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Free Malaysia Today
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Manjeet's advocacy a courtroom masterclass, says fellow lawyer
Manjeet Singh Dhillon died at his home in Bukit Damansara last October at the age of 82. KUALA LUMPUR : The late Manjeet Singh Dhillon was beyond a shadow of a doubt one of the best criminal lawyers this country ever has produced, and was especially skilled in cross-examining prosecution witnesses, a lawyer said. Ravinder Singh Dhalliwal said Manjeet's courtroom advocacy was 'an art and a joy to watch'. 'Manjeet's cross-examinations were legendary—precise, cutting, and always with purpose,' he said at a reference proceeding held on Friday for 20 legal practitioners who passed away last year. Justices Amarjeet Singh and Anand Ponnudurai co-presided over the event at the High Court here. According to Ravinder, Manjeet often said: 'Go for the jugular. Don't waste time with irrelevant questions.' He said Manjeet defended some of the most difficult cases, including the S. Nallakaruppan arms possession case as well as the murder trials of cosmetics millionaire Sosilawati Lawiya and former minister Mokhtar Hashim. 'He stood in the fire when others backed away from the heat,' said Ravinder. Manjeet also represented Abdul Razak Baginda, a former aide of ex-prime minister Najib Razak, in a RM100 million civil suit filed by the late Altantuya Shaariibuu's family. Manjeet was also described as a wordsmith, and was a skilled writer who expertly used language—often with a focus on creativity and eloquence. Manjeet, Ravinder said, stood as both a pillar of the legal fraternity and a relentless sentinel of justice. 'He was, in the truest and most noble sense of the word, a 'lawyer's lawyer'. He was not merely learned in law – he was devoted to its spirit, uncompromising in its ethics, and unafraid in its pursuit,' he added. Noted for his no-nonsense approach in human affairs, Ravinder said Manjeet also had a soft spot for animals and once served as president of PAWS Animal Welfare Society. He read law at Middle Temple and was admitted to the Bar in 1977. Manjeet served as magistrate, sessions court judge, deputy public prosecutor, and Treasury solicitor before going into private practice. He also served as the Malaysian Bar's secretary and vice-president before being its president in 1991 and 1992. Prior to embarking on his legal career, Manjeet was an English teacher, having trained as an educator at Kirby in the United Kingdom. He said Manjeet could be confrontational, even difficult, but always spoke the truth, even if it was liable to backfire on him. Ravinder said that in the tumultuous wake of the 1988 judicial crisis, 'when the rule of law trembled beneath executive force', Manjeet, as the Bar secretary, affirmed an affidavit alleging misconduct by then acting lord president Hamid Omar. The affidavit accused Hamid of attempting to prevent, frustrate and interfere with a Supreme Court sitting relating to proceedings involving his predecessor, Salleh Abas. Manjeet's affidavit was filed in support of an application seeking committal proceedings against Hamid for contempt of court. This led to contempt proceedings against Manjeet himself, for which he was found guilty and fined. 'Above all, Manjeet was a true officer of the court – not just in title, but in spirit. His loyalty was to justice, not favour; his conscience owed allegiance only to the law,' he said. Ravinder said, upon Manjeet's passing, tributes poured in from across the legal and political spectrum. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim described Manjeet as a remarkable lawyer and a dear personal friend. Manjeet, aged 82, died at his home in Bukit Damansara here on Oct 28. Also present at the reference proceedings were Bar secretary Murshidah Mustafa, Kuala Lumpur Bar committee chairman Nimalan Devaraja and Joennily @ Siti Badariah Yusof, representing the Attorney-General's Chambers.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Diddy Judge Chastises Defense for Moving Too Slowly While Questioning Pregnant Cassie
The New York judge presiding over ' trial is asking the defense to speed up their questioning of . According to The New York Times, Judge Arun Subramanian asked the defense to finish cross-examination of Cassie, who is eight and a half months pregnant, on Friday, May 16, so that she can be done with her testimony ahead of the weekend. Subramanian asked the defense to try to 'streamline' the questioning as much as possible. During court on Thursday, May 15, the defense reportedly pushed back, provoking a response from the judge. Cassie's Life After Diddy: A Guide to Her Family, Including Her Husband and 2 Kids 'In what universe did you not understand that this was important?' Subramanian asked. While Diddy's defense team said it intends to finish by the end of the week, they couldn't make any promises. Subramanian, however, reminded all parties that there had been discussions for weeks about how Cassie 'needed to be off the stand by the end of the week.' During Thursday's cross-examination, the defense presented Cassie — who shares daughters Frankie, 5, and Sunny, 4, with husband Alex Fine — with long pages of material that she had to sift through during questioning. Inside sources with the prosecution described to Us Weekly how 'cross-examination is supposed to be the most exciting part,' with rapid-fire questions. At one point, the defense stumbled over a question when they asked, 'Would you say he was a high-functioning addict? Uh — withdrawn.' Subramanian also appeared to get impatient at one point, telling the defense, 'I don't know what you were going to say, but you can rephrase anyway.' For the first part of the day, Cassie seemed more bubbly and at times sillier than in previous courtroom appearances. At one point, she let out a laugh when she testified, 'I would say [Diddy's] had a big impact on fashion over the decades. People think he has good taste.' On Tuesday, May 13, Cassie took the stand for the first time and described the start of her relationship with Diddy. During her testimony, Cassie alleged that the rap mogul had raped her. (He has denied allegations of rape.) Cassie Reportedly Set to Testify in Diddy Trial: Revisit Her Shocking Allegations She also detailed alleged freak offs and an opioid addiction she developed in the relationship. Cassie met Diddy around 2005 when she was 19 and later signed a 10-album record deal with his label. They officially began dating in 2007 and were on and off until 2018. Following their breakup, Cassie accused Diddy of abuse that allegedly occurred during their relationship. In November 2023, she filed a lawsuit against the rapper where she alleged the music mogul raped and sexually abused her. One day after the singer filed her lawsuit, the exes settled out of court. Diddy denied all allegations in the suit. Cassie revealed on Wednesday, May 14, that the settlement was for $20 million. Diddy Trial Begins in New York City: Daily Updates From Inside the Courtroom In September 2024, Diddy was arrested on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has vehemently denied all allegations and pleaded not guilty. 'We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney's Office,' Diddy's attorney Marc Agnifilo said in a statement at the time of his client's arrest. 'He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.' Since his arrest, Diddy has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. His four requests for bail were denied. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support. If you or someone you know is a human trafficking victim, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
CBC
14-05-2025
- CBC
Woman's testimony ends after 9 gruelling days of questions at world juniors sex assault trial
A little context on the importance of the Crown's re-examination today. We turned to Toronto-based criminal defence lawyer Annamaria Enenajor, who isn't connected to the world juniors case but spoke generally on re-examination. Enenajor says it's done by the Crown and generally has three purposes. 'One is to rehabilitate a witness's credibility. The second is to clarify evidence that's been elicited in cross-examination that may have come out a little bit unclear or may have made the witness look worse than she actually is. And the third is to elaborate or contextualize evidence that came up for the first time in cross-examination.' she explains. Enenajor says 'the stakes are huge.' 'Here we have a case where we have a witness who has withstood cross-examination for seven days, five different counsel, very skilled cross-examiners, each advancing their own theory of their client's innocence.' Enenajor says it is incredibly challenging to try to poke holes in the defence theories of five different legal teams. (A reminder that each of the accused men in this trial has his own team of lawyers).
