An expert was not able to positively identify the calibre or the weapon of origin of the bullet retrieved from the head of Aminulrasyid Amzah, the Shah Alam Sessions Court heard today.

Chemist Saari Desa (rig NONE ht) , 43, told the court that the bullet was so badly damaged that he could not identify the weapon that was used to discharge the bullet.

"Normally, we can identify the bullet if it strikes a soft surface, like water, where the slug and bullet jacket will still be attached. We can then determine its calibre,”  Saari said.

"However, if it strikes a hard surface, like concrete, the jacket will break and it will be spoilt. It would then be difficult to identify which weapon it came from."

Saari said that when this happens, the bullet would lose its familiar or individual characteristics.

 

"This is what happened to bullet E (the bullet obtained from the hospital). It is not suitable to be compared," he said.

Saari said he believed that it was a 9mm bullet, but was not able to say this with absolute certainty.

The bullet was sent to him by the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang on May 5.

Saari is the azlan 24th prosecution witness in the trial of Corporal Jenain Subi, 48, who is charged under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code for causing Aminulrasyid's death at Jalan Tarian 11/2, Section 11, Shah Alam, between 1.10am and 2am on April 26

Saari, who is attached to the firearms and detection unit of the Chemistry Department, was examined by DPP Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar. DPP Idham Abdul Ghani is assisting.

Dusuki later asked Saari how he could guess the slug came from a 9mm weapon, to which the witness replied that it was consistent with the “cup base” of other 9mm bullets.

“If the slug comes from a 9mm bullet, the cup base would have a diameter of close to 9mm without the jacket. Normally, the slug without a jacket would have a range of between 7mm and 8.55 mm in diameter. Measurements of the cup base are consistent with the size of 9mm bullet.”

He explained that, in addition to concrete, the bullet's jacket could come off if it strikes other hard objects like a wall, the body of a car, its windscreen or even a tree.

Which gun was used?

Saari had earlier testified that he was unable to identify the weapon that discharged two bullet fragments, a bullet jacket and a bullet because these were in a bad condition.

The bullets were r NONE etrieved along the route of the car chase from the Kayangan roundabout to the site where Aminulrasyid was found dead.

Saari had attempted to determine which bullets were fired from two Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine guns that have been marked as exhibits X and Y.

One of the weapons was used by Jenain on the night of the shooting.

Previous witnesses had testified that Jenain had been assigned 100 9mm bullets. A total of 21 bullet casings and slugs were retrieved along the route of the car chase.

Samples of live bullets and bullet casings used in the ballistic tests of the two submachine guns were tendered for comparison.