JB Autopsy Report Missing! -Pathologist Reveals

At last the much-awaited autopsy report of Joseph Boakye Danquah-Adu, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa North in the Eastern Region has been declared missing.

According to the pathologist, Dr. Lawrence Edusei, his house was ransacked in September last year resulting in the loss of over thousand files.

Although he would not directly answer whether or not he had had custody of the report since September, he stated that producing another report required “additional work”.

Dr. Edusei who had appeared before the Accra Central District Court after several botched invitations by the court to do so disclosed that he is uncertain when the report for the case would be ready.

The court has for the past three months been on the heels of the pathologist in a fruitless attempt to get him before the court to explain why the full autopsy is still not ready months after the death of the MP.

Pay Me

But appearing in court yesterday in his brown suit with a pair of smart shoes to match, after months of “hide and seek” Dr. Edusei repeated his claim that the Judicial Service has paid him for work done for the past 15 years.

He however, reaffirmed his five-year-old conviction not to release any report until the monies were paid him.

Prompted by the trial magistrate Arit Nsemoh to limit his submission to the case at hand, the pathologist stated: “this case can’t be singled out from the other cases, in medicine, you can’t give specific answers to specific questions.”

The visibly well composed 37 Military Hospital pathologist added: “you are not allowing me to end; you are not allowing me to end, so I don’t know how to answer…if you want the truth…like Jesus said the truth shall set you free…”

Banter

Even before Dr. Edusei would end his statement the trial magistrate reiterated her position that the doctor could not use her court to discuss other cases which certainly had no bearing on the instant case before the court.

In the view of the magistrate, the witness was restrained by the subpoena of the court to limit his submission to the case and not stray to other matters.

“Don’t interrupt me when am talking, you can’t use my court to discuss other cases…” the judge said but Dr. Edusei would not budge insisting “I don’t know what you want me to say, I don’t know what answers you want me to provide…”

Meanwhile, the court has directed the doctor to furnish the registrar of the court with a copy of the full autopsy report when ready or return to court on January 18.

Background

On October 10, 2017, the court ordered the pathologist to release the full autopsy report on the former MP for Abuakwa-North to the police to aid investigations into the case.

The order followed an application by the prosecutor who stated that Dr. Edusei 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, 19, aka Sexy Don Don – a phone dealer and Vincent Bosso aka Junior Agogo – a phone repairer over the murder of the legislator fondly called JB.

The accused persons were earlier dragged before the Court two days after an Accra High Court had discharged them over the murder of the legislator.

The Attorney General and Minister for Justice had earlier entered Nolle Prosequi (NP) to drop previous charges against the accused persons in respect of the case which was at the stage of empaneling a seven-member jury for the trial.

case.

Charges

Daniel and Bosso were subsequently rearrested minutes after their discharge and fresh charges preferred against them.

In the instant case, Sexy Don Don has been slapped with the charge of murder while Agogo faces abetment of murder.

In the case of Agogo, the prosecutor, DSP Amegah, held that he at about 1:00 am on February 9, 2016 at Shiashie, East Legon, in Accra, abetted Sexy Don Don to commit murder.

Don Don, according to the prosecution, on the same day and time intentionally and unlawfully caused the death of Mr JB Danquah.

By: Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson/thePublisherNewspaper