Drinking death: Ex-Rela man to hang
Published on: Thursday, December 08, 2022
By: Jo Ann Mool
Donny testified in his defence that the deceased was the one who started to assault him by punching him on his face and that he hit back by swinging his hand, but he could not remember how many times because he was in a drunken state.
Kota Kinabalu: A 43-year-old former Rela personnel was on Wednesday sentenced to death by the High Court here for murdering his friend during a drinking session in Kudat three years ago.Donny @ Mohd Nazmie Musanna was found guilty of committing the crime against one Ampukir Aladau, 64, between 2am and 3am on March 26, 2019 at the Tomborungus Tamu area.
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Judicial Commissioner Amelati Parnell, in delivering her decision, held that the defence failed to prove any reasonable doubt against the charge.
On hearing the decision, Donny appeared shocked and in tears.
After the proceedings, Donny went to hug his family members who were present at the court gallery and knelt down at his parents’ feet.
Donny, who was represented by appointed counsel Amli Nohin, was the sole defence witness and gave his evidence under oath in July this year.
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The prosecution had called 13 witnesses to testify at the prosecution’s stage.
The charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code carries the death penalty on conviction.
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It was revealed in the trial that a prosecution’s witness saw Donny had punched and kicked the deceased’s face a few times.
Amli, in the defence submission earlier, submitted that Donny and the deceased had a fight as they had been drinking and that who started the fight cannot be determined and that there was no evidence that Donny started the fight.
Donny testified in his defence that the deceased was the one who started to assault him by punching him on his face and that he hit back by swinging his hand, but he could not remember how many times because he was in a drunken state.
Donny said in that incident, he realised that his wallet and phone were missing after he groped in his pocket and realised that his wallet and handphone were not in his pocket.
He then asked the people around him noisily, then the deceased became inflamed and angry at his question and all that he can remember was that the deceased punched him and that he started fighting with him.
“After that, I do not remember what happened,” said Donny, in his defence.
Amli submitted that the evidence showed that Donny and the deceased were both drunk and intoxicated and that there was no evidence from any of the witnesses of how the fight occurred and who threw the first punch.
The counsel also submitted that it was a sudden quarrel between Donny and the deceased and therefore showed that Donny has no intention to kill the deceased when he beat up the deceased.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Azreen Yas Mohamad Ramli submitted that the pathologist, who performed the post-mortem on the deceased, testified that the cause of death was severe head injury and that the injuries sustained on the head were the most serious and would have likely resulted in the deceased’s death.
The pathologist further stated that all the injuries inflicted on the deceased were caused by impact by a blunt object-weapon surface which included punching, submitted the prosecution.
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