Defendant Victorious After 90-Day Jaywalking Trial

The South China Morning Post reports on the conclusion of a 90-day (!) trial for jaywalking in Hong Kong:

A woman charged with jaywalking has been acquitted at the end of a 21-month-long trial which was slammed by a city judge for bringing Hong Kong’s courts into disrepute.

Kamala Thapa denied one count of negligently endangering her own safety, after she was hit by a taxi while crossing Tai Tam Road outside the American Club in Stanley on April 25, 2016.

Her trial at Eastern Court over a traffic summons, which would have cost her a fine of no more than HK$500 (US$64) if convicted, had sparked three judicial reviews, one civil claim and what appeared to be the city’s first arrest warrant issued to a lawyer by a court.

The reason for the disproportionate length of the trial appears to be the result of "extravagant" proceedings in the jaywalking case before the magistrate, along with multiple instances where these proceedings were reviewed by higher-level judges. Here is an example of one some of those instances:

Her trial was punctuated by a dramatic episode. Presiding deputy special magistrate Ho Lai-ming – in what appeared to be a first for the city’s courts – issued an arrest warrant for Thapa’s lawyer Kelvin Leung after comments he made which she deemed offensive. Leung denied the accusations. 

After subsequently changing her barrister, Thapa’s trial hit another wall when a defence witness she had called decided to withdraw halfway through giving evidence. 

But Ho ordered the defence to fulfil its duty by calling the witness back, a decision that prompted Thapa and her lawyers, including Leung, to lodge a judicial challenge.

The South China Morning Post reports that the arrest warrant for Leung has not yet been executed.

After the protracted trial, Thapa prevailed. Both Thapa and the prosecutor unsurprisingly claim that they have incurred substantial fees, and the South China Morning Post reports that Thapa has filed a civil claim against the magistrate judge "for damages in excess of HK$1.7 million [over US$216,000] for loss of liberty and injured feelings."

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