Court summons pathologist over JB autopsy report
The brouhaha surrounding the autopsy report of Mr J.B. Danquah-Adu is far from over with the Accra Central District Court summoning the pathologist who performed the autopsy to appear before it on November 21, 2017.
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Dr Lawrence Adusei was summoned yesterday by the presiding magistrate, Ms Arit Nsemoh, to come and explain to the court why the autopsy report had not been released to the police, 21 months after the murder of the former legislator.
On October 10, 2017, the court ordered the pathologist to release the full autopsy report on the former Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa-North to the police to aid investigations into the case.
The order followed an application by police prosecutors, who stated that Dr Adusei had failed to release the report and that all attempts by the police to obtain it had proved futile.
The delay in the release of the report, the police claimed, was hampering their efforts to build a solid case against Daniel Asiedu, aka Sexy Don Don and Vincent Bosso, the two men linked to the murder of the former MP.
Asiedu and Bosso are currently before the court awaiting the commencement of committal proceedings which would facilitate their eventual trial at the High Court.
Police still awaiting report
At the court hearing, the prosecutor, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mr George Amegah, revealed that the police had still not received the report despite the court order.
“As we stand before you, we have still not received the full autopsy report,’’ DSP Amegah informed the presiding magistrate.
The court did not take kindly to the fact that the pathologist had not obeyed its October 10, 2017 order and, therefore, ordered Dr Adusei to come and explain his reasons for disobeying the order.
Autopsy report brouhaha
Dr Adusei, the same pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Major Maxwell Adam Mahama, the military officer murdered on May 29, 2017, and the police seem to disagree on a lot of issues.
On October 26, 2017, he told another district court hearing the murder of Major Mahama that the police were making his work difficult by failing to cooperate with him.
He also accused the police of failing to provide him with certain vital information that would enable him to come out with the full autopsy report.
The medical officer also complained about the state’s refusal to pay him for the numerous autopsies he had conducted in murder cases or when he testified in court on such cases.
DSP Amegah, who is also the prosecutor in the Major Mahama case, rejected the pathologist’s assertion, and stated that the police had submitted all the information that he requested.
After the submissions, the court, presided over by Mr Ebenezer Kweku Ansah, ordered the police to release all the information and material requested by the pathologist to enable him to come out with the autopsy report on Major Mahama.
The presiding magistrate also ordered Dr Adusei to release the report to the police by November 23, 2017.
