Senior federal counsel Liew Horng Bin, appearing for the police and the government, said a murder investigation was initiated following the High Court order on Nov 11, 2019.
He explained that the order – issued after the High Court allowed a revision of a coroner’s ruling on Smit’s death – was limited to reclassifying the case from “sudden death” to “murder”.
“For that purpose, the police set up a task force and brought in several forensic pathologists to review the two previous ‘conflicting’ post-mortem reports.
“They (the doctors) observed that the manner of death (from a fall) could not be ascertained and left it to the police to investigate further,” Liew said during the government’s appeal.
Last year, the High Court held the police and government liable for failing to properly investigate Smit’s death and ordered them to pay her family RM1.1 million in damages.
In response, lawyer SN Nair, representing the Smit family, said the lower court was correct in finding that the police – particularly investigating officer Faizal Abdullah – had failed to conduct a proper murder investigation.
He said the court found that Faizal carried out a flawed investigation from the outset and further “undermined” the probe even after the 2019 High Court order.
Justice Ong Chee Kwan, one of the judges on the panel, asked Liew what steps Faizal had taken before and after the 2019 High Court decision.
“So nothing was done other than obtaining the ‘Blue Notice’?” he asked.
An Interpol Blue Notice is a notice to locate, identify or obtain information on a person of interest in a criminal investigation.
Liew told the court that Faizal had recorded statements from more than 50 witnesses during the initial investigation and from a further 17 individuals after the 2019 decision.
Presiding judge Zaini Mazlan said the court required time to deliberate and fixed April 21 for case management to update the parties.
The other judge on the panel was Justice K Muniandy.
Smit, who was 18, was found dead on the sixth floor of CapSquare Residence on Dec 7, 2017, after falling from a unit on the 20th floor.
An inquest held in 2018 determined that her death was a “misadventure”.
Upon revision, the court ruled that Smit’s death was caused by “persons known or unknown”.