Evidence Act on Section 8 PDF

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This paper includes evidence that can be admitted under motive, evidence showing preparation, and previous conduct. If any one of the circumstances falls under this, the evidence can be admitted under this Section....

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Section 8

Yap Boon Thai v PP

It caters for evidence of facts showing motive,

Failure to establish motive only cast a duty on

preparation, and conduct of those involved in

this court to scrutinise each piece of evidence

the crime where such conduct influences or

very closely in order to ensure that suspicion,

influenced by any facts in issue or relevant

emotion or conjecture do not take the place

facts.

of proof.

Evidence constituting motive

In the absence of criminal act, motive is

Motive will have to be distinguish from intention. Motive vs intention.

insufficient. PP v Rosli bin Kaya -

Criminal act was not proven by mere existence of the accused’s DNA on the

To establish whether a person can be found

shirt of the deceased when the

guilty for a crime committed, the element of

eyewitness failed to confirm the

mens rea or intention needs to be proved.

identification of the accused, even

Motive becomes an element that may help

though he may have a motive to kill.

establish why a person commits a crime. -

The presence of an unknown third

In circumstances where an act is committed

person also creates doubts on the

voluntarily, the element of motive will be

possibility of another defender.

there. The evidence of motive is especially relevant What is motive?

if all the evidence is circumstantial in nature.

It must be tendered through direct evidence.

Dato Mokhtar Hashim v PP

Wigmore defines motive as the emotion that

-

Although motive is not a necessary

led to the act which could be formed by the

ingredient to be established in the

influence of external facts.

offence of murder, it would if shown

Motive tells the reason why a person does a

tend to support the case against an

particular act.

accused so charged.

The existence of motive may support the

Wong Foh Hin v PP

finding of guilt, but a person will not be

Any fact is relevant which shoes or constitutes

charged for any offence simply by having a

a motive or preparation for any fact in issue.

motive to do a particular act.

Strong and convincing evidence of motive will probably have a high evidential value in all

circumstances, but it must be especially so in

Evidence that constituted motive in this case

a case like this, where there is only

was hearsay and thus inadmissible.

circumstantial evidence of the murder itself. -

In this case, an attempt was made by

Evidence showing preparation

the defence counsel to deny the admissibility of evidence that the

Section 8 (1) includes every action that leads

accused raped his daughter as a

to the production of a crime or facilitating a

motive to kill her on the ground that

criminal action.

such

Thiangiah & Anor v PP

evidence

reflected

bad

behaviour. -

The court applied the principle as in

There are four stages of every crime.

the case R v Ball, which reflects that

1. Intention to commit crime.

evidence admissible on one ground

2. The preparation of its commission.

will not be rejected because it is

3. Attempt to commit it.

inadmissible on some other ground.

4. The actual commission of the crime.

If motive is to be used as evidence in the court, it has to be proved to exist specifically

Evidence of Conduct Section 8(2).

in relation to a particular crime. What constitutes conduct? Mohamad bin Deraman v PP Conduct refers to action. In S8(2), the is Court of Appeal stated that motive serves as corroboration to the facts in issue.

explanations state that statement a not part of conduct except when such statement are

Motive in hearsay evidence

used to explain some actions.

It must be in the nature of direct evidence.

The requirement for evidence of conduct to

Motive therefore cannot be proven by hearsay

be accepted by the court is that the conduct

evidence.

must directly affect, influence or to be

Karam Singh v PP Evidence of motive given by the deceased’s son to the court needed to be rejected when it was only a repetition of what the father said to him prior to his death.

affected by the facts in issue. Thus, the nexus between conduct and facts in issue must be established so that the action is not an isolated event. Sarkar on Evidence:

-

Conduct must directly influence or be influenced by a fact in issue. It must

Pathmanabhan Nallianmen

be the essential complement for the act done and refused to be done.

-

The conduct of the first accused

or

keeping silent in the face of intense

subsequent conduct involving both

suspicion towards him showed that he

actions and statements.

was guilty.

Conduct

includes

antecedent

For example, in a murder case, a conviction is

strange for a lawyer not to take

not justified if the accused was simply seen

reasonable steps to clear his name

absconding or last seen together with the

upon

victim without any nexus that link these

previous conduct of an accused person may overlap with preparation to commit a crime.

allegation

that

he

Sosilawati and others. -

Subsequent guilty conduct was also reflected.

Previous conduct Refers to conduct in person. Sometimes

severe

committed the high-profile murder of

conducts with the murder. A chain needs to be established to warrant a conviction.

The court found that it was quite

Can statement become conduct? A statement will not be part of conduct except when such statements accompanies or explain

A victim filing a complaint against the accused

acts. If no action is involved, a statement can

person for stalking her reflects the conduct of

only be regarded as conduct of such

victim.

statement is a complaint.

Ravindran Kandasamy v PP

Illustration j- it may be relevant as:

Various subsequent act of the accused person

i.

31(1)(a).

that led to the complainant filing a report to the Anti-Corruption Agency were relevant so

ii.

Conduct after crime is committed.

As corroborative evidence under Section 157.

as to show previous conducts of the accused. Subsequent conduct

A dying declaration under Section

These illustrations distinguish a complaint from a mere statement. Thus, if a victim makes a police report, such police report is a

For example, a person running away from a crime scene or disposing the body of the victim.

complaint.

PP v Mohammad Terang bin Amit

Aziz bin Muhamad Din v PP -

Accused was charged and convicted

For a statement to be a complaint, it must be

under Section 376 of the Penal Code

made voluntary without any element of

for rape of an underage girl. Since this

inducement or intimidation.

case concerned a child in a sexual offence case it requires evidence in corroboration

must

be

A mere statement on the other hand is mere evidence of knowledge.

an

independent testimony and the story told by the victim to the third party

Boota Singh v PP -

for example her mother, of an

deceased against the accused several

unlawful intercourse was not capable

months before the murder.

of

amounting to

corroboration

-

because statement was emanated from the girl itself. -

-

However, the report was inadmissible as it was hearsay.

-

The report was accepted under

The issue was whether her police

Section 8 as it indicated that the

report

accused was on bad terms with

amounted

to

sufficient

independent corroboration. -

A police report was made by the

Once it is regarded as a complaint, it

deceased. -

Even though a statement is not

becomes a substantive piece of

conduct within the meaning of the

evidence.

Section but if the statement was

If evidence is regarded as a mere

accompanied by and explained the

statement under section 157, it only

deceased’s act in making the report, it

confirms the consistency in the

is expressly admissible in Terms of

making of such statement.

explanation 1 to 8.

Yusof bin Rahmat A witness cannot corroborate her own testimony and that independent evidence is required to constitute corroboration. Such evidence is excluded as corroboration on the basis that its probative value outweighs its prejudicial effect....