Concurrent Prosecution of Theft and Abduction Charges
On May 1, 2000, the Thonburi Metropolitan Police apprehended Mr. Jan, charging him with abduction of a minor and subsequently detained him at the Thonburi Criminal Court. Fingerprints and Mr. Jan s criminal record revealed that the victim, Mr. Jan, was implicated in the theft of property at the Chatuchak Police Station. While Mr. Jan was before the Thonburi Criminal Court, the police of Chatuchak Police Station requested an extension of his detention. On May 21, 2000, the investigating officer of the Chatuchak Police Station conducted an interrogation of Mr. Jan in connection with the alleged offense. Mr. Jan denied the charges, and the case remained unresolved. The investigating officer of Police Station 352, Chatuchak, determined that, given Mr. Jan s detention and remand to the Thonburi Criminal Court in Case No. 214 regarding the minor, he would not seek to remand Mr. Jan to the Thonburi District Court. On [DATE UNCLEAR], Mr. Jan admitted to the charges before the Chatuchak Police Station. The Thonburi Metropolitan Police promptly forwarded the investigation file to the Chatuchak Prosecution Office, intending to prosecute this case concurrently with the abduction charge investigated by the police. If you are a prosecutor with the Office of the Special Prosecutor, Division for Criminal Cases, will you answer this question? If I am a prosecutor with the Chatuchak District Prosecution Office, will you immediately cease prosecution of this case upon receipt of the investigation file, as stipulated by the Royal Decree on the Establishment of District Courts and Criminal Procedure in District Courts Act B.E. 2447 ( . . 2447), which provides for the timely adjudication of criminal cases to prevent undue detention of suspects? The evidence shows that the Chatuchak Police Station investigator notified Mr. Jan, the suspect, of the charges and conducted an investigation on [DATE UNCLEAR], which must be considered as the point of arrest. Therefore, the investigating officer must file an ex parte motion to indict Mr. Jan within eighty-four hours of notification of the charges (arrested on the charge of theft). If there is no ex parte motion, a letter of authorization to prosecute the case must be requested from the Office under Section 9 of the aforementioned Royal Decree (referencing Supreme Court Case No. 3744/2541). Section 9 states that the Provincial Prosecutor of Chonburi Province and Mr. Sompong, Provincial Prosecutor of Chanthaburi Province