Police can't help teacher wrongly jailed for 1.5 years: Updated

13 มกราคม 2560

Although former teacher Jomsap is clearly innocent of killing a motorcyclist, police and education officials in Nakhon Phanom say only a court can help her.

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Saturday update

Police 'no authority' to reopen case of wrongfully jailed teacher

PRATUAN KAJONVUTHINUN
ONLINE REPORTERS

NAKHON PHANOM – Police have no authority to reopen the investigation and wrongful conviction of a teacher who spent 18 months in prison, and the matter now rests solely with the court, a senior police officer said on Friday.

Nakhon Phanom police chief Suwicharn Yankittikun said investigators had wrapped up the investigation into the fatal accident allegedly involving Jomsap Saenmuangkhot, 54, in 2005.

Her relatives had asked for the revival of the case. Police investigators had no authority to do so as the case had already been closed.

If the retrial due to start in Nakhon Phanom court on Monday finds Mrs Jomsap not guilty, police could reopen the case and begin a fresh investigation to find the culprit.

Until then, police investigators were powerless. Re-opening the case before then would be a violation of the authority of the court, the Nakhon Phanom police chief said.

The Sakon Nakhon Education Office Zone 1 said it would await the court ruling in the revival of the case before deciding on Ms Jomsap's request for reinstatement.

The zone office director, Thewarat Tothaiya, said if the court acquits Ms Jomsap she could submit a request to re-enter the teaching service.

The office would forward such request it to senior education authorities, to decide whether she could be reinstated and whether she would be entitled to her salary and other allowances during the time she was wrongfully imprisoned.

His office had to follow proper procedures, he added.

On his Facebook page, Thawatchai Thaikhiew, justice deputy permanent secretary, said the former teacher would be entitled to 164,400 baht compensation as a victim in a criminal case.

The compensation was calculated on a daily wage rate of 300 baht and the number of days she spent in prison – 548 days in total, said Mr Thawatchai. It would be paid if the court finds she is not guilty.

The compensation was in accordance with the Compensation and Expenses for Injured Persons and the Accused Act, he said.

Friday's story

How a car wreck destroyed my life

Pratuan Kajhonvuthinun

After serving a year and six months behind bars as a "scapegoat" in connection with a car accident case, a 54-year-old former teacher has found it difficult to rebuild her life.

This is despite the fact the case has been revived with a new suspect and evidence to show she was wrongfully convicted.

Branded by society as a wrongdoer, local education agencies in her hometown of Sakon Nakhon refused to rehire Jomsap Saenmuangkhot, who had served as a teacher for 31 years before being jailed for reckless driving causing a death she says did not commit.

The agencies said they had to wait for the court's ruling on a new case before they can review her application to work as a school teacher.

Not only were Ms Jomsap's career prospects ruined by her tainted reputation; the wrongful conviction also affected her family, forcing one of her two children to leave school. Her husband's income was not sufficient for both to pursue their study.

Her family properties – a car, house and land – were sold to earn money to sustain their living.

Ms Jomsap's trial has come under the spotlight over the past week after the former teacher was freed from prison in 2015 and sought help from the Justice Ministry's Legal Aid Centre for Debtors and Victims of Injustice.

Ms Jomsap was detained after police alleged she was involved with a car accident, killing one motorcycle driver, in Nakhon Phanom's Renu Nakhon district on March 11, 2005.

She denied the allegation against her, insisting she had an alibi. She said she was with her family in Sakon Nakhon when the accident happened.

However, the Nakhon Phanom Provincial Court convicted her of reckless driving causing death and handed down her three years and two months in jail in 2013. She was released in 2015 under a royal pardon.

"I was fired from my job. The moment I was taken from the court to prison, I felt like a dead woman walking. After being jailed, my family was ruined," Ms Jomsap said.

According to an investigation, the incident occurred in areas under supervision of Na Don police station in Renu Nakhon district about 8.30pm.

Witnesses said they saw a male driver in a green pickup truck, carrying the licence plate "Bor Khor 56", speed away after his vehicle rammed into a motorcycle, killing its driver.

One of the witnesses who pursued the pickup truck also testified the suspect was a tall and heavily-built man.

However, as no witnesses were able to identify a province on the licence plate, police randomly checked at the Land Transport Office in Sakon Nakhon and found Ms Jomsap's golden bronze pickup truck which bore the same plate number.

Shortly after, Ms Jomsap, who was summoned for questioning, insisted on her innocence, asking police to check with her husband and children, who could attest to her whereabouts.

Police, however, brushed aside her request, saying it was impossible as they were her own family members so they would testify in her favour.

During several days of the inquiry, Ms Jomsap said she noticed the name of a male suspect in a police investigation report was replaced with her own.

She objected to the change, but again police ignored her objection and did not explain why they made the change to the report.

Police also ran an inspection on her vehicle's licence plate but didn't find any dents caused by an accident.

During the trial, Ms Jomsap said she was still working as a teacher at the time and did not think about hiring a lawyer as she was confident of her innocence and had faith in the justice system.

Some people suggested she could bribe authorities in exchange for her freedom, but she declined as it was wrong, she said.

Pongsa Ratree, a lawyer of the Legal Aid Centre for Debtors and Victims of Injustice, said the agency launched an investigation into the case after receiving a petition lodged by Ms Jomsap's relatives.

The probe found the suspected offender's pickup truck was registered in Mukdahan and the vehicle's colour was green. This issue made Ms Jomsap a scapegoat, he said.

Mr Pongsa said authorities, with the help of the centre, managed to arrest the person whom they suspect was the real offender and who later confessed his crime to police.

With solid evidence and the new suspect, the case was reopened by the Department of Special Investigation.

Also, the Nakhon Phanom Provincial Court is in the process of accepting a petition, calling for a new trial as ordered by the Court of Appeal, Region 4.