Lawyer ticked off for wasting court's time
Published on: Thursday, May 01, 2025
Published on: Thu, May 01, 2025
By: Cynthia D Baga Text Size: Presiding Judge Elsie Primus expressed frustration over the sudden move, saying the counsel's conduct had wasted valuable court's time. Kota Kinabalu: A Sessions Court judge reprimanded a defence counsel on Wednesday for discharging herself from a criminal case without prior notice, resulting in the postponement of a trial that had been fixed months in advance. The court was scheduled to hear the trial of Midrick Makales who is facing a charge of raping his neighbour. However, the proceedings were when counsel Hannan Raizani informed the court that she wished to discharge herself from representing Midrick saying that she did not receive any instruction from the family and did not receive documents pertaining the case from the family as well as payment. Presiding Judge Elsie Primus expressed frustration over the sudden move, saying the counsel's conduct had wasted valuable court's time. 'If you really want to discharge yourself from representing the accused, you should inform me in advance. I have a lot of cases to hear… not only me but also other judicial officers. 'The court already set the date to hear this case. What am I supposed to do the whole day now? I cleared this date to hear this case. If you had informed the court earlier, I could have set another case. This just wasted my time,' said Elsie. During the proceedings, the prosecution had no objection to the application which had been granted. Midrick who was under remand pending the disposal of his case, told the court that his family is currently collecting money to engage a counsel for him. The court set May 13 for mention of the case and asked Madrick's family to come whether they can find a lawyer or not. Midrick is accused of raping the 21-year-old woman at 11am on Jan 13 this year at a rented room of a shop in Lorong Buah Duku, here. The offence under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping, on conviction. * Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss. * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
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