South Africa - Susan Rohde, 47, murdered, Stellenbosch, 24 July 2016

[JudgeJudi]

 

[JudgeJudi]

LVN reads out Van Breda judgment: "Despite the fact that Dr Perumal advised the defence on self-inflicting injuries and his presence in the court, no expert witnesses were called by the defence on this vital issue",

Perumal: I was present in court. I personally didn't comment or give opinion on self-inflicting injuries. I see what is written here. I didn't testify on it, neither did I comment on it. I steered away from writing about it.

Perumal had the view that Rudi van Breda was capable of making movement from bed down to floor because of no incapacitating injury. LVN: But that opinion was not accepted by the court.

LVN moves onto Perumal mentioning his involvement in Oscar Pistorius case. "You went to the scene and retrieved a projectile?" Perumal says no.

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[JudgeJudi]

Perumal on Oscar Pistorius case: It was clear that one projectile had exited the body. It is designed to open up in the body but this one didn't. It went through. It lost a lot of its energy. I knew that would have been at the scene.

Perumal: I discussed this with counsel and went to the scene. I saw an impact mark on the tile and then commented to the team, there would be a projectile in the toilet bowl, which was filled with blood, hair and brain tissue. I didn't want to touch the bowl.

Perumal: With chain of custody, I told official there is a projectile there. Next morning, he gave it to the IO or ballistic expert. All that I did was look at the body, look at the scene and make a comment. I didn't personally pick it up.

LVN takes RP through Pistorius record, where defence ballistics expert testified. "Nowhere on this record can I find your presence just from reading this." RP accepts that but says he was one who looked at impact mark on tile, didn't touch projectile.

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[LouP1209]

Good morning all,

 

[JudgeJudi]

LVN turns to post-mortem by State forensic pathologist, Dr Coetzee-Khan. He starts with fractured ribs and blood in the stomach.

LVN: The blood found in the stomach, from your evidence, you relate it to CPR. Perumal: No, not in the stomach. Blood in stomach and small bowel would have come from injury to the nose, caused by blunt force trauma or injury.

Perumal: She must have had some injury to the nose because there is blood in her nostrils. That means she would have some blood loss.There is blood in the bedroom, on the sheets. I think she had two episodes of swallowing blood and it goes into stomach.

Perumal says it would be very difficult to tell court when the injury to Susan's nose would have happened. "It could not have happened at or close to the time she died".

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[JudgeJudi]

Perumal says blood spent some time in Susan's stomach. But says she could have swallowed fresh blood close to death, indicative of two separate episodes.

Perumal references Pistorius trial and says it is so unreliable to use gastric emptying. He says Susan would have swallowed blood while alive but it wouldn't necessarily lead to vomiting.

Now we go to Perumal's findings on the ligature mark. LVN: "You favoured a hanging interpretation". Perumal says there are two competing causes but he favours hanging because of presence, appearance of mark and dribble of saliva.

LVN notes that it was Jason's evidence that he saw a dribble of saliva. Nobody else saw it.

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[JudgeJudi]

LVN reads out article that states the moment of death is taken as time of cardiac arrest. Cells are still alive and remain so for a variable time.

Perumal answers: The author is saying it can take time, even though the brain dies quickly within 3 minutes, you may have some heartbeat. It may not be purposeful. Most authors consider that ligature mark is post-mortem event.

LVN references a photo taken at Dr Coetzee-Khan's autopsy. A ruler is placed on the right side of Susan's neck. "Would you agree that the interpretation to that area is that there is injury also below the ligature line?"

Perumal: "To me the entire thing is part of the ligature imprint. The ligature mark is never the same throughout because you cannot predict the movements in convulsion states because that is going to cause the imprint."

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[JudgeJudi]

LVN points out blanching and leathery appearance on part of the neck. Asks if that could be from fingers applied under ligature mark. Perumal says: I don’t think so. For me there is a very high likelihood that this entire region is ligature induced.

Perumal says it is a "remote possibility" that there was a pre-existing injury from a digit (finger) and then an overlying ligature mark.

LVN points out that Perumal was hired by Jason to do a second autopsy. "Would you agree... that you tried to test a version here and subconsciously you are slanting towards a certain position and that is on the version of the accused?"

Perumal says he stands before court as a professional and scientist expressing an opinion. I don’t think any individual can say there is no bias that can creep here. But everything I have said here I have said purely on the science and logic.

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[JudgeJudi]

LVN points to faeces mark found outside bathroom door and faecal soiling at buttocks. No faeces found on her bathrobe or back of bathroom door.

Perumal says only possible reason for faeces mark in external area is contamination. "Someone in the bathroom had stepped on stool and then walked out with it. I can’t find any other explanation for it."

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Tea adjournment

 

[JudgeJudi]

Is VDS going for a mistrial?

Judge Salie-Hlophe will hand down her Judgment and if Rohde is found guilty, he can, and no doubt will, appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal. VDS can use his complaints as grounds for appeal.

The Judge sounds very competent to me and she has had at least one other trial involving a hanging (she sentenced someone yesterday morning). This trial will be, IMO, largely based on which pathologist’s evidence she believes is the strongest. If she convicts, she may well support her finding with the evidence of Susan’s treating psychologist.

 

[JudgeJudi]

LVN asks if the faeces marks found at the entrance to hotel room, entrance to bathroom and beside her could be because her body was dragged from bedroom to bathroom?

Perumal says it is possible that "if there was soiling present on Mrs Rhode and she was carried and dragged over this area, then it would have been transferred in that fashion". He says her buttock area would have to be exposed (i.e. no gown).

LVN finishes his cross-exam and VDS says he wants access to the hotel gown for his re-exam. Court hears that hotel asked for gown back (Assuming the replica). Court adjourns so that a hotel gown can be brought to court. Back at 11:35.

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[Dora in the field]

Judge Salie-Hlophe will hand down her Judgment and if Rohde is found guilty, he can, and no doubt will, appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal. VDS can use his complaints as grounds for appeal.

Thanks for the reply JJ, I have no doubt that JR will appeal the sentence because he will be found guilty. (IMO)
Things are not looking good for him, he looks really nervous today. Dr Perumal has conceded that manual strangulation cannot be ruled out, as opposed to his testimony in the beginning that Susan had committed suicide, and Dr Coetzee-Khan was simply incompetent.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Some pics of manual strangulation

 

[JudgeJudi]

We are back. VDS starts with re-examination.

VDS looks at autopsy photo with Perumal. "The shoulders are not aligned at right angles to the photograph. One has quite a bit of a view of the right cheek but not of the left side".

To what extent can one use a photo like this in order to determine alignment or direction of the ligature mark? Perumal: When I observed body, the mark was virtually horizontal with a slight upwards on the right side. May not get same orientation in photo.

VDS: Have you ever come across a specialist forensic pathologist who has not made an observer error? Perumal: No. We are all human and along our career we all miss something.

VDS: You said in cross-exam that in a partial hanging, you do not see the mark made by the knot? Perumal: Because of partial hanging the knot would pull away from the body.

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[JudgeJudi]

VDS: If the knot is not tight, will there be a tightness on contralateral side? Perumal: There could still be a tightness on the opposite side because the head and neck are heavy. You could still get a deep imprint on that side.

VDS says Coetzee-Khan said ligature mark did not have parchment or leathery like appearance. Perumal: The only part of the ligature mark that I think is blanched is more on right side of neck. She does have leathery and parched appearance to ligature imprint.

VDS mentions that CK saw bruise on thigh and said it was indicative of battered wife syndrome. Perumal says that was a healing injury. That syndrome "is more of a clinical or psychological diagnosis. We cannot make that diagnosis as a pathologist".

Perumal says the only thing a pathologist can do is note the age of injuries and whether they are suspicious.

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[JudgeJudi]

VDS: The next point CK raised in support of deceased not hanging herself was that he observed lividity on posterior part of her body, with blanching under shoulder blades and buttocks, thus death not in hanging position.

Perumal says he testified on this aspect already. Pattern of lividity does not necessarily indicate position in which a person died, just the position in which it developed.

Perumal says he was told there was a fracture in neck structure. "Because my finding didn't concur with what he told me, I subjected it to further investigation".

Perumal says the fracture in that area is most common injury in hanging cases, up to 60%.

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[JudgeJudi]

VDS says CK observed neck injuries removed from the ligature mark. Perumal: My experience is that because of pull of body and convulsions, you can get soft tissue injuries and other injuries.

VDS says he has a slight predicament because he is not sure what the State's case is on exact cause of death. Indictment states Jason manually strangled the deceased, causing her death. It is also alleged that thereafter a suicide by hanging was staged.

VDS: When LVN cross-examined Jason, he put it to him that he had caused her death in a different manner. "He put it to Mr Rohde that in order to quieten his wife down and to shut her up, he smothered her to death".

VDS understands Perumal's version as follows: That he would regard suicide by hanging is most probable but cannot exclude other possibilities such as manual strangulation. But exclude smothering entirely. Perumal: "I have got no evidence to support it".

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[JudgeJudi]

VDS says except for hotel gown questions, he is done with re-examination. LVN says a sergeant is on his way with the gown.

VDS envisages his next witness would be Dr Loftus, a specialist sitting next to me here. Because of his commitments at practice, he is only available until today or tomorrow.

VDS: However Dr Loftus has re-arranged his schedule and set aside a few days next week. My next witness is Professor Simon but I don't think that will happen this term.

VDS: The earliest possible date this court could sit is 6th August but I have no instructing attorney before the 13th of August. I would ask that when we are finished with Dr Loftus next week, we could pp until then.

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[JudgeJudi]

Judge says the parties can see her in chambers at some stage to plan the further conduct of the trial. State says he does not yet have statement from Dr Loftus.

Judge adjourns trial until after lunch so the hotel gown can be brought to court.

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[Dora in the field]

If Susan had the gown on when she hanged herself, then it must have been soiled with faeces/body fluids. The absence of such evidence indicates that she did not die wearing the gown.