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Trial continued as objection rejected
A panel of judges in Denpasar District Court has decided to continue the trial of an American couple charged with murder despite an objection from the defendantsâ lawyers that the indictments were inaccurate and should be annulled
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panel of judges in Denpasar District Court has decided to continue the trial of an American couple charged with murder despite an objection from the defendants' lawyers that the indictments were inaccurate and should be annulled.
This decision means that the couple, Tommy Schaefer, 21, and Heather Mack, 19, will face trial and could be sentenced to death.
'The indictment has been arranged carefully and fulfilled the material and judiciary requirements; the objection from the lawyer is rejected,' presiding judge Made Suweda said in a hearing on Monday.
In a trial hearing two weeks ago, Schaefer's lawyer, Iswahyudi, said the indictment was unclear and contained a factual error. The lawyer asked the judge to return the indictment to the prosecutors. 'The indictment is unexamined, unclear and erroneous, so it is null and void,' Iswahyudi claimed.
The same statement was also conveyed by Mack's lawyer, Novi Wirani, during her hearing, which took place after Schaefer's with the same presiding judge. 'An indictment should be made carefully, clearly and completely, as required by law, as an indictment will determine someone's fate, whether they are guilty or not,' Novi stated.
However, in the next session, prosecutors Eddy Artha Wijaya and Ni Luh Oka Ariani assured that the indictment and the charges were very clear.
As the lawyers' objections have been rejected, the trial will continue on Wednesday, Feb. 4, to hear witness statements.
If found guilty, the two Americans could face the death penalty as they have been charged with premeditated murder under Article 340 of the Criminal Code.
Schaefer and Mack, who are expecting a baby girl on April 1, are accused of murdering Mack's mother, 62-year-old American Sheila Ann von Weise-Mack. The victim's body was found in a suitcase allegedly put in a taxi trunk on Aug. 12 by the young couple outside the luxury hotel in Nusa Dua where the three had been vacationing.
Mack and Schaefer were arrested on Aug. 13, one day after the murder, at Risata Bali Resort in Kuta, where they had stayed for the night.
According to the prosecutor's indictment, the murder was triggered by the mother's rejection of Mack and Schaefer's relationship. Mack had reportedly asked Schaefer to find a hit man to kill her mother before the incident took place. 'Heather Lois Mack wanted her mother, Sheila Ann von Weise-Mack, to die and asked Tommy Schaefer to find people to kill her mother for US$50,000,' the indictment stated.
