Page:HKSAR v. Tong Ying Kit (Verdict).pdf/23

-23- D. No Case Submissions

51. At the close of the Prosecution case, Mr Grossman, SC, made a no case submission in respect of all three counts but we ruled that there was a case to answer in respect of each of those counts.

52. The Defendant elected not to give evidence but called two expert witnesses, Professor Eliza W Y Lee and Professor Francis L F Lee to give their opinions on the meaning of the Slogan, and a factual witness DW3 (Ms Kong Yuen-kwan), seeking to establish that the Defendant had a lunch appointment that day.

E. Legal Directions

53. We have given ourselves all the necessary directions when assessing the evidence before us, including the burden and standard of proof; a defendant’s right of silence; his right not to give evidence; circumstantial and inferential evidence; separate treatments for the different counts; and expert evidence.

54. At the end of the Defence’s closing submissions, we were told that the Defendant has been convicted of three traffic offences between November 2017 and September 2019 in respect of all of which he was fined. In the circumstances, we were invited to treat the Defendant as a person of good character. Having considered the matter and the applicable principles, we advised the parties that we would give ourselves the propensity limb of the good character direction when approaching counts 1 and 2. However, given that count 3 is a traffic offence under the Road Traffic Ordinance, Cap 374, which is of the same