Justice Rohani Ahmad said Alsu Nichi, 24, a former waiter at a Thai food outlet, had put up a defence that had created a doubt in the prosecution’s case.
However, his lawyer Haresh Mahadevan said Alsu’s freedom was cut short by immigration officers.
“His travel documents have expired. The prosecution may also want to detain him pending the outcome of an appeal,” he told FMT.
Alsu allegedly committed the offence against Thai citizen Abdul Rosah Jaru, behind a Thai food outlet in Taman Emas, Tampin, Negeri Sembilan, at about 9.30pm on April 21, 2019.
On Dec 16, 2022, Rohani acquitted Alsu as the prosecution failed to prove a prima facie case against him. However, upon an appeal, the Court of Appeal ordered him to enter his defence.
A psychiatrist, Dr S Jeyarajah, had given evidence for the defence.
The defence had also recalled the investigating officer to give evidence confirming that the accused had told him he suffered from vasovagal syncope, or fainting, when the body overreacts to certain triggers such as blood or extreme emotional distress.
Haresh, who was assisted by Ramzani Idris, had submitted that Alsu saw the victim being attacked by an unknown person holding a knife.
He went to stop the assault but was punched in the face by one of the men, resulting in severe nose bleeding.
This caused him to faint momentarily, but Alsu managed to grab the knife from the assailant before collapsing.
A few seconds later, he regained consciousness and saw the assailant chase the victim to the back of the restaurant.
Haresh said the victim was later found sprawled in front of the restaurant and bleeding profusely from the neck.
The accused, who was still holding the knife, made his way to the kitchen to see what was happening in front of the restaurant.
However, other restaurant workers upon seeing the victim in that condition and the accused holding the knife, decided to apprehend the accused and linked him to the incident.
Haresh said the knife had DNA traces from three people – the victim, the accused and an unknown person.
Deputy public prosecutor Syamimi Farhana Aziz appeared for the prosecution.