 |
| High Court, where Court of Appeal holds hearings |
The Court of Appeal today allowed a Filipina tourist sentenced to 28 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to manufacture the dangerous drug methamphetamine hydrochloride (commonly known as ice or shabu), to appeal her conviction.
In a written ruling, Justice of Appeal Kevin Zervos also
granted Anna Mae Enriquez, 41 years old, leave to appeal her sentence even if
she did not ask for it.
“I consider that in the interests of justice, leave should
be granted to D3 (Enriquez) to appeal against her sentence, notwithstanding the
late stage in doing so and without an application having been made by her,” he
added.
 |
| TAWAG NA! |
He approved three of the four grounds cited by Enriquez’s lawyer, supplied by Legal Aid, as reasons to appeal the decision of High Court Judge Esther Toh:
- That the judge failed to instruct the jury that her presence in the flat where the drug was being manufactured, was insufficient to infer that she was part of the conspiracy.
- That the judge failed to instruct the jury that her mere presence would not be enough to support the prosecution case against her and that the prosecution should prove she was a participant in making the drug.
- That the circumstantial evidence was “insufficient to draw an irresistible inference of agreement to manufacture dangerous drugs, role and/or knowledge of dangerous drugs, causing a lurking doubt as to the safety of her conviction.”
Justice Zervos disapproved of her fourth argument -- that
the judge discredited her to the jury by contrasting her evidence that she was
on the bus from the airport when Lam contacted her, while Lam stated that he
ran into her accidentally downstairs in the hotel where they were both staying.
“There is nothing improper about highlighting the
discrepancies in the evidence of the defendants in the summing-up for the jury’s
consideration,” he explained.
In contrast, Justice Zervos denied the request of her co-defendant
Kent Lam Tsz-kin, who was sentenced to 29 years in jail. His sole ground for appeal
– that he was manufacturing the drug but under duress – was not “reasonably
arguable,” he said.
“The jury, by its verdict, clearly rejected (Lam’s) defence,”
he added.
The third co-defendant, Mexican Marco Torres Gonzalez, 35, who
was sentenced to 28 years in prison, had earlier withdrawn his application.
The three were arrested by police in a raid on Mar 5-6, 2019
at a To Kwa Wan flat rented by Lam’s wife.
In their testimonies, Lam and Gonzales admitted buying the
pots used in manufacturing the ice in Lam’s kitchen, while Enriquez claimed she
was in Hong Kong for shopping and that Lam brought her to the flat.
The three were convicted by a High Court jury on a charge of
conspiring to manufacture shabu weighing 4.71 kilos, and sentenced on June 24,
2022 by Judge Toh.
In his 17-page decision, Justice Zervos said, “the extent of
the evidence against (Enriquez) was that she was present at the time the police
raided the flat.”
He also noted that both her co-defendants had testified that she “was merely present at the relevant time and not involved in manufacturing the ice.”
 |
