An Accra Central District Court has summoned the pathologist who handled the autopsy on the slain New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa North in the Eastern Region to come and explain the delay in the release of the report.
The order, issued through the court’s registry, followed failure on the part of Dr Lawrence Adusei, pathologist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, to produce the autopsy report as directed by the court.
Two suspects, Daniel Asiedu, 19, aka Sexy Don Don –phone dealer and Vincent Bosso aka Junior Agogo, phone repairer – are standing trial for the murder of the MP – JB Danquah Adu.
At the sitting of the court on October 10, 2017, presided over by Arit Nsemoh, it ordered the pathologist to furnish the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service with the full autopsy report.
But the prosecution, led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) George Amega, told the court yesterday that the police were yet to receive the report and that no reason had been given for the delay in its release.
He said he had had discussions with the head of the Police Homicide Unit who confirmed that the pathologist had been served with the court’s order to release the report but could not tell why it was still not ready.
The court then ordered the registry to summon the pathologist to appear before it on the next adjourned date – November 21, 2017- to offer explanation.
Summons
This is not the first time Dr Adusei is being summoned by the court to explain the delay.
Last month, he appeared before an Accra Central District Court to explain the delay in the release of the report on the late Major Maxwell Mahama, who was murdered at Denkyira Obuase (now New Obuasi), in the Central Region where he was on detachment duties.
Before the court, he blamed the delay on lack of cooperation by the police.
He said, among other things that the police owed him some money for services rendered and that they (police) also failed to provide him with important information such as pictures of the crime scene, ballistic report and other information gathered during further investigation.
AG’s Advice
Meanwhile, the judge hearing the case involving the murder of the late MP has told the suspects in the case that she was not ready to listen to their concerns yet until she had received advice from the Attorney General (AG).
Daniel Asiedu and Vincent Bosso, who are before the court for allegedly murdering the late MP, had sought the attention of the judge apparently to lodge a complaint.
But the judge told them that the police had concluded their investigations and that the report had been forwarded to the Attorney General and so the court was waiting for the advice of the AG on the next step to take.
She said until then, she would not engage the two while the case was still at committal stage.
She therefore urged Daniel and Bosso to exercise patience.
By Gibril Abdul Razak