By Nagra Plunkett, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE MANSLAUGHTER trial of Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore began in the Trelawny Circuit Court yesterday with three of the seven witnesses for the Crown giving evidence.
The 29-year-old national footballer from Paradise, St. James, is charged in connection with the death of Stephen 'Shorty' Malcolm, a former teammate and 'Reggae Boy'. Malcolm died in a motor vehicle accident in January 2001 on the Spring Hill main road in Trelawny.
The trial got under way about 2 p.m., about one hour after the seven-member jury four women and three men was empanelled. Testimonies were heard from Dr. Arthur Malcolm of the Falmouth Health District and Peter Campbell, an eyewitness to the accident.
Dr. Malcolm was the first witness called by Crown Counsel Anthony Armstrong. The doctor, who performed the post-mortem on 'Shorty', said that the father of two died from head injuries, which were consistent to that of a motor vehicle accident. He said that death was "instantaneous".
Dr. Malcolm said that the left side of the deceased's head was crushed, there were multiple fractures to the skull, a jagged eight-inch wound that ran from the left eye to the right region of the skull and an abrasion to the left wrist. He also noted that most of Malcolm's brain was missing. "The internal finding was much of the same... confined to the head," said the doctor.
George Thomas, Whitmore's attorney, challenged Campbell's evidence, citing differences in his testimony and the deposition given before the Trelawny Coroner's Court last April.
Campbell, the eyewitness, said he watched from the rear view mirror of his car and saw the "Mark II climb an embankment, went up about 20 feet in the air and dropped on the top (roof of the car)". He said a loud explosion, like that of a blown-out tyre, followed.
The trial was adjourned until today when five witnesses, a certified officer of motor vehicles and four policemen, are expected to give evidence. Justice Lloyd Hibbert also extended Whitmore's $200,000 bail.
Malcolm died on the night of January 28, 2001, hours after he played in a friendly international game against Bulgaria. He was travelling in Whitmore's 1993 Toyota Mark II motor car along with Whitmore and Charles Ewan, when the vehicle hit an embankment and overturned. Following the accident, there was a conflict as to who was driving the vehicle. The investigating officer, Sergeant Noel Grant, testified before the inquest that both Whitmore and Ewan told him on his arrival at the accident scene that Whitmore was driving the car at the time of the accident.
Sergeant Grant said he was "very surprised" when they later changed their statements and said Malcolm was the driver.
