KUALA LUMPUR (March 17): Lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik will be leading Sam Ke Ting's final appeal for reckless driving that killed eight teenagers on "basikal lajak", or modified bicycles, in 2017.
Hisyam will now be the leading counsel for Sam, along with Harvinderjit Singh as a co-counsel.
It is understood that Hisyam will be replacing the late Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, who passed away in January this year.
He appeared along with lawyers Muhammad Faizal Mokhtar and Harvinder Singh Sidhu during case management earlier on Friday (March 17).
Harvinder confirmed the matter with The Edge when contacted, saying the parties had confirmed that all submissions were filed, and that Sam's appeal is scheduled to go on on March 31.
This is Sam’s final appeal, where the Court of Appeal (COA) will either acquit her or uphold her conviction.
On April 18 last year, the COA allowed Sam's application to stay the execution of the six-year jail sentence and RM6,000 fine imposed by the Johor Bahru High Court earlier on April 13. She was also released on bail of RM10,000, pending the hearing of her appeal.
The High Court also ordered the 27-year-old to be jailed for six months if she fails to pay the fine, and handed a three-year driving ban upon completion of her prison term.
The court handed down the decision after allowing the prosecution's appeal to set aside the Magistrate's Court's decision, which acquitted and discharged her.
Sam, who was 22 years old at the time of the incident, was charged with committing the offence on Jalan Lingkaran Dalam, Johor Bahru at 3.20am on Feb 18, 2017.
The eight teenagers killed in the incident were Mohamad Azrie Danish Zulkefli, 14, Muhamad Shahrul Izzwan Azzuraimie, 14, Muhammad Firdauz Danish Mohd Azhar, 16, Fauzan Halmijan, 13, Mohamad Azhar Amir, 16, Muhammad Harith Iskandar Abdullah, 14, Muhammad Shahrul Nizam Marudin, 14, and Haizad Kasrin, 16.