crime scene photos

During the High Court trial of Mathew Adjodha, who was convicted of causing the death of Corporal Philip Cox on April 13, 2002, the prosecution was unable to produce into evidence police photos of the accident scene.



During the inquiry Sargent Angus Lafeuille was called to explain what had happened to the photographs. Lafeuille, now stationed at the Central Police Station said in 2002 he was "attached to the Criminal Records Department." There his duties included photographing crime scenes and fatal accidents as well as collecting "trace evidence." The officer told Judge Kenneth Benjamin he had attended the fatal accident in 2002 he could not remember the details. In addition, he was not in a position to produce any photographs.



"Since then I have been transferred from criminal records. I have no control of records of photographs at the Criminal Records Office," he said. Lafeuille recalled taking photos of the accident scene but could not remember if they had been developed. "The exposed film is kept in my custody and developed on request from the investigating officer or a superior officer or if someone from the DPP's office requests," he told the judge. "When I was attached to criminal records the investigating officer would have made a request for photos at which time they would have been developed and prepared. No request was ever made for the photos by anyone."



He had no idea where the required photographs could be. "I cannot answer because I do not know when last they were in my custody. When I was transferred, some time in 2002, I never handed anything over to anyone. I just left them at a desk at the criminal records office. They were not developed yet. They were on an open desk. That is the norm at the office. There wasn't any specific desk. It was a general desk were we kept items to be prepared which belonged to members of the office. I handed over government items. There is no standard procedure. I did not hand over photos. I handed over the chairs, desk, firearms, and government camera."



The officer said he understood the importance of evidence items for the proper administration of justice and he understood the chain of custody. Maragh: With twenty years experience did it not occur to you to leave those exhibits with your superior?

Officer: I did not leave exhibits with anyone.

Maragh: Who knew you left them there?

Officer: All the persons who work at the CRO.

Maragh: Ever occur to you that this evidence could be favorable to the accused?

Officer: No.

Maragh: Ever occur to you that the photos would assist the court regarding the point of impact?

Officer: It did occur to me but since the request was never made for those photos I did not pay any particular attention to the crime scenes I was involved in.

Officer Lafeuille said he had not deliberately withheld the photos. Under questioning from the Deputy DPP Robert Innocent the officer said "no request had been made by the prosecution during the preliminary inquiry for the photos."The judge's conclusion after all of that: It is fair to say that any exposures taken are no longer retrievable!



Caption: Mark Maragh and Marcus Foster's (pictured) Adjodha/Cox accident case suffered a dose of St Lucia police responsibility.