By Aminata Phidelia Allie
Lawyer for 29-year-old Alhaji Kondeh, standing trial in a murder case at the Magistrate Court No. 2 in Freetown has submitted that his client is not fit to stand trial given his medical condition.
The accused had been preliminarily investigated since November 2012 on one count of murder.
Defense counsel Ishmael Philip Mamie produced a medical report apparently showing that the accused had a history of insanity and could therefore not be tried for allegedly murdering 22-year-old Abdul Rahman Wright.
His submission was in response to a postmortem report tendered in court by the forensic scientist and expert consultant pathologist, Dr Simeon Owizz Koroma, implicating the accused.
In his testimony as third prosecution witness, Dr Koroma said he had performed an autopsy on the deceased and had contained his findings in a report which had been in his custody since.
He tendered the report in court and observed that the deceased died of a stab wound in his lower abdominal wall and ruptured caecum.
“In my expert view, the death of the deceased was unnatural and the manner was homicidal”, he declared.
When asked as to how he was able to prove that the deceased was really stabbed, considering the fact that he was not at the scene, the pathologist said that he did not need to be there to see the difference between a stab wound and a wound sustained if the accused had fallen on a sharp object.
He went on to state that although he did not take into consideration the deceased’s medical history, his postmortem examination was enough to prove that the cause of death was unnatural.
But lawyer Mammie challenged the pathologist to make sure that he checked the medical history of his patient saying it was possible for the deceased to have died of internal bleeding long before he was stabbed.
After the arguments Magistrate Komba Kamanda told the defense that in almost a year of the matter having been before him, not even once had he brought up the issue of insanity of the accused.
He said such cases could encourage other criminals to commit crime and bring medical reports labeling them as insane half way into the trial.
Giving his ruling, he said the evidence before him on the matter was enough to prove that the deceased died as a result of the stab wound he sustained from the accused.
“You are therefore committed to the High Court for proper trial on the offence of murder”, he ruled and ordered that the accused be remanded until his case was mentioned in the High Court.
