MM. one note of caution. Some judges hold their cards very tightly and will sometimes bluff to encourage one side or the other to disclose more. It’s really hard to read what the judge is actually thinking. The judge is also the jury here (as in most European countries). He is less likely than a jury to be swayed by the appearance of a witness. But I agree that from your account, there is reason to be cautiously optimistic.
The problem for Zain is though that even if this judge acquits him, that will probably not be the end of the case. The prosecutor can, and in a high profile case like this probably will, appeal. So he can be tried again. This double jeopardy is one of the worst things about the Taiwanese legal system in my opinion because it can drag things out for many years without resolution.
[quote=“maoman”]I observed a one of Zain Dean’s court appearances this morning, and it was an eye-opening experience.
Let me preface what I’m about to say with a bit of a disclaimer: Zain was one of four roomates I lived with back in 95/96 and although we’ve never been close friends, we’ve always had a friendly relationship. I’ve been pretty neutral about his guilt or innocence up to now because to be blunt, I wasn’t at the scene of the accident and I couldn’t say speculate with any certainty that I knew what had happened on that night last March. Am I biased because of my association with Zain? I’ll let you be the judge of that.
Today I heard three witnesses speak. The first witness was brought forth in handcuffs - he’s currently in jail serving time for another, unrelated offence. He was vague and rebuked by the judge for giving contradictory statements. He finally expressed in exasperation that he really didn’t remember the events of that night very clearly and didn’t want to be “in the middle of this”. The second witness, the alleged driver, was a slouching 20-something year old, with ripped jeans hanging halfway down his ass and long-ish Japanese pop star-style disheveled hair. He mumbled his way unconvincingly through his testimony, only to be rebuked by the judge to “get his story straight”. According to Zain’s lawyer, with whom I spoke briefly afterwards, his testimony also contradicted his earlier statements. Zain’s lawyer seemed pretty pleased with the shabby performances of these two guys. The third witness was Zain’s girlfriend, who was clear-spoken, gentle, and concise. She gave a very solid account of what had happened after they had discovered the damage to the car and why they had decided not to repair it.
After seeing the complete lack of a case on the side of the prosecution, and talking to Zain and his lawyer and hearing what they had to say, I’ve got to say that I can’t imagine the judge finding Zain guilty. In fact, I’d be happy to take some friendly wagers, if anyone wants to be parted with their cash that badly.
As happy as I am for Zain that the case against him seems to be completely unraveling, I’m still dismayed by the way the media presented their own verdict, before the facts of the case were even known, and of course I’m very sorry for the family of the victim, surely the biggest losers in this whole sordid affair.[/quote]
