Court of Appeal Reinstates Tow Truck Driver’s Conviction Over 2019 Johor Highway Crash After Legal Reversal
PUTRAJAYA, Feb 27 — The Court of Appeal has restored the conviction and fine imposed on a tow truck driver for careless driving that led to a highway accident in Johor nearly seven years ago, overturning an earlier High Court decision that had cleared him.
A three-member panel comprising Justice Datuk Azmi Ariffin, Datuk Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz and Datuk Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid unanimously allowed the prosecution’s appeal, reinstating the Magistrate’s Court ruling against Liaw Zhi Foh.
The court ordered Liaw to settle the RM7,000 fine within seven days, with a three-month jail term to be enforced immediately if the payment is not made by the deadline.
In delivering the judgment, Justice Azmi said the High Court Judicial Commissioner had erred in law by relying on material from a civil case when reviewing the criminal conviction.
He explained that the High Court should have confined its review to the records of the original Magistrate’s Court proceedings instead of referring to evidence from a separate civil suit that had yet to be concluded.
The appellate court found that relying on those civil proceedings exceeded the scope of revisionary powers permitted under criminal law.
The case dates back to March 13, 2019, when Liaw, then aged 40, drove his tow truck carelessly at KM0.4 of the Johor second link expressway, causing a motorcycle to crash into a lorry at around 9pm.
In 2022, he pleaded guilty in the Magistrate’s Court and was fined RM7,000, with a default sentence of three months’ imprisonment.
Following the accident, the motorcyclist filed a civil claim in the Sessions Court in Johor Bahru.
During the civil trial, the investigating officer testified that the accident had actually taken place at KM1.4, not KM0.4 as stated in the criminal charge.
Based on that discrepancy, Liaw applied to the High Court in 2024 to review and overturn his guilty plea and conviction.
The High Court allowed his application, quashed the conviction and ordered that the fine be refunded, citing concerns about the accuracy of the charge.
However, the prosecution challenged that decision, arguing that the High Court had improperly relied on unproven civil evidence.
The Court of Appeal agreed with the prosecution’s argument and ruled that the Magistrate’s Court conviction should remain valid.
With this latest ruling, Liaw’s guilty plea and sentence have been reinstated, bringing renewed closure to a legal battle that has stretched across multiple courts for several years.
-wilayah.com.my
