Police: Ex-teacher's retrial plea smells fishy

Police: Ex-teacher's retrial plea smells fishy

Jomsap Saenmuangkhot claims she was wrongly convicted but police stood their ground, saying it could be her who orchestrated the entire publicity with several people involved. (Photo by Pratuan Kajonwuthinan)
Jomsap Saenmuangkhot claims she was wrongly convicted but police stood their ground, saying it could be her who orchestrated the entire publicity with several people involved. (Photo by Pratuan Kajonwuthinan)

Police adviser said Monday an investigation was being conducted to prove a former teacher’s claim that law enforcement authorities had wrongfully imprisoned her in a 2005 hit-and-run case was false and there were accomplices involved.

Speaking at a news conference at the Nakhon Phanom Provincial Police Bureau, Pol Gen Panya Mamen said investigators of the Provincial Police Region 4 had found evidence that a group of people were “committing a new offence” out of the closed case of Jomsap Saenmuangkhot. 

“It’s well organised and involves several people. The investigation is ongoing and the result will emerge soon,” Pol Gen Panya said.    

The police adviser is leading an investigation into Jomsap’s allegation on an order of police chief Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda. The 54-year old former teacher, who served one and a half years in jail for reckless driving causing death, petitioned the Ministry of Justice for reparation and a retrial of the fatal car accident case in which she claimed she was wrongly found guilty.  

The former schoolteacher from Sakon Nakhon, who was fired after she was convicted, claimed to have found a person who confessed to being the driver who killed a bicyclist in a car accident in Nakhon Phanom’s Renu Nakhon district in March 2005. Jomsap said her lawyer was in the process of bringing the person to the court. 

Pol Gen Panya said three investigation teams from the RTP, Office of Inspector General and the Police Region 4 had examined documents and evidence in Jomsap’s case and they were confident that the probe had been executed properly and met procedural requirements.

Rumours have begun to emerge that Jomsap hired someone to make a confession on her behalf to back the scapegoat claim so that she would receive financial compensation from authorities. But Jomsap said she was undaunted by the rumours against her and insisted she was innocent and that she was at her family home when the accident took place.  

ThaiPBS website on Monday quoted a police source close to the investigation who said investigators had found a key witness whom Jomsap wanted to hire to make confession for her. The source said Jomsap ignored the man after she discovered he could not drive.     

Jomsap appeared before the Nakhon Phanom Provincial Court on Monday for a hearing on her petition seeking a retrial of the controversial case. 

However, prosecutors asked the court to postpone the hearing because they had new evidence in the case and that a man identified as Sub Wapee, whom Jomsap claimed to be the real offender, and her woman witness, Tassanee Harnpayak, failed to show up. 

The court accepted the request and set Feb 8-10 to hear witness testimonies from both sides.

During the hearing, Jomsap also asked the judge to proceed quickly, saying she had lost her freedom and her family had been ruined by the alleged false conviction. The judge promised to provide quick and fair treatment to both sides.

The Supreme Court will rule after the three-day hearing whether to approve the request for the retrial.

The incident took place in Renu Nakhon district, Nakhon Phanom province, at around 8pm on March 11, 2005.

A pickup truck hit a man riding a bicycle in the opposite lane on a two-lane road while trying to overtake a motorcycle in front. The 74-year-old man died later at a hospital.

The motorcycle driver, who later became one of the witnesses, claimed the licence plate was "Bor Kor 56 Sakhon Nakhon".

The other witness claimed he saw a man coming out from the pickup truck after the crash.

Police traced the licence plate back to an owner in Sakhon Nakhon, who bought it from her neighbour and transferred the ownership on that day. 

Jomsap, who lives in Khok Si Suphan district, Sakhon Nakhon province, was the previous owner of the truck. She claimed she borrowed the truck for use on that day after selling it but denied hitting anyone.

She claimed she had been with her family at home in Sakhon Nakhon at the time of the accident. She also declined to give a statement to police.

The material evidence is the scratches on the left side of the truck from the bonnet to the front door and residue of green paint on the bicycle's left spoke.

Jomsap's truck was bronze in colour but police said the green paint could have come from the licence plate since pickup trucks use green for the letters on the plates.

The first court in Nakhon Phanom found her guilty in 2006 and sentenced her to three years and two months in prison.

The Appeals Court acquitted her, giving weight to the evidence. It decided that as the road had two lanes, the truck should have been damaged to the right side, not to the left side. Besides, it found the green paint could not have come from the licence plate because the one on Jomsap's vehicle was intact.

In the Supreme Court, prosecutors gave weight to the witnesses, believing they had no reason to lie. The Supreme Court in September 2013 upheld the first court's decision and sentenced her to three years and two months. 

On May 19, 2014, Sub Wapee turned himself in, claiming he was the driver of the pickup truck which killed the bicycle rider. He said he did not know about the wrong arrest before. Once he learned about it, he decided to turn himself in.

Jomsap was released following a royal pardon on April 3, 2015 after serving one year and six months.

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