By Francis H Murray
Dr. Simeon Owizz Koroma, the 5th prosecution witness in the murder trial of former Mayor of Freetown, Herbert George Williams and the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the All Peoples Congress (APC) party in the Western Area, Abu Barkarr Daramy, has testified before Justice Augustine Musa at the High Court in Freetown.
Led in evidence on Thursday 6th November, 2020 by State Prosecutor Umu Sumaray, the witness told the court that he is a medical officer who is specialized in medicine, general pathology and forensic pathology and that performs all hospital autopsies and medico legal autopsies in the country.
He said as a medical consultant and the government chief forensic pathologist, some of his duties included the training of medical students, medical scientific laboratory technicians and the Chief Superintendent of Police attached to the Scientific Support Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department.
Dr Koroma recalled that on the 12th0 June, 2018, he performed an autopsy on the remains of a 47 year-old Sierra Leonean journalist by the name of Ibrahim Samura, and that upon completion, he reduced his findings to a post-marten report signed and dated by himself.
He went on to note that he issued the medical certificate indicating the cause of death of the deceased and that his examination found out that the deceased suffered external injuries on the back of his head and neck with swelling on his head and collection of blood, which resulted in a fracture of the occiput, (bones on the back of the head). He stressed that the body of the deceased showed linear imprint or marks on both the body front and the body back.
The witness added that the injuries also led to massive bleeding on the under surface of the scalp of the victim, as well as the internal part of his brain, concluding that Journalist Samura did die from ‘‘extensive fracture of the skull as a result of blunt force injury of the head.”
He then described the manner of death of the journalist as “homicidal.”
Under cross-examination by Lawyer Melron Nicole Wilson, on behalf of the 1st accused, the witness said he didn't know who may have inflicted the blunt force injury on the deceased.
Asked whether a hit on the head of someone with a baseball bat could result in an extensive fracture of the backbone of the skull, the witness replied in the affirmative and stressed that the cause of death was homicidal.
When asked whether he was also handed the medical file of the deceased together with his corpse, the witness denied receiving or seeing the file of the deceased prior to the autopsy.
He said that he observed no signs of medical treatment on the deceased but confirmed that he had an enlarged heart during the autopsy and was also found to be hypertensive.
Under cross-examination by Lawyer Lansana Dumbuya, who adopted the line of cross-examination done by the defense for the 1st accused, the witness said that he was not told that the deceased had a fall before he was taken to the hospital. He stressed that the external examination showed that the deceased had an external swelling of blood on the back of his head.
Dr Koroma added that although a blood pressure examination can’t be conducted on the remains of any deceased, he noted that the effect of it would be seen on the heart, eyes and other parts of the body.
Detective Superintendent Mohamed Kugba Allieu, Operations Manager at the CID Headquarters, also took the witness stand. While he explained that some of his duties included investigating and prosecuting offenders, Allieu recognized the accused persons and recalled that on the 28th August, 2019, he separately interviewed the 2nd accused persons together with Detective Inspector Alimatu Mansaray.
Under cross-examination by Lawyer Lansana Dumbuya for the 2nd accused, the witness said that at the point of the interview, the accused was already in detention for up to 10 days but for other matters. He added that the 2nd accused was arrested by Inspector Joseph Boima Lahai within central Freetown. He said he gave the accused the opportunity to make his statement after he (the accused) had asked for a postponement.
While he recognized the 1st accused as the former Mayor of Freetown and the 2nd accused as the former PRO of the Ministry of Agriculture, the 7th prosecution witness Abu Bakarr Suleiman Tawarally, a former development journalist and now civil rights activists, recalled knowing the deceased as a journalist during his years of practice.
He recalled that on the 1st of April 2018, he hosted a news and current affairs programme called Information Highway at the SLBC which gave news updates, live interviews and analysis on issues and happenings.
He said that during the course of the programme, he called the deceased for an interview which he granted in respect of an event that was allegedly making the rounds on social media that he was allegedly beaten during the runoff election in 2018. He said the deceased confirmed during the interview that he was beaten by some people believed to be APC supporters.
At this juncture, Lawyer Dumbuya objected to the line of questioning of the witness and his testimony on the grounds that it was hearsay from the deceased to the witness, which he argued was only admissible in court unless it was a dying declaration of the deceased at the point of death.
He added that the legal principles were not followed to qualify the evidence or testimony of the witness.
In respect of the objection raised, the presiding judge ruled that the statement didn't fall within the category of a dying declaration which he said could only be made when the person had no hope of recovery or survival.
The matter was adjourned to the 19th November, 2020.
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