Pro Bono Stories: A Case for Reflection

The Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (CLAS) was launched in 1985.?A ground-up movement by senior lawyers, including the late Mr Harry Elias SC, CLAS has played and will continue to play a critical role in providing criminal legal aid for vulnerable persons.

CLAS Fellows are junior lawyers who work with our charity full time as pro bono defence counsel on short term contracts sponsored by our generous supporters.?After their term, many of our CLAS Fellows continue to fly the pro bono flag high by volunteering with our programmes or taking on other roles in the charity.?Visit our LinkedIn page to read about the life-changing and valuable work done by our pro bono lawyers during and after their term?in this series.

Cai Chengying was a CLAS Fellow in 2015.?Currently, she is a Senior Assistant Director, CEO's Office for Law Society Pro Bono Services.

Her Story:

“My client was a repeat drug offender.?Shortly after being released from a seven-year jail term for consumption of heroin, he was charged for the same offence again as his routine urine test result was positive.?This time, he was looking at a jail time of at least 7 years and 6 months and 6 strokes of the cane.

Every single time I met him in Changi Prison, he fervently maintained his innocence. ?He insisted that his urine test results had tested positive due to the codeine in the cough syrup he had taken.

I was skeptical. ?By that time, I had heard this defence many times.

“What is the name of the clinic?”

“Don’t remember.”

“Where is this clinic?”

“I really don’t remember.”

“Roughly? ?Near your house? ?Near your work?”

“Maybe Hougang Avenue 5. ?No, maybe Avenue 8. ?Not sure.”

“Can I find this bottle in your house now?”

“No. ?Finish and throw away already.”?

“What medicine is this?”

“Cough syrup. ?Don’t know the name.”

“When did you go to the clinic?”

“I really don’t remember.”

I felt frustrated beyond belief and convinced that the client must be lying to my face. ?I remember complaining to my supervisor, who told me to do my job.

I spent the next days making cold calls and writing letters to various clinics in Hougang. ?My family lived in Hougang for many years and was familiar with the area. ?My dad took photos of clinics in the area so that I could concurrently try to narrow the search with the client.

Eventually, I found my client’s records at two clinics, one of which included a prescription for cough syrup containing codeine. ?After I wrote to the Prosecution with a copy of the prescription, the Prosecution withdrew their charge and the client was given a discharge amounting to an acquittal.

When I gave him the good news, he broke down and wept.?His first question to me was “When can I come out of prison?”.?By then, he had been remanded for several months. ?

The client came to see me the day after he was released. ?He thanked me fervently. ?He broke down several times. ?He repeatedly told me “I really never take drugs anymore”. ?It was as though he was still trying to convince me that he was innocent, that the acquittal could not have been due to a technicality or a fluke. ?

He also needed more help. ?He had lost his job as a part-time cleaner. ?His family wanted nothing to do with him. ?He had a slipped disc problem that was causing him excruciating pain.?He had nowhere to go. ?I remember walking with him to apply for social assistance.

The whole experience left me quite shaken. ?Even after these years, I still feel guilt for having pre-judged him. ?I wonder if my scepticism showed.?I think about how desperate he must have felt knowing that even his lawyer doubted him.

This case motivated me to do better.”

----

The CLAS Fellowship has always relied solely on our fundraising efforts to sustain itself. Donate at?https://www.giving.sg/law-society-pro-bono-services/thefellowshipfund. Support pro bono.