Lee Wai-ka in 2017. The Court of Appeal on Thursday acquitted the former police officer of rape. Photo: Chris Lau
Source:
https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3018246/hong-kong-police-officer-jailed-rape-woman-he-met Law and Crime
Hong Kong police officer jailed for rape of woman he met through online gaming acquitted on appeal
- Court of Appeal rules that trial judge misdirected the jury in assessing comments about the 2016 assault
- Lee Wai-ka, 31, remains in detention as prosecutors consider retrial
Lee Wai-ka, a former police officer, appears for his rape trial at the High Court on November 27, 2017. Photo: Chris Lau
A Hong Kong police officer who was jailed for 5½ years after a jury found him guilty of raping a woman he met online has won an appeal against his conviction.
Lee Wai-ka, 31, was sentenced in January 2018 after a jury voted 5-2 in favour of prosecutors to find him guilty of raping the woman, identified only as X, in a hotel in Kowloon Tong on June 19, 2016.
But the Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday that Lee’s trial judge had misdirected the jury in assessing his comments about the alleged assault – and acquitted him.
Lee remains in detention, however, because he might face the charge again if prosecutors request a retrial.
A Department of Justice spokesman said: “We will study the judgment of the Court of Appeal and the case report of the prosecutor in order to determine whether we would seek a retrial.”
Prosecutors have 14 days to file an application.
The High Court previously heard that Lee met his complainant during a social gathering of online gamers on June 11, 2016.
They met again on two other occasions – to play games and have dinner – before the night in question, when X agreed to meet Lee’s friends at J1 Club in Tsim Sha Tsui on June 19.
Prosecutor Susanna Ku Pui-fong said X drank “to oblivion” and woke up to find herself naked in a hotel room – with Lee sleeping beside her – his body bare from waist up.
Two weeks later, X discovered she was pregnant but recalled that she had not had sex for months.
Suspecting Lee’s involvement, X confronted him on WhatsApp, in which he denied having sex with her on June 19 but later apologised after she revealed plans to report to the police.
They also met on July 7, when Lee said he would take responsibility and paid her.
He claimed she then told him: “You can’t settle this without [tens of thousands of dollars]. You’re going to die, prepare to go to jail.”
The pair were expected to attend a medical appointment on July 11 when they fought again. X made a police report on the same day and recorded her conversation with Lee while they were on their way.
“I will take responsibility,” Lee was recorded as saying.
The embryo was aborted on July 22, with DNA evidence confirming that Lee was the father.
But Lee denied that he had raped X and argued the pregnancy had been the result of consensual sex on June 12 or 19.
His counsel Priscilia Lam argued on appeal that the court should not have admitted the recording into evidence because he had made the so-called confession only because of X’s alleged lies and threats.
Wally Yeung Chun-kuen, acting chief judge of the High Court, on Thursday concluded that the trial judge, Poon Siu-tung, was right to consider all the evidence.
But Yeung agreed that the jury had been misdirected because Poon had not asked them to ignore the admission despite acknowledging that X’s methods had amounted to oppression.
“Under such circumstances, the appellant’s guilty verdict was unsafe,” Yeung wrote.