Law 035 Legal Essay

MATERIAL FACTS

- Shamsuri (defendant) heard footsteps from his daughter’s room

- The defendant was shocked to find out that there was someone else besides him and his
daughter in that room
- In the heat of the moment, he hit Zakiah (deceased) on the head with a baseball bat
- Zakiah fell unconscious from the hitting action
- The defendant thought that Zakiah has died from the hitting action, so he put his
unconscious body inside a car booth
- The defendant and his daughter, Shani, then drove to the nearby river to dispose the body.
- Later, when the body was found, the medical evidence showed that Zakiah died out of
drowning.
- The deceased’s parents file a police report and claimed that the deceased went to Shani’s
house at the night of the incident.

LEGAL ISSUE

Whether the defendant (Shamsuri) is guilty under Penal Code Section 302 for the murder of
Zakiah (deceased) or only guilty for culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Penal
Code Section 303.

AREA OF LAW

Criminal law involving murder

PRIMARY SOURCES

Statutes
- Federal Constitution Article 5(1)
- Penal Code Act 574 Section 302
- Penal Code Act 574 Section 304(a)

Case law
- Pubalan a/l Peremal v Public Prosecutor [2020] 5 MLJ 442
“In the particular circumstances of the case, the important question that had to be
determined — but which remained unanswered — was whether the appellant intended to
cause such bodily injuries as he knew were likely to cause death or such as was sufficient in
the ordinary course of nature to cause death. PW4 should have been asked to give his
opinion on the nature of the injuries and its likely and natural effects but he was not asked
any questions on this crucial point. Since the evidence in this respect was wanting, the
appellant should have been convicted for committing culpable homicide by causing such
bodily injury as was likely to cause death, and not for murder (see para 19)”

-
- Public Prosecutor v Thenegaran a/l Murugan, [2013] 3 MLJ 328
“If the prosecution cannot satisfy one of the provisos to s 300 but it is an unlawful killing as
set out in s 299 and the defence had placed a credible defence of aggravating and/or
mitigating factors as opposed to denial or alibi, than the punishment will have to be lesser
than that of death penalty and in almost all cases of serious nature the punishment will have
to be under s 304 of the Code or for lesser conduct or factor it may attract milder sentencing
provision under the Code (see paras 18–19).”

SECONDARY SOURCE