Friday, March 7, 2025 - The High Court was left stunned this week following revelations that a forensic report by the Government Chemist, dated 26 September 2023 and signed by Government Analyst Dr. M. Muthini, had been withheld from the defence until the analyst unexpectedly appeared in court.
The report, produced as Exhibit 10(c), disclosed that the
stomach contents of the late Assad Khan contained traces of ketamine, a
narcotic substance known to cause hallucinogenic effects when abused.
Further analysis indicated that Khan had possibly mixed
trimethoxyamphetamine (TMA), a designer amphetamine-based stimulant and
psychedelic drug, with the Jameson whisky (40% ethanol) he had been consuming
at his residence.
In his testimony, Dr. Muthini explained that hallucinogenic
effects could lead an individual to experience delusions such as the ability to
fly, break walls, or smash glass with their limbs, oblivious to personal
danger.
He described such effects as an "out-of-body
experience."
A separate alcohol test conducted at Nairobi Hospital
immediately after the incident revealed that Khan had a blood alcohol level of
203 mg/dl, a dangerously high concentration.
According to Dr. Walong, for someone with underlying
conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, consuming large quantities
of alcohol mixed with narcotics could induce cardiac arrest and prove fatal.
Hospital records presented in court confirmed that Khan
suffered a cardiac arrest upon arrival at Nairobi Hospital and had to be
resuscitated.
Khan was known to have diabetes and hypertension.
The defence strongly protested that the prosecution had
deliberately withheld the Government Chemist’s report from them for over five
months.
They argued that if they had access to the report earlier,
they would have pressed for the withdrawal of the murder charges against their
client, Maxine Wahome.
The findings, they asserted, supported Wahome’s defence that
Khan, while intoxicated and "high," had attacked her and attempted to
break a glass door by kicking and smashing two window panes to reach the keys,
which Wahome had locked on the outer side of the kitchen balcony.
The prosecution also presented testimony from Government
Pathologist Dr. Peter Ndegwa, Dr. Oloo Walong, and Dr. Andrew Gacii, who
jointly conducted the post-mortem on Khan’s body.
All three testified that Khan’s death was caused by
hospital-acquired, drug-resistant infections that led to septicaemia.
They maintained that none of the blunt or sharp force
injuries sustained were fatal.
The pathologists agreed that the cut to Khan’s Achilles
tendon could have resulted from broken glass on the balcony door and that the
bruises on his head and hands were consistent with a fall down a flight of
stairs as he attempted to take himself to the hospital.
Dr. Hussein of Avenue Hospital, where Khan was admitted to
the ICU, had earlier testified that the hospital failed to test for or detect
septicaemia and, as a result, did not treat Khan for the condition, leading to
his death. He conceded that the injuries Khan suffered were not
life-threatening.
Philip Murgor SC, the lead defence counsel, has formally
lodged a complaint with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), accusing the
prosecution of misconduct and suppression of exculpatory evidence.
In a letter dated 6 March 2025, Murgor requested the immediate withdrawal of murder charges against Wahome due to a lack of evidence, citing the Government Chemist’s findings and medical testimonies.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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