Pathologist's testimony was flawed, lawyer tells High Court

Lawyer Eric Paulsen, who appeared for the family of custodial death victim P Karuna Nithi, told the Seremban High Court today that the testimony of the pathologist who conducted the post-mortem on the deceased was flawed.

During submissions at the hearing of the revision application made by the Attorney-General’s Chambers to overturn the coroner's verdict in the case, Paulsen insisted that the coroner – who had ruled that Karuna Nithi was beaten to death by police personnel and inmates – did not err because pathologist Dr Sharifah Safoorah Syed Alwee’s testimony was flawed.

“She herself accepted that Karuna Nithi had a mild liver disease and mild liver disease cannot lead to death.

“She considered there were 49 injuries, even though at the end of the day she still maintained (that the cause of death was) fatty change of the liver, without basis,” Paulsen told Malaysiakini.

Fatty change of the liver is a condition commonly associated with alcoholism or obesity.

Meanwhile, noting how Sharifah had, in her testimony considered that Karuna Nithi’s liver condition was “quite mild”, Paulsen further pointed out that the deceased would not have died if he was not abused.

“Yes, he had fatty liver disease but it was mild form and he wasn't going to die unless with the way he was being treated; all the assault, neglect, lack of food, lack of rest, no medication, and harassment - all that accelerated his death.

“She considered mild liver disease, therefore her conclusion was quite incredible that nonetheless, he died from fatty change of the liver,” said Paulsen.

Paulsen, who is also Lawyers for Liberty executive director, noted how Sharifah had, during cross-examination, amended her conclusion after she admitted that she had assumed that bruises found on Karuna Nithi’s chest were caused by cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performed on him, among others.

Negeri Sembilan head of prosecution Nik Azhan Hakim Nik Mahmood in his application to the Seremban High Court filed in February this year, said that coroner Jagjit Singh Bant Singh’s verdict was flawed and that the latter had wrongly rejected Sharifah’s testimony.

He had also claimed that the coroner's verdict was based on probability and not strong facts because the coroner failed to take into consideration that there was no testimony which could challenge Sharifah's findings.

Paulsen, however, argued that it was up to a particular judge to decide whether an expert’s testimony was backed up by scientific data or otherwise.

“At the end of the day, it's not that the judge must accept blindly; that he must accept whatever an expert says, that is not the law.

“Especially in this case, it is contradicted by many things. One of it was how there were 49 injuries on the deceased.”

After hearing submissions from both parties, judicial commissioner Muhammad Jamil Hussin fixed October 9 for decision.

Karuna Nithi was first remanded at Tampin district police station in late May 2013 following an altercation with his wife and was further detained when his family could not raise his bail after he was charged in court.

The engineer was found dead in a lock-up at the police station on June 1, 2013.

Police CCTV recordings from Karuna Nithi's lock-up showed him being assaulted by policemen and other detainees while in the cell.- Mkini