It’s now the turn of the prosecution followed by the defense to address the jury in the Glentiste Baptiste murder trial presently ongoing at the High Court in Roseau before High Court Judge Richard Floyd.
Baptiste is charged with the murder of his uncle Parmer Phillip Blesuget between December 21, 2018, and January 3, 2019.
Cuban pathologist Dr. Idelmys Alarcon who performed the autopsy on the body of the deceased on January 10, 2019, told the court that he had injuries “secondary to trauma in the head.” The cause of death she opined was “loss of blood.”
“The hemorrhaging decreased the volume of blood in the body causing his death,” she said.
In his brief statement from the prisoner’s dock, the accused told the court, “I told the Inspector is my uncle that threaten me. He then ran to his house and told me he was coming back. I took a stone and send it and it hit him on the side.”
The defense then called Ear Nose & Throat (ENT) specialist Dr. Irving Pascal who after reviewing his credentials the court deemed an “expert in head and neck” testified that the lacerations indicated by the pathologist Dr. Alarcon in her report indicated “minimum trauma to the head and were superficial.”
Dr. Pascal was in court when the pathologist was giving her testimony.
In my opinion, these lacerations are superficial, the skull is intact with no fractures and no penetrating or blunt injury to the brain. No blood clots, no adhesion, or pus in the brain were noted. These are all signs of major trauma, their absence within the head of the deceased indicates no significant brain injuries,” he told the court.
According to him, in his opinion, there is no deleterious effect on the brain that could have spread to the rest of the body. “None of these superficial head injuries would or could have the effect of causing bleeding in the abdomen or other system abnormalities,” he stated.
“In my opinion, she (the pathologist) failed to establish the link between such unspecified preexisting conditions and the minimum trauma to the head and the impact of the injuries specified on the head would be limited to the surface of the head given the minimal and superficial nature of the injuries,” Dr. Pascal told the court.
Cross-examination
Under cross-examination from Sherma Dalrymple Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) acting, Dr. Pascal said he was not present when the autopsy was done, did not see the patient, and did not examine the body of the deceased. He disagreed with her that to speak on “trauma injuries” you must see the injuries.
On several occasions, she challenged his opinion, especially on the laceration where the skull of the deceased was exposed. He also admitted that he did not view the brain of the deceased, his medical notes, and or the CT scan. However, he agreed, that one of the injuries suffered by the deceased was “not superficial” but he went on to state that, “a laceration to the head where the skull is exposed is not necessarily a major trauma.”
Defense counsel David Bruney assisted by Tiyana Behanzin is leading the case of the accused while Sherma Dalrymple Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) acting along with State attorneys Daina Matthew and Marie-Louis Pierre Louis is conducting the case for the State which is being heard by a nine-member jury of four (4) men and five (5) women.