GROUNDS OF DECISION

Steve Ritikos:

At The End Of Prosecution's Case

The Charge

[1] The three Accused persons were charged under s 395 of the Penal Code and read together with s 397 of the same Code, an offence of gang robbery, armed with a deadly weapon, on one Lau Mou Tai (the complainant).

Duty Of The Prosecution At The End Of The Prosecution's Case

[2] The duty of the court at the end of prosecution case is spelt out in s 173 Criminal Procedure Code and read as follows:

"(1) When the case for the prosecution is concluded, the court shall consider whether the prosecution has made out a prima facie case against the accused person.

(2)If the court finds that the prosecution has not made out a prima facie case against the accused, the court shall record an order of acquittal.

(3)If the court finds that a prima facie case has been made out against the accused on the offence charged the court shall call upon the accused to enter on his defense.

[3] The word " prima facie " has been defined as follows:

In Balachandran v. Public Prosecutor [2004] 2 MLRA 547; [2005] 2 MLJ 301; [2005] 1 CLJ 85; [2005] 1 AMR 321 where his Lordship Augustine Paul commented at p 315:

"a prima facie case is therefore one