Jury Acquits Defendant by 6:1 majority for Trafficking in Dangerous Drugs

Criminal Law

In HKSAR v. Tin Tsz-chung, the 20-year-old Defendant was arrested by the Customs & Excise Department immediately after collecting a parcel from the Hong Kong Post Office. The parcel contained 4.9 kilograms of powder, which comprised nearly 850 grams of cocaine posted from Brazil. He allegedly admitted to knowing that the parcel contained “DD” and “Dangerous Drugs” at the time of arrest. The admission was ruled admissible by the trial judge after a voir dire.  

Moreover, the Prosecution relied on the various WhatsApp messages between the Defendant and those who asked him to pick up the parcel, and a video-recorded interview (VRI) taken with the Defendant under caution as circumstantial evidence to prove his knowledge of the dangerous drugs in the parcel.   

Following a 13-day trial in the Court of First Instance, the jury returned a majority (6:1) “Not Guilty” verdict.  

Randy Shek, along with Mr Eric Wan, instructed by Messrs Heyman Tang & Wong secured acquittal for the Defendant who if convicted, would face a likely sentence of over 21 years of imprisonment.  

 

Randy Shek

“Randy is a highly experienced counsel in the criminal law practice. He offers pragmatic and robust advice to clients and achieves favourable outcomes for them.”
— Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2023-2025: Regulatory, Investigations and Crime: Leading Juniors 

Randy’s main areas of practice include criminal law, human rights and civil liberties, and public law.  He also accepts instructions for civil cases involving injunctions, family law, and land law.

While he regularly receives instructions to prosecute on behalf of the Department of Justice, Randy is mainly a criminal defence counsel. Randy has a long and established track record for defending cases arising from high profile public order events and cases involving human rights and civil liberties dimensions. He is also particularly experienced in handling cases involving young offenders.

Moreover, he is also experienced in handling conventional crime, white collar crime, SFC investigations, and serious crime, including sexual offences and murder.  He has conducted trials and appeals in all court levels, both as led junior and on his own right.

Find out more from Randy’s profile.

 

This article was first published on 13 December 2024.

Disclaimer: This article does not constitute legal advice and seeks to set out the general principles of the law. Detailed advice should therefore be sought from a legal professional relating to the individual merits and facts of a particular case. The photographs which appear in this article are included for decorative purposes only and should not be taken as a depiction of any matter to which the case is related. The views and opinions expressed in this article/material are solely those of the members authoring it and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Denis Chang’s Chambers, or of any other member or members of Denis Chang’s Chambers.