Prosecutors insist they indicted Red Bull heir Vorayudh Yoovidhya in a deadly hit-and-run case before the statute of limitations for a speeding charge expired but failed to proceed with the case due to the suspect's requests for "fair treatment".
A series of petitions by Mr Vorayudh, who crashed his 32-million-baht Ferrari into a motorcycle ridden by a Thong Lor traffic police officer in the early hours of Sept 3, 2012, slowed the proceedings.
However, the indictment of Mr Vorayudh was made a day before the speeding statute's expiry, Lt Somnuek Siangkong, spokesman for the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG), said yesterday.
Mr Vorayudh faced charges of reckless driving causing death, failing to stop a car and offer help, and speeding, the last of which has the shortest statute of limitations of one year.
The OAG, which received a police investigation report on March 4, 2013, could not bring the case to court because Mr Vorayudh deferred appointments with prosecutors many times, claiming he "found new issues that needed examination to ensure fair treatment", Lt Somnuek said.
Victim: Pol Snr Sgt Maj Wichian Klanprasert, 48, of Thong Lor police station
On May 2, 2013, the chief of the OAG's Southern Bangkok Criminal Litigation Department indicted Mr Vorayudh on the three charges, but on the same day, Mr Vorayudh's lawyer asked for a postponement on the grounds his client was in Singapore and had fallen ill.
The request came the day before the statute of limitations for the speeding charge was due to expire on May 3, 2013.
The prosecutors suspected Mr Vorayudh might have intended to delay the case, so they asked police to seek an arrest warrant from the court. But this did not happen because Mr Vorayudh requested fair treatment again, Lt Somnuek said.
The suspect also asked prosecutors to allow for five witnesses to be questioned further, again for the sake of fair treatment, the spokesman said.
Prosecutors needed to pay heed to these petitions because failure to do so might have led to a breach of OAG regulations or a charge of dereliction of duty, said deputy OAG spokesman Prayut Phetkhun.
Police sent the OAG an additional investigation report last week and the attorney-general immediately told prosecutors to speed things up.
"We can assure that prosecutors will not spend a long time looking into it," Mr Prayut said.
If there are no changes to the indictments, prosecutors will proceed against Mr Vorayudh on the two charges with longer statutes of limitations.
The reckless driving causing death charge has a statute of 15 years while that for failing to stop a car to offer help has a five-year statute.
"We don't feel at ease with this case," Mr Prayut said. "If Mr Vorayudh doesn't meet prosecutors again, an arrest warrant will be sought."
Police suspected of making some "mistakes" were earlier criticised for failing to seek a court order to prevent Mr Vorayudh from leaving the country.
A Thong Lor police officer was also dismissed after producing a driver employed by the suspect's family and claiming he was behind the wheel at the time of the hit-and-run.
OAG spokesman Somnuek Siangkong (left): Prosecutors afforded Mr Vorayudh 'fair treatment'. (Photo by Tawatchai Kemgumnerd)