<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>'Traffic offender' finally clears name
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Accused of speeding last year, he is acquitted after appealing to High Court </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Khushwant Singh
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Mr Paul Antony Fernandez (right) leaving the High Court with his lawyer, Mr N. Kanagavijayan, after being granted a full acquittal on the speeding charge yesterday. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->FRIENDS told Mr Paul Antony Fernandez he was pushing his luck when he decided last year to fight a $130 speeding ticket.
If he lost, the security company supervisor faced the prospect of a much stiffer fine in court - not to mention a hefty lawyer's bill. But the 43-year-old maintained he was wrongly accused and eventually took his case to the second highest court in the country.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>About the case
Feb 11, 2007: A traffic camera catches a security company van travelling 20km over the speed limit in Yishun Avenue 2.
April 20, 2007: Mr Paul Antony Fernandez receives a notice from the Traffic Police saying he is being charged with speeding.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Yesterday, one year and $12,000 in legal fees later, he got the verdict he was looking for. The prosecution did not oppose his appeal to the High Court asking for a full acquittal on the speeding charge, capping a struggle that included more than a dozen court appearances.
'I was not the one speeding, so why should I admit it?' Mr Fernandez said yesterday following the decision.
His saga began after a vehicle belonging to his employer, security firm Evtec Management Services, was spotted by a camera going 20km over the speed limit on Feb 11 last year in Yishun.
Evtec told the Traffic Police Mr Fernandez was behind the wheel and he was charged with speeding. He wrote letters to his bosses and the police, claiming he was not the driver. He included the records of his company's fuel card, which showed he was using another vehicle that day.
He said the Traffic Police told him they were basing the charges on the information provided by Evtec and he had to straighten out the case with the company. His efforts, though, proved futile and the firm insisted he was the driver.
He claimed trial in September last year but that did not prove to be a speedy solution. There were 10 pre-trial conferences and, at each, the prosecution applied for adjournments to conduct further investigations, Mr Fernandez's lawyer, Mr N. Kanagavijayan, declared in court papers.
When the trial date finally came, District Judge Salina Ishak granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal at the prosecution's request. That would allow prosecutors to bring back the charges if they uncovered new evidence.
The ruling came despite the arguments of Mr Kanagavijayan, who said Mr Fernandez should be granted a full acquittal. He said the police had ample time to investigate the case, which he called a trivial offence. Fed-up with the delays, Mr Fernandez took the case to the High Court.
At the hearing yesterday, the prosecution said that investigations had been completed and it would not stand in the way of his appeal for an acquittal.
'My client did not want this accusation hanging over his head any longer,' said Mr Kanagavijayan yesterday. 'Now, the prosecution has realised they have been after the wrong man all this time.'
Outside the courtroom, Mr Fernandez told The Straits Times that 'I will be examining my options' to recover 'the legal fees I have incurred'. He quit his job in April this year after about two years with the firm and is presently jobless.
When contacted, an Evtec spokesman said the company accepted the findings. But Evtec would not say if it had made a mistake. Instead, the spokesman said Mr Fernandez was the officer-in-charge that night and was responsible for the deployment of patrol vehicles and had possession of the vehicle keys. [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Accused of speeding last year, he is acquitted after appealing to High Court </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Khushwant Singh
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Mr Paul Antony Fernandez (right) leaving the High Court with his lawyer, Mr N. Kanagavijayan, after being granted a full acquittal on the speeding charge yesterday. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->FRIENDS told Mr Paul Antony Fernandez he was pushing his luck when he decided last year to fight a $130 speeding ticket.
If he lost, the security company supervisor faced the prospect of a much stiffer fine in court - not to mention a hefty lawyer's bill. But the 43-year-old maintained he was wrongly accused and eventually took his case to the second highest court in the country.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>About the case
Feb 11, 2007: A traffic camera catches a security company van travelling 20km over the speed limit in Yishun Avenue 2.
April 20, 2007: Mr Paul Antony Fernandez receives a notice from the Traffic Police saying he is being charged with speeding.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Yesterday, one year and $12,000 in legal fees later, he got the verdict he was looking for. The prosecution did not oppose his appeal to the High Court asking for a full acquittal on the speeding charge, capping a struggle that included more than a dozen court appearances.
'I was not the one speeding, so why should I admit it?' Mr Fernandez said yesterday following the decision.
His saga began after a vehicle belonging to his employer, security firm Evtec Management Services, was spotted by a camera going 20km over the speed limit on Feb 11 last year in Yishun.
Evtec told the Traffic Police Mr Fernandez was behind the wheel and he was charged with speeding. He wrote letters to his bosses and the police, claiming he was not the driver. He included the records of his company's fuel card, which showed he was using another vehicle that day.
He said the Traffic Police told him they were basing the charges on the information provided by Evtec and he had to straighten out the case with the company. His efforts, though, proved futile and the firm insisted he was the driver.
He claimed trial in September last year but that did not prove to be a speedy solution. There were 10 pre-trial conferences and, at each, the prosecution applied for adjournments to conduct further investigations, Mr Fernandez's lawyer, Mr N. Kanagavijayan, declared in court papers.
When the trial date finally came, District Judge Salina Ishak granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal at the prosecution's request. That would allow prosecutors to bring back the charges if they uncovered new evidence.
The ruling came despite the arguments of Mr Kanagavijayan, who said Mr Fernandez should be granted a full acquittal. He said the police had ample time to investigate the case, which he called a trivial offence. Fed-up with the delays, Mr Fernandez took the case to the High Court.
At the hearing yesterday, the prosecution said that investigations had been completed and it would not stand in the way of his appeal for an acquittal.
'My client did not want this accusation hanging over his head any longer,' said Mr Kanagavijayan yesterday. 'Now, the prosecution has realised they have been after the wrong man all this time.'
Outside the courtroom, Mr Fernandez told The Straits Times that 'I will be examining my options' to recover 'the legal fees I have incurred'. He quit his job in April this year after about two years with the firm and is presently jobless.
When contacted, an Evtec spokesman said the company accepted the findings. But Evtec would not say if it had made a mistake. Instead, the spokesman said Mr Fernandez was the officer-in-charge that night and was responsible for the deployment of patrol vehicles and had possession of the vehicle keys. [email protected]
