Sheila Marcia Joseph and Hearing No. 2

The second hearing in this case at the North Jakarta District Court took place earlier today. I might have to head along to the next one to make sure that I am getting accurate information rather than relying on talking to people and reading the news.

It seems the indictment states 0.586 grams of Crystal Meth (sabu-sabu or shabu in Indonesian) and not 0.0586 grams as previously posted. I will have to check this to be sure in my own mind on what the actual amount is because on of the police officers states a number of 0.27 grams as the amount found on Sheila.

There were four witnesses present today, two police officers and a couple of people identified as informant and friend, respectively.

The witnesses were: Wing Kenedy and Dedy Raharjo (police officers) and Toni (an informant) and Virdia (allegedly a "party / clubbing" friend of Sheila's).

The testimony from the police was the standard run of the mill relaying of how the whole thing went down from start to finish and their respective involvement in that process. They were clear that Sheila was not the target of their little operation. The testimony of Wing Kenedy was not subject to any objection from Sheila to the extent that she did not deny any of the points of evidence as they related to her.

The whole operation was based on complaints that the two rooms that were the focus of the operation were known to residents of the Golden Sky Hotel (I always thought that they were apartments) to be often the scene of drug transactions.

As it turns out Sheila might be the victim of bad timing in terms of being in either room on the day if the operation. This is a case of what ifs, "what if I never used drugs?", "what if I went to the Golden Sky on a different day?"

The testimony from the police informant is a little strange as it seems to implicate the assistant, Aprilyana, as a dealer or at least a one-time seller who was prepared to trade Toni's mobile phone for a packet of drugs. Sheila's claim that she was a little confused and unsure of who Toni was seems to be borne out by the testimony. Nevertheless, Sheila does not deny that Toni was there only that she really did not know why he was there. However, it raises some questions about Aprilyana and her role.

The testimony of Virdia is interesting as it indicates that Virdia was friends with Sheila and Aprilyana and that they were all regular users of sabu-sabu. Virdia also claims that she has known Sheila for a year or so and that she has only been using crystal meth since May. Her testimony goes on to state that Virdia, Sheila, and Aprilyana were regulars at the Stadium Discotheque and that they were all regular users of ecstasy (locally known as ineks).

Sheila rejected the testimony of Virdia by saying that she had never taken ecstasy.

This case sounds like it is going to be interesting, at least from the point of conflicting testimony, so maybe I should head on up to the North Jakarta District Court for the next hearing.