Pendakwa Raya v JOHANIZAM BIN JOHARI

Case Significance

Illustrates the assessment of the partial defences to murder of sudden fight, grave and sudden provocation and intoxication under the Penal Code, and the approach to imposing the death penalty as an exceptional sentence on a conviction under section 302.

This High Court decision sets out the grounds for convicting an accused of murder under section 302 of the Penal Code and for imposing the death penalty. The accused was charged with murdering a man at a house in Kedah on a morning in February 2021. At the close of the prosecution case the court found that a prima facie case had been established and called on the accused to enter his defence. The accused gave sworn evidence and called no other witnesses. His defences were that he had acted in private defence, that he was so intoxicated as to be incapable of knowing what he was doing, and that the killing occurred in a sudden fight (sudden fight) and under grave and sudden provocation (bangkitan marah yang besar dan mengejut), invoking Exceptions 1 and 4 to section 300 of the Penal Code and attributing his loss of control to insults said to have been directed at his race and religion by the deceased. At the close of the defence case the court held that the accused had failed to raise any reasonable doubt and had failed to make out the pleaded defences on the balance of probabilities. It found in particular that the injuries had been inflicted to the head with a weapon, that the accused had tried to hide the weapon and to flee, and that the offence was committed while he was under supervision, and it noted that he had shown no remorse. Concluding that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, the court convicted the accused of murder. Treating the matter as an exceptional case, the court imposed the sentence of death by hanging. The judgment is a detailed illustration of how the courts assess the partial defences to murder of sudden fight, provocation and intoxication, and of the approach to sentencing in a murder conviction.