Do you recall while watching TV or movie where the Accused is charged in Court and that the charge is read for him in the language he understands and after the reading the charge he is asked to plead whether he is pleads guilty or pleads not guilty? Let us visualize the scenario below…
Mr. X is a suspect of the murder of Mr. Y. Mr. X is caught at his house for the murder of Mr. Y. Mr. X is then brought to Court. Mr. X is asked to stand at the accused stand. The Court Interpreter read the charge to Mr. X in Bahasa Malaysia. After reading the charge, The Court Interpreter is asking Mr. X whether he wish pleads guilty or he wish to plead not guilty. Mr. X pleads guilty.
After the judge records his plead, he immediately regrets and wishes to withdraw his plead because he believes that he doesn’t have the intention to kill Mr. Y.
Question: Can Mr. X withdraw his guilty plea?
Mr. X is able to withdraw his guilty plea as long as the court is not functus officio…
Meaning that as long as the judge haven’t passed the sentence to him, he can always withdraw and change his plea (PP v Lee Weng Tuck).
One thing, that need to take note is that before any plea is recorded, the judge must ensure that the accused (in this case Mr. X) understands the nature and the consequence of the plea. This is to ensure that there is due process in the criminal trial where the accuse is aware of the charges made against him.
