Wardrobe change and the trial begins
By:
SHOW time.
From the moment Tey Tsun Hang stepped out of a white car at the Subordinate Courts yesterday morning till the time he left the court in the evening, the drama never stopped.
Stepping out of the car, he took a moment to pose casually for press photographers.
In court, the action continued.
First, his lawyer, Mr Peter Low, requested Tey also be allowed to actively cross-examine witnesses. Tey said that if that was not allowed, he would discharge Mr Low and represent himself.
After a round of discussions, Tey decided to retain Mr Low as his solicitor, who would give him legal advice but not address the court. Tey would conduct his own defence.
Next, he argued on what he called a “minor, inane point” – that unlike the prosecutors, he did not have a screen before him which would allow him to read the live transcript of the proceedings.
The New Paper understands that typically all parties in a trial would decide if they wanted to engage such services and share the costs. The service, provided by an external company, costs several thousand dollars a day.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Jumabhoy said Tey had opted to cancel this service a few days ago.
The 41-year-old law professor, who has since been suspended, then whipped out a copy of the Subordinate Court Practice Direction to argue that he should be given similar access to any such transcripts.
Chief District Judge Tan Siong Thye adjourned the hearing and got all parties into his chambers to settle the administrative matter. Tey eventually got access to the live feeds, at least for yesterday.
Before the trial resumed, Tey left the courtroom. When he returned, he had ditched his grey and white striped suit for a blazer and lawyers’ robes.
The lawyers’ robes are usually used during High Court appearances, rather than at the Subordinate Courts.
Tey then started setting up a mini office in the dock, putting up a wooden easel to prop up legal documents and carrying other bags and files into the dock.
He directed several of his former students to sit behind the defence counsel’s table and they took notes during the hearing.
When court resumed, Tey asked the judge if he could stand at the defence counsel’s table instead as the dock would “pose considerable physical restraints in my current constitution”.
Tey, who has a slight limp, made his way to court using an umbrella as a walking stick.
Mr Jumabhoy objected, arguing that though Tey was representing himself, it did not change his position as the accused and therefore he should remain in the dock.
While this was being discussed, Tey turned to face the public gallery, put both hands on the dock and then casually popped a sweet into his mouth.
When the court officer was reading the charges to Tey, he turned the microphone to the officer and later patted him on his back after all charges were read.
Asked how he wanted to plead, he said theatrically: “If I were standing before the Almighty, I could give but one answer – I am not guilty. So please help me, God.”
Finally, after about two hours, the first witness, Miss Darinne Ko, was called to the stand.
Throughout the trial, Tey paced up and down in the dock, going to one side to confer with his lawyers, rustling through documents and checking what had been said by Miss Ko.
At one point, she said she was very distracted by his movements, but the judge told her to focus on her testimony.
Miss Ko subsequently sat with her hand glued to her forehead, shielding her from seeing Tey.
She turned further away from him later in the day when photographs he took of them after their first sexual encounter were tendered in court by the prosecution.
Tey objected to the 18 photos being submitted as evidence at this stage, until the forensic expert who extracted the photos from his laptop took the stand.
While claiming that he did not want these “compromising” photos to influence the judge’s mind, he held one of them up high and slowly swirled around so that the packed courtroom could see it.
Tey also had several notable sound bites.
At one point, he said he preferred to be referred to as the “defendant”, rather than the “accused”.
At another, he claimed to have been “scrambling like mad” and like a “headless chicken” when given only a few days to read a forensic report linked to the case.
When the prosecutor asked for a short break, Judge Tan said the transcribers also needed a break. Tey chipped in: “So do I, I’d taken too much fluids during lunch.”
Just before the lunch break, Tey asked that all officers from the Corrupt Practices Investigations Bureau be removed from the court.
The prosecution said only one officer – Miss Ko’s escort – was in court and she was not related to the investigations.
Tey said he saw no reason for her to remain in court then and said: “I can escort the witness as well.”
Mr Jumabhoy retorted: “We thankfully and respectfully decline.”
But Tey had the last word: “I beg your pardon, Your Honour. I should have been more restrained.”
Related story: Darrine Ko says she lost her virginity to Prof Tey
- wong chee tat :)
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