Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes who is representing beauty queen Carolan Lynch, accused of murdering her husband, yesterday sought unsuccessfully to get the court to order a second autopsy on the body of Farouk Razac as he felt that he had died from natural causes.
Hughes made the application after the attorney had written a letter to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) requesting same and for the post-mortem results to be given to the defence and got no response.
Prosecutor Robert Tyndall acting on advice from the DPP told Hughes "this is a preliminary inquiry and no copy of the post- mortem report will be handed over to anyone, only when it is tendered as an exhibit." He added that the DPP will respond to Hughes' letter subsequently.
Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys declined to make a ruling on the lawyer's submission to have samples taken from Razac's body for transmission to an independent laboratory for examination. He however advised the attorney to move to the High Court since it was out of the purview of the lower court and the prosecution.
The Preliminary Inquiry is to begin on Monday. Hughes had wanted to have Razac's body exhumed to satisfy the defence regarding the cause of death.
Lynch who was charged jointly with her husband for possession of guns and ammunition at their Bel Air Park home last year will face that charge alone after prosecutor Tyndall withdrew the charge against Razac as a result of his death. He again requested to serve two more statements from witnesses in this case and his request was granted by the magistrate.
Lynch was charged last week with murdering her husband Farouk Razac. Her attorney, Hughes indicated to the court that he wrote a letter to the DPP dated May 14 stating that they are of the view that the findings of the post-mortem conducted by Dr Nehaul Singh are critical to the conduct of his client's case.
He added in the letter that they were informed that samples were taken from the body of the deceased allegedly for further testing and he requested a copy of the post-mortem report and medical notes from Dr Singh. This he had requested prior to the court appearance yesterday. He also enquired in the letter whether samples were indeed taken from the deceased's body and in the event that samples were removed, the purpose for which they were removed and the institution to which they will be given for testing. Hughes told the court that he was not honoured with a response from the DPP and so he made an application directly to the court for a ruling that copies of the post-mortem report be handed over to the defence by the prosecution.
Second autopsy
He stated too that the defence was in receipt of professional medical advice which indicates that the conduct of a second autopsy by an independent medical examiner will provide Lynch with additional information on the cause of death of her husband. He stated that he requested the court to issue such directions as are necessary to facilitate the exhumation of the body of the deceased for the conduct of a second post-mortem. His application was for the prosecution to make available copies of the post-mortem report and information on the samples that were taken. He said they would require expert evidence in order to successfully defend the case. After Tyndall told the court what the DPP had said, Hughes responded saying that his instructions were that the post-mortem conducted on Razac did not present a scientific basis for the conclusion that he died from strangulation and the defence was in receipt of preliminary information that his death was from natural causes. He stated that this was the reason he requested a copy of the PM from the DPP.
The attorney stated also that it would affect the defence's ability to conduct their case which is why a second autopsy is being requested. He added that Lynch will not have a fair trial if the first time she would become aware of the PM result is when it is called in evidence. The attorney said "it is horrendously prejudicial to conduct a case if she is not allowed the courtesy to know how the deceased died. It adversely impacts on the court to be able to afford Lynch a fair trial unless the samples are maintained in such circumstances that they are guaranteed." He stated that "if not, when it goes to an independent laboratory they will not have a sample that is capable of having a reliable result."
After the magistrate declined to make a ruling in favour of the defence the prosecution asked for a reasonable date. Hughes had also asked for the case to go to a court which is less burdened. However the magistrate told him he would have to go to the Acting Chief Magistrate to ask for the case to be reassigned. He then set the preliminary inquiry for Monday.
Hughes also requested four hours to speak with his client to get instructions since he said she was taken to Berbice on the last occasion. He indicated that Lynch was not given an opportunity to attend her husband's funeral and the defence did not get instructions. The prosecutor indicated that the defence counsel would get time to speak with his client but not for the length of time he desired.
Earlier while the defence attorneys waited for a response from the DPP to their request to see the post-mortem report, the magistrate ruled on Lynch's other matter, allowing the prosecution to serve two additional statements in the trial.
Tyndall told the court that one of the witnesses Constable 17913 Shondell Williams was coming to say whether the weapon found at the home was licenced or unlicensed. He added that the other witness whose statement he intended to serve was 18372 Sherwin Smith from the Narcotics Branch who would say that he charged Lynch.
Hughes objected to the additional statements being served saying that the prosecution had commenced its case with a witness who started giving evidence in chief and it became apparent that their case was weak and they were now trying to make up for it. The attorney stated that this was highly prejudicial to the defence and it was clearly an attempt to "patch up a hopeless case after the start of the case." He said "to facilitate that statement is to deny the defence what was a legitimate opportunity for an acquittal." The magistrate after perusing the two statements ruled that he would allow them to be filed and it had nothing prejudicial. This case is set for June 1.
Lynch was able to speak with her attorney for about thirty minutes after the court session. A large crowd again gathered at the court to see the accused. She was dressed in blue jeans and a black top with a crucifix chain.
Lynch is on trial for unlawfully having in her possession four 9 mm magazines, one Beretta automatic pistol and 120 rounds of 9 mm ammunition at their Ireng Place, Bel Air home on November 10 last year. One witness who testified stated that during the raid at the house, Razac had said that he was keeping the weapon that was found to combat wanted man Rondell 'Fineman' Rawlins. When Razac first appeared in court he was granted $1 million bail while his wife who appeared a day after him was first refused bail but subsequently placed on $500,000 bail in the High Court.
The charges were first read indictably but were subsequently taken summarily.
