Ex-teacher qualifies for case retrial
COURT TO HEAR PETITION TOMORROW
>> A former female schoolteacher in Nakhon Phanom, who served one and a half years in jail for a 2005 fatal car accident, has the right to petition the verdict because she now has new evidence proving her innocence, the Justice Ministry said yesterday.
The case of Jomsap Saenmuangkhot qualifies for a retrial under Section 5(3) of the 1983 Act governing the reopening of criminal cases, which states that an old case can be reopened if new evidence is deemed clear and significant.
The Act was cited as a basis to establish the woman’s innocence. She insisted she was wrongly prosecuted, given that the new evidence is enough to prove that she was jailed for a crime she did not commit, according to Tawatchai Thaikyo, deputy secretary for justice.
The police, meanwhile, said whether or not they will reinvestigate the 2005 case depends on the court’s decision, which is expected tomorrow. The court will decide whether to hear the case again.
Pol Maj Gen Suwichan Yankittikul, Nakhon Phanom provincial police commissioner, insisted that the police’s responsibility in investigating this case was completed in 2005 and now that Jomsap’s relatives had petitioned the court to reopen the case, it will totally depend on the court’s judgement.
The Nakhon Phanom provincial court is scheduled to hear the petition filed by Jomsap’s side at 9am tomorrow, said Pol Maj Gen Suwichan. The police will not be able to initiate any new investigation in this case without a court order, he said.
“As for the [alleged] mistakes [in the police investigation] that led to the prison term, the issue will be fought in a new legal battle in which the facts and details will be debated,” he said. A preliminary check into the old investigation conducted by the Nakhon Phanom police in 2005 showed that some relevant investigators had properly carried out their investigative duties, according to Pol Maj Gen Suwichan.
Thewarat Tothaiya, acting chief of Sakhon Nakhon’s provincial education office, said if the court rules that Jomsap is innocent, she may petition in person against the former order dismissing her from her teaching job when the Supreme Court upheld the jail sentence against her over a car crash in which she was charged with killing a victim.
No disciplinary probe was ordered against her back then and education officials were duty-bound to dismiss her from her job following the Supreme Court’s ruling, said Mr Thewarat.
If the court reverses the past ruling in the case, Jomsap will be reinstated and compensated for her loss of professional opportunities, he said.
The former teacher may also seek full financial compensation for the prison term she served if the court finds her innocent, said Mr Tawatchai.