Cape Town - Alleged mistakes made by forensic pathologist Doctor Akmal Khan could have been made by undergraduate medical students, the Western Cape High Court heard, in the murder trial of former property boss Jason Rohde.
Khan is the State forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Rohde's murdered wife, Susan.
Susan was found dead at a room the couple shared at the Spier Estate Hotel on July 24, 2016. It was initially believed she had committed suicide but according to an autopsy report, Susan died of manual strangulation.
Khan returned to the witness stand on Monday after being booked off for about a month. He faced another day of cross examination by defence advocate Graham van der Spuy.
Van der Spuy sited alleged mistakes made by Khan during the autopsy and at the scene. He referred to them as “elementary mistakes”.
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“The experts I consulted said errors you made in your report are errors you would expect from an undergraduate medical student,” said Van der Spuy.
According to Khan’s report Susan, died lying down, in a supine position.
Khan testified that if the deceased died by hanging one would expect to find lividity on lower legs and arms.
Lividity is when body fluids go to the lowest points on the the body to settle, due to gravity, after death. This is also known as the process of hypostasis and can be observed from colour left on the skin. Hypostasis is used to indicate the estimated time of death interval.
Van der Spuy put it to Khan that in his evidence in chief, the pathologist stated that the absence of hypostasis in the legs and arms indicated that Susan did not die from hanging.
Khan replied saying that it did contribute to him reaching that finding.
“I was advised that your evidence in this regard is wrong. And that you don't really understand the process of hypostasis,” said Van der Spuy.
He said expert pathologist with somee 30 years of experience refuted Khan’s methodology and technique.
“Hypostasis can’t be an indicator of position a person died in. It can be an indication of the person’s position after death,” said Van der Spuy.
He put it to the witness that Susan’s body could have been moved within 30 to 60 minutes after death.
Khan conceded that if the position of the body is changed hypostasis would be able to resettle.
Khan said that ligature marks found on Susan did not match the cable she was believed to have hanged herself with, which was found at the scene - another reason he excluded hanging as a cause of death.
“The marks did not have any parchment of appearance, didn't fit the ligature that was allegedly used. They, together with hemorrhage, under the jaw, matched directly with manual strangulation,” said Khan.