Blood spatter evidence challenged by defence
A piece of blood spatter evidence highlighted by the Crown has been challenged by the defence at the murder trial of three men charged over the prison bashing that led to the death of Benton Marni Parata.
The blood spatter was found low on the wall of Parata’s cell at Christchurch Men’s Prison where he was found badly injured after being bashed. He received extensive head injuries and died five days later in Christchurch Hospital.
Blood was found in several parts of the cell but the crime scene investigation has been complicated by the efforts evidently made by Parata, 44, to clean up the scene before he was found by prison staff.
The spatter pattern low on the wall was particularly referred to by prosecutor Deidre Orchard in her opening statement when the trial began last Tuesday. She said it was consistent with the the opinion of pathologist Dr Martin Sage that one possible mechanism causing Parata’s head injuries could have been a stomp which propelled his head into the floor.
The Crown is calling about 40 witnesses at the two-week trial in the High Court at Christchurch of Steven Betham, 37, Levi Hohepa Reuben, 21, and Akuhatua Tihi, 23, who are jointly charged with the murder. Tihi’s defence counsel Phil Shamy has indicated his client admits assaulting Parata and would plead guilty to manslaughter.
ESR forensic scientist Gary Gillespie continued his evidence yesterday, on the fifth day of the trial before Justice Gerald Nation and a jury in the High Court at Christchurch.
He has given his opinion that the blood appeared to be from an “impact spatter” which originated from an impact 5cm or less above the floor of the cell.
Cross-examined by counsel for Reuben, James Rapley, Mr Gillespie said the impact spatter could have come from wet blood on Parata’s head, face, or body impacting the floor, or blood close to the floor being impacted by some other mechanism.
Some of the blood staining in the cell could have been a result of the clean-up that took place.
Mr Rapley raised the question of items of blood-soaked medical waste being thrown into a bin while paramedics worked on Parata. He asked whether blood stained items being thrown in the bin could have caused blood to travel through the air.
Mr Gillespie said spatter might have happened if the medical items had struck the edge of the bin, but when he was re-examined, he said if that had happened he would have expected the spatter on the wall to be higher – at the level of the lip of the bin.
A range of mechanisms could have caused the spatter on the wall and investigators were not seeing the full pattern because there had been a clean-up.
The defence raised whether medical bags dropped hard on the floor could have caused the spatter, or a blue folder photographed on the floor which might have been dropped by Parata before he cleaned up the scene.
Mr Gillespie said wiping up would not cause the spatter unless the cloth used was sufficiently wet with blood and the wiping motion was “sufficiently vigorous”.
The trial is continuing.
Category: News
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