Phillips trial expert witness grilled

STATE advocate Esna Erasmus wasted no time this week as she tore into the expert witness called by the defence in the murder and rape trial of Taariq Phillips, in the Western Cape High Court.

“Are you here because you are paid by the defence to tell the accused’s version of events?

“Are you here to prove the theory of the defence?” Erasmus said.

Durban-based forensic pathologist Dr Segran Naidoo had a tough time in the witness box, but stuck to his guns as he tried to convince the court that Phillips was not responsible for the death of his then-girlfriend, Sharisha Chauhan.

“I am here to assist the court. I am a forensic pathologist with special interest in injury analysis and sexual offences medicines,” replied Naidoo.

Phillips is accused of raping and strangling Chauhan.

The couple and friends attended a rave party at the La Bac Estate in Paarl on New Year’s Eve, 2013, when Chauhan became ill in the early hours of January 1, 2014.

She was found by friends, naked inside a tent she shared with Phillips, and having seizures.

The young girl died that night at Paarl Mediclinic.

In a surprise twist Phillips chose not to testify, and he was cautioned by judge Lee Bozalek that he may not change his mind at a later stage.

The defence, led by advocate Joey Moses, could not track down two witnesses it had planned to call.

The judge rejected an application by the defence for two witness statements to be submitted to court, because the witnesses themselves could not be tracked down or may have refused to testify.

Naidoo’s testimony is in stark contrast to that of two Cape Townbased pathologists and a medical doctor, who testified that Chauhan died as a result of manual strangulation.

It is the defence’s case that she died of an alleged drug overdose after the group of friends ingested LSD (acid) and MDMA (ecstacy) at the rave.

Toxicology reports, however, found no traces of drugs in the body of the 21-year-old woman.

The court also heard that no DNA of the accused was found on Chauhan’s body, but the state opined that an inexperienced medical officer may have not taken the swabs properly, resulting in no DNA being found.

Naidoo and his peers disagreed on four key points: the alleged drug-taking, the wounds to the body of Chauhan, the alleged vaginal and anal rape, and the cause of death.

The state alleges that Phillips raped Chauhan, but it is the defence’s case that the wounds to her anus and vagina may have been the result of “vigorous masturbation”.

“In my experience, the clinical picture fits that of drug overdose. I cannot attribute what happened to this patient other than drug overdose.

“In my opinion, she was not strangled,” said Naidoo.

Naidoo was adamant that he was not convinced that his findings were incorrect despite disagreeing with three of his peers.

The trial will resume on July 11.