Former factory worker ordered to enter defence for ex-wife’s murder
Court of Appeal says the trial judge erred in offering an alternative culpable homicide charge at the close of the prosecution’s case.
The Court of Appeal in Putrajaya has mandated former factory worker Zulkifli Joned to present his defense for his ex-wife's murder before the same trial judge who previously ruled on the case. The three-member bench, led by Justice Azman Abdullah, overturned Zulkifli's conviction and 16-year jail term, which stemmed from him pleading guilty to an alternative charge of culpable homicide, not murder.
The court's decision came after the prosecution's appeal, with Justice Azman stating that the original trial judge made an error by offering Zulkifli the alternative charge under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code. Instead, the judge should have determined if the prosecution established a prima facie case for murder, and ordered Zulkifli to enter his defense for either charge.
Deputy public prosecutor How May Ling argued that the trial judge's power to offer an alternative charge was reserved for the public prosecutor, adding that the judge's 30-page judgment did not explain the grounds for the alternative charge. Zulkifli's ex-wife, Nor Hidayah Ahmad, was found in a room of their flat, wrapped in a quilt, tied with nylon ropes, and concealed under a mattress and pillows.
The 47-year-old was initially charged with her murder on September 27, 2019, and his case was transferred to the Shah Alam High Court for a murder trial.
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