Pathologist says Mario Deane's injuries consistent with 'blunt-force trauma'

Dr Murari Sarangi, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Mario Deane in 2014 said the deceased showed injuries consistent with blunt-force trauma.

Sarangi, now retired, testified via Zoom during today's ninth day of evidence against Corporal Elaine Stewart and Constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant, the three officers charged in relation to Deane's death.

He told the Westmoreland Circuit Court today that he performed the autopsy on September 2, 2014, less than a month after Deane died at the Cornwall Regional Hospital on August 6 that year. Deane was admitted to the hospital in an unconscious state three days earlier on August 3, after being beaten while in custody at the Barnett Street Police Station lock-up for possession of a ganja spliff.

Sarangi told the court that in his examination of Deane's body, he noticed a bruise on the right side of Deane's head and face that was consistent with blunt-force trauma. He said that such an injury could have been sustained from being struck against a wall or with a blunt object.

The doctor also testified that during his time working in Jamaica from 1999 to 2023, he was the only forensic pathologist working in western Jamaica, and that he conducted 1000 autopsies per year on average.

The trial was subsequently adjourned until Wednesday, March 26, when Sarangi will continue his evidence-in-chief.

Stewart, Clevon and Grant are charged with manslaughter, misconduct in a public office, and perverting the course of justice, under allegations that they were the officers on duty at the Barnett Street lock-up at the time when Deane was beaten. Stewart also allegedly ordered the cleaning of the cell where the beating took place before investigators from the Independent Commission of Investigations arrived.

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