A LAWYER has urged the Supreme Court to uphold the Court of Appeal’s decision to quash his client’s conviction and sentence.
Appearing before Chief Justice Salesi Temo, Justice Anthony Gates and Justice William Young yesterday, lawyer Devanesh Sharma argued the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Fiji-Canadian national Joshua Rahman knew about or controlled nearly 40kilograms of cocaine found in his father’s home at Caubati, Nasinu.
Mr Sharma said the drugs were found in a property owned by Mr Rahman’s father, Tallat Rahman, but maintained his client was merely staying there, had no control of the premises where the cocaine was concealed and had no knowledge of its existence.
Mr Rahman’s conviction in 2021 and 23-year prison sentence were quashed by the Appellate Court, which ordered that he face a retrial as soon as possible.
Mr Sharma argued there was no forensic evidence linking Mr Rahman to the cocaine, with no fingerprints, DNA or drug residue found. He also criticised the police investigation as incomplete, saying officers assumed Mr Rahman’s guilt because he was staying at the house and failed to investigate his father’s activities properly.
Mr Sharma further challenged findings that Mr Rahman had unrestricted access to his father’s bedroom, maintaining he respected his father’s privacy and never entered the room where the drugs were discovered.
Advancing the defence’s case, Mr Sharma argued that “the apple does not necessarily fall from the same tree”, submitting that any alleged criminal conduct by the father could not automatically be attributed to the son.
Opposing a retrial, he said Mr Rahman had already spent more than seven years in prison and had suffered significantly, arguing that an acquittal was the appropriate outcome.
For the State, acting Director of Public Prosecutions Nancy Tikoisuva argued the evidence against Rahman was overwhelming and that no substantial miscarriage of justice had occurred.
Ms Tikoisuva said the trial judge properly assessed the circumstantial evidence, including intelligence gathered during the investigation, surveillance material, travel movements involving Rahman and his father, and handwritten notes recovered during the search, which prosecutors said were consistent with a drug operation.
She also relied on evidence from the search, including alerts by a drug-detection dog and the discovery of cocaine concealed in a cavity within the master bedroom.
Judgment will be delivered on notice.
