THE JUSTICE Ministry was confident that forensic evidence and witnesses who will testify at a Nakhon Phanom Court hearing starting today and continuing until Friday would prove that a former teacher jailed for a fatal hit-and-run accident was innocent, a top official said yesterday.

The ministry’s deputy permanent secretary, Pol Colonel Dusadee Arayawuth, said the 10 witnesses include a Department of Special Investigation (DSI) officer who would testify first, followed by 54-year-old Jomsap Saenmuangkhot – the former teacher.

The other witnesses will include experts from the Land Transport Department, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi and Toyota Motor Co Ltd, Dusadee said, adding that new evidence would also be introduced.

Jomsap’s defence will present evidence including the pickup with the licence plate “Bor Khor 56 Sakhon Nakhon” – which she was accused of driving in the March 11, 2005 crash that killed cyclist Lua Phorbumrung in Nakhon Phanom’s Renu Nakhon district – to convince the court that the vehicle was not involved in the accident.

Dusadee said an exchange of information between police and Justice Ministry officials on Monday showed some differences in their findings, so it would be good for the court to consider the case from various angles.

He added that a retrial did not intend to assign blame but was meant to simply present evidence for the benefit of the public.

Asked if the original case investigator would be punished, Dusadee said the decision was up to the investigator’s supervisors and their assessment whether he had done his duty, because there was not forensic evidence collected in the initial investigation.

“I don’t see any flaws by the case investigator,” Dusadee said, adding that evidence gathered to help Jomsap prove her innocence was done by state officials because the judicial process would rely on official evidence.

Meanwhile, an eyebrow tattoo artist based in Sakhon Nakhon municipality, Patthawan Boonchauy, who Jomsap claimed gave her a tattoo on the day of accident, has said she will not testify as a witness for Jomsap.

While she said she tattooed Jomsap’s eyebrows, based on recognising her tattooing style, she added that was unsure about the exact time and date because it had been done more than 10 years ago.

In related news, Dusadee said the ministry had received 200 other requests from people seeking help to find new evidence so they could apply for retrials.

In regard to a request for help filed by four female teachers based in Nong Khai, who spent 22 months in jail for concealing evidence after the fatal shooting of a colleague in 2009, Dusadee said DSI investigators were working with police to gather forensic evidence but no request for a retrial had been filed in court.

On Monday, Pol Inspector-General Panya Mamen said Jomsap’s case showed that investigators needed to lift their evidence-gathering methods to “another level” to meet the expectations of society. He said the case served as a cautionary tale for police to be more thorough when investigating and could pave the way for police reform.

He also admitted the case had affected public confidence in the force.