Ten witnesses will testify in court Wednesday to help seek a retrial of a fatal hit-and-run case involving former Sakon Nakhon teacher Jomsap Saenmuangkhot, who claims to have been wrongfully imprisoned.
Deputy permanent secretary for justice Dusadee Arayawuth said Tuesday the witnesses were prepared to testify at the Nakhon Phanom Provincial Court as it decides whether to approve a retrial of the case.
Pol Col Dusadee said he had confidence in the evidence prepared by the agency and various authorities. Examination of witnesses and evidence will run until Friday.
Besides Jomsap herself, Pol Col Dusadee said the witnesses will also comprise investigators from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), vehicle experts from the Department of Land Transport and King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, and engineers from Toyota Motor Thailand Co Ltd.
Authorities will also present evidence showing Jomsap's Toyata pickup truck, carrying the Bor Khor 56 Sakon Nakhon number plate, was not involved in the deadly accident.
The vehicle was loaded onto a car carrier truck and delivered to the court in Nakhon Phanom Tuesday to enable the court to examine it.
Jomsap was sentenced to three years and two months in prison by the Supreme Court in 2013 after she was found guilty of knocking down and killing an elderly cyclist in Nakhon Phanom in 2005.
She was released following a royal pardon in April 2015. Jomsap later pursued a wrongful conviction case with the Justice Ministry, which eventually agreed to seek a retrial with the court.
Pol Col Dusadee said the ministry has worked closely with police on the case, sharing information and details of witnesses. He said the effort was not aimed at apportioning blame, but presenting solid evidence to the court for the sake of Jomsap.
The Office of the Inspector-General under the ministry will also cite Jomsap's saga as a case study to enhance police investigation and judicial process, he said. Pol Col Dusadee declined to use evidence collected by some groups backing the former teacher, saying the ministry drew on evidence gathered by state authorities.
As for disciplinary action against Renu Nakhon police investigators overseeing the case, Pol Col Dusadee said the decision depends on the agency supervising the station to consider whether the officers conducted their probe in line with best practice.
"Based on an initial probe, there were no flaws in the previous probe by investigators who oversaw the case at the time," he said. However, he said forensics evidence was not included in the previous probe.
In a separate case, Pol Col Dusadee said DSI investigators were sent to work with the Provincial Police Region 4 in Bung Kan to investigate a case involving four former female ex-teachers who claimed they were also wrongfully imprisoned for giving false testimony in a fatal shooting of a male teacher eight years ago.
An initial probe found flaws in the investigation report. However, the ministry has yet to seek a retrial as forensic evidence is still coming in.
