Latest news with #courtAppeal
Free Malaysia Today
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Court sets Aug 20 to hear Peter Anthony's bid for review
Former Sabah infrastructure development minister Peter Anthony was sentenced to three years in jail and fined RM50,000 for falsifying documents related to a maintenance and service contract at Universiti Malaysia Sabah. (Bernama pic) PUTRAJAYA : The Court of Appeal today fixed Aug 20 to hear an application by former Sabah infrastructure development minister Peter Anthony to review a previous Court of Appeal decision upholding his conviction and sentence. Peter was sentenced to three years in prison and fined RM50,000 for falsifying documents related to a maintenance and service contract at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). A three-member panel led by Justice Azman Abdullah set the date after determining that the court should examine the earlier panel's full written grounds of judgment affirming the conviction. 'Having considered the submissions and affidavits filed, we note that the arguments touch upon the broad grounds previously provided. Therefore, we find it necessary to review the full written judgment,' said Azman, who sat with Justices Lim Chong Fong and Lim Hock Leng. Peter's counsel, Haniff Khatri Abdulla, had requested a new date, saying his client served as the assemblyman for Melalap. He submitted that Peter might be affected by the impending dissolution of the Sabah state legislative assembly, which is expected to occur in September. Deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin did not object to the request for a new date. On March 14, Peter filed a notice of motion seeking to review and set aside the conviction and sentence handed down by the Court of Appeal on March 4. He also applied to quash the warrant of committal issued to Kajang prison and sought any consequential orders necessary to ensure that justice is served in the matter. On March 4, the Court of Appeal ordered Peter to serve a three-year prison sentence after dismissing his final appeal against the conviction and sentence imposed by the Kuala Lumpur sessions court in May 2022. On April 18, 2023, the Kuala Lumpur High Court upheld the conviction and sentence imposed by the sessions court. Peter subsequently filed an appeal on April 19, 2023, seeking to set aside the decision. He has since paid the RM50,000 fine imposed by the court. Peter was charged under Section 468 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years' imprisonment and a fine upon conviction. He was accused, in his capacity as managing director of Asli Jati Sdn Bhd, of falsifying a letter from UMS's office of the deputy vice-chancellor dated June 9, 2014, by inserting false statements with the intent to deceive. The offence was allegedly committed at the office of the principal private secretary to the prime minister, Perdana Putra Building, Putrajaya, between June 13 and Aug 21, 2014.
The Independent
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
New Mexico appeals court rejects lawsuit against oil and gas regulators
A New Mexico appeals court rejected a lawsuit alleging that the nation's No. 2 oil-producing state failed to meet constitutional provisions for protecting against oil and gas industry pollution, in an opinion Tuesday. Environmental advocates vowed to appeal the matter to the state's top court. A panel of three judges on the New Mexico Court of Appeals found that it was beyond the judiciary's authority to weigh whether the pollution controls are adequate, writing that they'll defer to the Legislature to balance the benefits of environmental regulation with natural resources development. The 2023 lawsuit from a coalition of environmental groups was the first to invoke the constitution's pollution-control clause, a 1971 amendment requiring that New Mexico prevent the contamination of air, water and other natural resources. 'While plaintiffs correctly observe that, as the 'Land of Enchantment,' the state's beauty is central to our identity, we cannot ignore the long history of permitting oil and gas extraction within our borders," the panel wrote, invoking the state motto. 'If anything, the law, history, and tradition of our state demonstrates that resource extraction must be considered alongside, and must coexist with, pollution control legislation.' Gail Evans, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity and lead counsel on the case, said Tuesday's opinion would dismiss the case entirely if unchallenged and 'displays a fundamental misunderstanding of our constitution and constitutional rights.' She said plaintiffs intent to appeal to the state Supreme Court. 'Fifty years ago, New Mexico voted to amend the constitution and to provide protections from industry pollution and the court has found today that the amendment — the pollution control clause — is essentially meaningless, and that has to be wrong,' Evans said. The court challenge comes as New Mexico's state government rides a wave of record income from development in the Permian Basin, one of the world's most productive, oil-producing regions. Oil-related revenue collections underwrite a considerable amount of the state's budget, including public education. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's administration is policing the industry with regulations that target methane and other emissions. But the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups say these efforts are not enough and that the state is failing to enforce existing pollution-control measures. Attorneys for the Democratic-led Legislature and environmental regulators said the lawsuit threatened their constitutional authority. Appeals Judge Katherine Wray issued an additional concurring opinion, expressing further limitations of the pollution control clause.
Daily Mail
30-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
State government fails to extend man's sentence it deemed 'manifestly inadequate'
A state government has failed to prove a man accused of using a rope to drag a woman to a car was handed a 'manifestly inadequate' sentence. The Queensland government had sought to increase Brock Andrew McDonald's sentence after he was jailed for assaulting and depriving the liberty of a young woman in October 2023. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years on parole in December, with 413 days as time served. Attorney-General Deb Frecklington said in January that in her view, the sentence did not meet community standards and was 'manifestly inadequate'. McDonald, 44, is alleged to have put a rope around a young woman's neck before dragging her into a car in the early hours of the morning. He placed the screaming woman in the back seat while repeatedly telling her not to look at his face. She eventually escaped the car and hid in a nearby bush before calling for help. McDonald had pleaded guilty to charges of deprivation of liberty and assault occasioning bodily harm. In the appeal, the attorney-general had sought McDonald's sentence to be increased to no less than three years for the deprivation of liberty charge. The attorney-general's counsel submitted that the Court of Appeal should conclude the sentence was 'unreasonable and plainly unjust' and was so far outside the range of sentences that an error must have occurred. But the Court of Appeal on Friday dismissed the case, finding the attorney-general could not demonstrate the sentence was manifestly inadequate or that an error had occurred. The judges said the prosecution launched the appeal with the 'fundamental misconception' that sentences for kidnapping offences were comparable in McDonald's case on a deprivation of liberty charge. The appeal court referenced the sentencing judge's ruling on the basis that the prosecution had not sought to prove intent that is required for a charge of kidnapping. The prosecution instead pursued deprivation of liberty, which holds a lesser maximum sentence. The appeal judges said the attorney general 'ignored the consequences' of the prosecution's choices in framing the charges of deprivation of liberty instead of kidnapping, which McDonald pleaded guilty to. 'The argument presented on behalf of the attorney-general fails to demonstrate that the sentence was manifestly inadequate,' the appeal judges ruled. Ms Frecklington expressed her disappointment over the outcome. 'This sentence was appealed because I did not believe it met community expectations,' she said in a statement.
Malay Mail
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Prosecution: Peter Anthony's review application premature as court sets next hearing over falsified UMS contract conviction
PUTRAJAYA, May 14 — The prosecution has objected to former Sabah infrastructure development minister Datuk Peter Anthony's application for a review of the Court of Appeal's earlier decision, which upheld his three-year jail sentence and RM50,000 fine for falsifying documents related to a maintenance and service contract at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin informed a three-member Court of Appeal panel chaired by Justice Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali that the prosecution had filed the preliminary objection on April 25, on the grounds that the applicant's (Peter's) application was premature. 'The parties have also been informed that the grounds of judgment are currently being prepared, and the prosecution is not preventing the applicant from filing the review,' said Wan Shaharuddin. Also presiding over Tuesday's proceedings were Justices Datuk Azman Abdullah and Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli. Earlier, Peter's lawyer Datuk Rosal Azimin Ahmad said they had applied for the full written grounds of judgment, which had yet to be completed. 'Our side (the applicant) had requested the court recording transcription (CRT), but we did not receive it and only have the notes of proceedings,' he said, adding that they were requesting the review to proceed based on the brief grounds of judgment given by the Court of Appeal previously. The counsel also said they had filed a certificate of urgency as the case involved public interest, with Peter's status in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly still unresolved. The court then fixed May 16 for an e-Review mention (via Zoom) to set the hearing date for Peter's review application and the prosecution's preliminary objection. On March 14, Peter filed a notice of motion seeking the Court of Appeal to review and set aside the conviction and sentence it imposed on March 4 under Section 468 of the Penal Code. Peter is also seeking the cancellation of the prison warrant dated March 4 issued to Kajang Prison, as well as any consequential orders necessary to ensure justice is served. On March 4, the Court of Appeal ordered Peter to serve a three-year jail sentence after dismissing his final appeal against the conviction and sentence handed down by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court in May 2022. Peter had earlier filed an appeal on April 19, 2023, to overturn the conviction and sentence, but this was rejected by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on April 18, 2023, which upheld the Sessions Court's decision. He has already paid the RM50,000 fine imposed. According to the charge, Peter, as managing director of Asli Jati Sdn Bhd, was accused of falsifying a letter from the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of UMS dated June 9, 2014, by inserting false statements with the intent to deceive. The offence was allegedly committed at the Office of the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Perdana Putra Building, Putrajaya, between June 13 and Aug 21, 2014, which carries a maximum jail term of seven years and a fine upon conviction under Section 468 of the Penal Code. — Bernama
