HKSAR v. LAM WING HIN

HKSAR v. LAM WING HIN

The plea was entered because the defendant was told there was no CCTV footage and his request for a change of solicitor was not implemented; counsel should have sought the management/shop CCTV; the defendant was deprived of full consideration and thus his plea was not voluntary, so in the interests of justice the...

Source-derived case information.

Citation
[2020] HKCFI 2366
Parties
Respondent: HKSAR; Accused: Lam Wing Hin
Court
Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
9 September 2020
Case Number
HCCC217/2019
Procedural Posture
Criminal Conspiracy to Traffic in Dangerous Drugs / Application to Reverse Guilty Plea After Conviction and Before Sentence
Outcome
Application granted; the defendant's plea of guilty is reversed to not guilty.
Legal Topics
Change of Plea, Confession Voluntariness, CCTV Evidence, Legal Representation, Interests of Justice, Drugs Trafficking
Source Language
en
Criminal Law Evidence Procedure Change of Plea Confession Voluntariness CCTV Evidence Legal Representation Interests of Justice +1 more

Source-derived case record

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

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Parties

HKSAR

Respondent

Lam Wing Hin

Accused

Procedural Posture

Criminal Conspiracy to Traffic in Dangerous Drugs / Application to Reverse Guilty Plea After Conviction and Before Sentence

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the defendant's guilty plea was voluntary and made with full consideration
  2. 2 Whether counsel's failure to obtain requested CCTV footage and DLA's failure to change assigned solicitor rendered the plea involuntary
  3. 3 Whether the court should exercise its discretion to allow reversal of an unequivocal plea before sentence in the interests of justice

Ratio Decidendi

The plea was entered because the defendant was told there was no CCTV footage and his request for a change of solicitor was not implemented; counsel should have sought the management/shop CCTV; the defendant was deprived of full consideration and thus his plea was not voluntary, so in the interests of justice the plea was reversed to not guilty.

Court Disposition

Application granted; the defendant's plea of guilty is reversed to not guilty.

Orders

  • The defendant's application to reverse his plea of guilty to not guilty is granted.