Prima Facie Journey

There are many types of evidence. One of them is circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence  means evidence that is not direct  but it's various facts relating to facts in issue. For example in Sunny Ang v PP, the accused was charged for murder of his lover, Jenny although there was no direct evidence that Jenny has been murdered because her body was not found. Interestingly, court found Sunny Ang guilty based on all these  circumstantial evidence.

Among the facts adduced were:
(a)    The appellant was declared a bankrupt a year earlier and remained one on the day the offence was alleged to have been committed;
(b)    The deceased was insured against accidents with several companies;
(c)    The appellant’s mother was named as a beneficiary in some of the insurance policies;
(d)    The deceased made a will naming the appellant’s mother as the sole beneficiary;
(e)    The deceased was a novice diver and yet the appellant had allowed her to dive in dangerous waters;
(f)     The appellant did not go down to the waters himself when the deceased had failed to resurface;
(g)    The deceased had not worn gloves which were common when looking for corals;
(h)    Six days after the incident, flippers were found which were severed at the strap and cut in two places;
(i)      Less than 24 hours after her disappearance, the appellant made a formal claim.

In my opinion, if Sunny Ang did not make an insurance claim after Jenny disappeared, then the facts might not be so strong to point him as murderer. More so, his position as a bankrupt caused people to believe him to have the motive to murder Jenny although it's not really sure whether Jenny has been murdered by him. Based on the facts of this case, I disagree with the court's decision who found Sunny Ang guilty for murder. This is because in my opinion, circumstantial facts are after all indirect evidence and people make their own inference through the relevant facts received. Different people have different opinions and we do not know what happened exactly when they were out finding for corals. 

Nonetheless, I don't think it is strong enough to sentence Sunny Ang to death. However strong is all the circumstantial evidence when they are combined together still does not justify the sentencing of Sunny Ang to death. Probably we can deduce that he is guilty as there is motive to kill because of money but the punishment should not be mandatory death sentence. 

The test used in Sunny Ang is whether the cumulative effect of the evidence leads you to irresistable conclusion that it was the accused who committed the crime or is there some other reasonably possible explanation made. However, in my opinion, there can be other factors that caused such incident like accident and others. Another question that ought to be asked is what if Jenny appeared one day? Sunny Ang should not be sentenced to death unless and until Jenny's body is found to confirm her death. Further, in criminal cases, the burden of proof is beyond reasonable doubt but in this case, there are reasonable doubts still and thus, Sunny's punishment is not justified.