene, recording and documenting the location of physical evidence and searching for fingerprints. Taking photographs shall be a priority because crime scene changes. The sketches will then complement the photographs taken as the sketches will depict the overall layout of the location more easily than the photographs taken. It also allows selectivity where it can be drawn purposely to leave out extraneous details that can be confusing as in the photographs. In this case, when Constable Mohd Zulkefli bin Abdul Ghani found the car (‘P145’) behind a shop No 49, Jalan Petaling Utama 1, he noticed a lot of blood stains at the back seat of the car. This indicated that Constable Mohd Zulkefli must have gone through the processes of a crime scene. Prior to the car being brought to Petaling Jaya Police Station for further investigations, the process to survey, photographing and sketching, mapping and measuring the crime scene including recording and documenting the location of physical evidence as well as searching for fingerprints must have been done. The position of the car would also have been documented before it was taken for further investigations. Then, the burnt body which was found by E Soon Tai (‘PW6’) must have also gone through the process of the crime scene. In the case, it was vague as to what evidence or location was photographed or sketched. Based on the interview done with the Head of CSI, DSP Amidon Anan (‘PW15’) stated that the car which was found by Constable Mohd Zulkefli was photographed but there were no sketches. However, the manhole where the body was found was sketched and it can be seen that the sketches complement photographs. The selectivity of the sketches will help the investigators to leave out unnecessary details from the photographs. Next, a systematic search should be conducted. There are several types of search methods that could be employed here which are the strip or line search, grid search, spiral search and quadrant search. Notably, outdoor searches often cover greater areas and hence a systematic method should be used. A 6-X-6-foot area is a reasonable size for a detailed and comprehensive search. However, nighttime outdoor crime scenes search present difficulties causing some searches 6

to be put off until daylight hours. All evidence should be photographed and sketched. The interior of the vehicle should be searched for fingerprints and a systematic approach should be taken such as dividing the interior sections into front right, front left, back right and back left. Trace evidence such as hairs and fibers should be collected by using forceps or tape lifts. In this case, there was no indication to show which type of search was used by the investigators. Having that said that, based on the interview conducted with DSP Amidon bin Anan, the Head of CSI who had personally handled this case, he shed light that the line search was used at the secondary crime scene which was the manhole where the burnt body was found. He noted that this was due to the small space of the road. The investigation was done from 10am to 5pm and it can be seen that when Constable Mohd Zulkefli bin Abdul Ghani found the car P145 at nighttime which was 8pm. It could have been difficult to continue the investigation at nighttime hence it was put off until daylight. All evidence would have been photographed and sketched by them together with the interior of the car being searched for evidence. The blood stains on the back seat (‘P57A’) and driver’s seat (‘P55A’) of the car (‘P145’) were apart of the evidence where it was confirmed to belong to the deceased. Six strands of hair (‘P56C’) were also found in the car. Since it was not mentioned on how they were collected, based on reasonable understanding, it could be assumed that the forensic officers had used the standard way of forceps or tape lifts to collect the evidence which was also confirmed to be deceased’s. 2.3 Collection of Physical Evidence Collection of physical evidence had been conducted by the investigators and personnel of this case such as blood, semen, hair, clothes and personal belongings of the deceased and accused at the scene.2 While it was not clearly mentioned in the case, the evidence collected were “intact” via the usage of forcep and tape lifts in the sampling method. The physical evidence that can be seen in this case included the pair of Jack Blue Classic jeans with a Calvin Klein belt and a blue cap. The aforementioned jeans had blood stains which DNA...