PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has fixed Feb 8 to deliver its verdict in the acquittal of Samirah Muzaffar and two teenagers over the murder of former Cradle Fund chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan.
Both teenagers at the time were minors, so their identities cannot be disclosed.
Checks at the Judiciary Department's website revealed that the three-judge panel led by Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, sitting together with Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli would deliver the judgement at 2pm.
On June 21, 2022, Shah Alam High Court judge Datuk Ab Karim Ab Rahman acquitted and discharged all three individuals after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against Samirah, 48, and the two teenagers aged 17 and 20.
Ab Karim reportedly said that the prosecution had only made mere allegations when accusing all three of them of killing the CEO of Cradle Fund as stated in the charge sheet.
On June 23 this year, the Attorney-General's Chambers filed a notice of appeal against the High Court's decision in acquitting Samirah and the teenagers on the murder charge.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Yusaini Amer Abdul Karim submitted that since the three respondents were the last persons seen with the deceased, it was reasonable to infer that they had the opportunity to kill him.
Yusaini Amer also submitted that the High Court judge had erred in not finding out who was with the deceased between 11.30pm on June 13, 2018, and 12.46pm the following day.
Meanwhile, counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, representing the respondents, submitted that there was no low burn or seeping of petrol in the areas that were said to have petrol.
Yusaini Amer said Nazrin's death was due to "blunt force injuries" or "double blunt impact to the head" caused by a blunt weapon such as a hammer.
He also submitted that the learned High Court judge had erred in holding that the fire was intentional and not accidental and that the cause of death was due to blunt impact and not complications of blast and blunt penetrating injuries.
On June 30, Samirah and the teenagers filed an appeal to challenge certain findings of facts by the High Court, including the findings that the fire that broke out in Nazrin's room was "done deliberately".