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Article: Australian law on miscarriages of justice
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The Medical Board of South Australia Concerning Complainant: Henry Vincent Keogh
Dr Colin Henry Manock
Affidavit of Anthony Joseph Ansford

On                          2004

I Professor Anthony Joseph Ansford, make oath [or affirm] and say as follows:

I am a legally qualified medical practitioner. I am a Professor of pathology. I have been a practicing forensic pathologist since 1974. I have been the Head pathologist in Queensland since 1983.

Now produced and shown to me and marked AJA1 is a copy of my curriculum vitae.

I have completed some 4,000 autopsies since 1974 and I have supervised some 8,000 autopsies. I have investigated some 700 contentious deaths.

In my evidence at the trial of Mr Henry Vincent Keogh, I said as follows.

That I had read the evidence of Dr Colin Henry Manock and Dr Ross James from the first trial of Mr Keogh and their evidence at the second trial of Mr Keogh.

That I had seen photographs of the bruises said to have been on the legs of the deceased. That I had seen the photographs of the scene at which the death was said to have occurred.

I said I had seen a body chart which was said to have showed bruises to the top of the deceased’s head,  two at the neck, four on the left leg and seven bruises on the right shin bone.

I said in my evidence relating to the bruises on the lateral side of the left leg (the so-called finger marks) that only two of the bruises were obvious. I said that one of them was larger, more diffuse and fainter than the other one. I said that it was my opinion that if the bruises were caused by fingers I would have expected them to have been about the same size, which they were not in this case.

I said, that my experience of hand bruises, where it has been definitely proven to be a hand, is that they tend to be the same size. They are all discrete, about a centimetre in size.

I expressed the opinion that in this case, the bruises could have been caused by bumps or knocks. With regard to the timing of white cell migration for the timing of bruising I said this method in my view was quite imprecise.

Mr David QC read to me extensive extracts from Dr Manock’s evidence about Ms Anna-Jane Cheney not being unconscious prior to drowning. Dr Manock said there was no evidence of such within the skull and that in his opinion the bruising on the head would not cause unconsciousness.

I said it was my opinion that you can get unconsciousness without there being any trauma to the head. I stated that in general terms the ordinary pathologist cannot detect whether a person has been unconscious prior to death. I said that specialised neurological examination may reveal something. I said that it was my understanding that no microscope slides at all were taken from the brain.

I said that it was my opinion that there may be no bruise and yet there may have been unconsciousness.

Mr David QC read to me extensive extracts relating to the scenario of leg folding. I said that is was my opinion that parts of the theory are possible.

I stated (again) the difficulty I had in seeing the marks as finger marks.

I said that I could not see how the shin can be so far over as to bang on the edge of the bath.

I said that I could not exclude a slip.

I referred to the possibility of epilepsy which is very difficult to find at autopsy.

I said that the possibility of a heart condition requires a pathologist to take multiple slides from the heart. I said that I would have subjected the heart to rigorous examination, which was not done here. A heart condition can arise without there being any previous history. I said that I would look for signs of myocarditis and that it was my understanding that Dr James would too

I said that in this difficult case I would have had the brain examined by a neuropathologist.

I said that the test which was done on the urine would not even exclude some common drugs.

I acknowledged that the death in this case was suspicious, and that it was uncommon for fit 29 year old to die with 0.8% alcohol.

I said that on the evidence available to me, I could not exclude an accident or natural causes.

I said that during an epileptic fit, the legs can jerk and cause bruising.

With regard to the above evidence which I gave at the trial, I would now say:

I agreed with the suggestion of the prosecutor that it is an uncommon situation to have an apparently fit and healthy 29 year old person die in a bath with an alcohol level of 0.08%.

When agreeing with that proposition, I had assumed that the deceased was in fact fit and healthy. I have now been provided with additional information which suggests that the information which had been given to me by the prosecutor was not correct.

It is therefore important that I now be provided with full and correct information so that I can revise my assessment of these issues. In particular, it would be important to me to have access to all of the files at the Forensic Science Centre in relation to this matter, as well as to the medical records of the deceased.

Also, in agreeing with the proposition put to me by the prosecutor, I did not say, or mean to infer, that such a situation could not occur.

I have not had the opportunity as yet to view the histology slides.

It is my opinion that an alcohol level of 0.08% is a significant level which can lead to mental or motor impairment.

It is my opinion that other drugs cannot be excluded as a possible causative factor in this death.

It is my opinion, based on what I have said in this affidavit, that Dr Manock’s view as to the cause of death in this case cannot be substantiated.

It is my opinion, based on what I have said in this affidavit, that other causes of death have not been properly excluded.

Sworn by the said

Dr Anthony Joseph Ansford

in the presence of:

Solicitor / Commissioner for oaths

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