Jury, cop doze off at Flankers murder trial
SOME members of the jury, along with one of the five cops on trial in the Supreme Court for the 2003 shooting death of two elderly residents of Flankers, St James, seemed unable to remain awake during the testimony of a forensic pathologist yesterday.
Dr Murai Sarangi, consultant forensic pathologist at the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay, testified in graphic, often gory detail about the damage done by the combined 13 gunshots that fractured skull, protruded intestine and collapsed the lungs of Cecil Brown, 65, and David Bacchus, 63, three years ago.
He told the court that the gunshot wounds seen on the victims were consistent with that of close-range shooting.
Before Sarangi took the stand, some members of the jury dozed off, and as he testified, more of them took the time to catch quick naps. One police officer opted to sleep for more than five minutes while, the sole woman charged, Constable Bibzie Foster, hung her head, with the other three cops appearing to pay scant regard to the proceedings.
On the morning of October 25, 2003, Brown was a passenger in Bacchus’ taxi along with Audrey Stephens, when the car came under heavy gunfire.
Bacchus and Brown were killed and Stephens, who recently gave testimony about the incident, was injured in what police claimed was a shoot-out with gunmen.
The incident sparked a violent demonstration that locked down the north coast tourist resort city and led to the charging of the policemen involved.
Sarangi, who performed the post-mortem on both men, informed the court that the body of Bacchus was hit with nine gunshots, fracturing his skull, spilling his intestine and collapsing his lung. Brown’s body also had similar wounds, except that he was not shot in the head.
Based on the size of the wound, the pathologist said, they might have been inflicted from “two to three feet away…”
Recent testimony was given that Foster never fired her weapon, but the register that would reveal that information went missing after the shooting. The prosecution is trying to prove otherwise.
