The following is the autopsy report for Curtis Smith, one of the seven young men killed by the police in Braeton, St. Catherine. The report was done by Dr. Peter Leth of the Danish Medical Group. External investigation
THE BODY is that of a slim black male, who appears the stated age of 20 years. The scalp is covered by curly black hair. He is wearing a striped tee-shirt, short blue jeans and boxer shorts - all blood-stained.
The irises are brown. The conjunctivae are not examined. The nares are unremarkable. The mouth contains blood. The ears are unremarkable apart from the injuries described below. The neck is straight and has unremarkable external features.
The chest and abdomen are unremarkable. The upper and lower extremities are unremarkable. There is no rigor mortis. Livores are situated on the back side of the body. There are only slight sights of cadaverositas.
Evidence of injuries
Gun shot lesions:
A is a perforating gun shot lesion to the head. The wound of entrance type is immediately behind the left eye, and the wound of exit type consists of an irregular skin defect immediately over the right eye-brow.
B is a perforating gun shot lesion to the head. The wound of entrance type is situated over the left os zygomatico, and the wound of exit type is in the right ear.
C is a perforating gun shot lesion to the head. The wound of entrance type is immediately under the entrance wound of gun shot wound B, and the wound of exit type is in the right temple.
D is a perforating gun shot lesion to the head. The wound of entrance type is on the left side of the lower jaw. The wound of exit type is in the right ear.
E is a penetrating gun shot lesion to the abdomen. The wound of entrance type is on the left hip. The projectile passway is left to right posterior and upwards. The projectile was found to the left of the fifth lumbal vertebra.
All the wounds of entrance type had an abrasion ring, but there were no blackened seared zones around the entrance wounds or any powder tattooing. The entrance wounds in the head had diameters of approx. 4-5 mm (no ruler or scale available) whereas the entrance wound of gun shot wound E was somewhat larger.
No evidence of blunt or sharp force injury was found.
Internal
examination
The internal organs and the brain were removed. There was a severe cranial fracture as well as fracture of the lower jaw and of other bones in the facial skeleton. There was severe brain damage with subarachnoidal bleeding. There was a fracture in the left side of the pelvis in relation to the projectile pathway.
The inner organs were not separated and investigated individually. There were no immediate signs of disease.
Conclusion
The autopsy of the stated 20-year-old slim black male revealed evidence of gun shot wound injury consisting of four perforating gun shot lesions to the head with entrance wounds in the left side of the face and exit wounds in the right side of the face and one penetrating gun shot lesion to the left hip with a bullet pathway extending upwards backwards to the left and with the projectile found to the left of the body of the fifth lumbal vertebra.
All gun shot lesions were single projectile lesions. All were distant gun shot lesions, meaning that the gun shot came from a distance larger than the length of the barrel of the weapon. The calibre of the weapon cannot be determined by the diameter of the entrance wounds, but depends on an examination of the recovered projectile.
No signs of blunt or sharp trauma were found. No signs of disease were found, but the examination of the internal organs were incomplete.
Fingerprints were taken. One projectile was recovered. No samples were taken for alcohol, toxicology or microscopic investigation. No hand swabs for powder staining were taken. No photos were taken.
Cause of death: multiple gunshots lesions to the head
Manner of death: homicide.
