Controversy regarding the results of a forensic examination on the body of a 19-year-old teenager Alki Campanu said medical examiner Katerina Apostolidou, who testified before the Mixed Jury in Thessaloniki as a defense witness on behalf of one of the 12 defendants.

The forensic expert distanced himself from the conclusions contained in the conclusion of the forensic medical examination drawn up by Leda-Kalliopi Kovatsis, expressing his own scientific opinion. Focusing on the points with which she disagreed, C. Apostolidu calculated that Alka’s death was due to hemorrhagic shock, resulting from a hit in the femoral artery, which she described as “accidental”, calling it an “accident”.

She added that she did not consider the traumatic brain injuries received by the 19-year-old teenager to be fatal (ps: in her opinion, Ms. Kovatsi stated that his death was the result of a fusion of injuries to the lower extremities and the head).

Three points of contention

Drawing conclusions from viewing the photographs, as she said, and not from examining the body of the deceased youth, the medical examiner pointed out to the court the points in which she did not agree with her colleague L.-K. Kovatsi, of whom he said that “we have been working together for many years and she is my friend”.

As he showed, two wounds are described on Alka’s left thigh, which are presented as two different ones. “However, this is a penetrating wound with entry and exit gates. The injuries are similar. It looks like a wound from a tool that has a curve,” the witness said, stressing that “any forensic service you go to will tell you that this is a penetrating wound.” Regarding the mortal wound, described in the forensic report as having “abnormal lips”, C. Apostoliou remarked that “its contour is perfectly smooth”.

Subsequently, the witness referred to injuries on Alka’s head, emphasizing the following: “We did not beat the deceased with a crowbar. It is a thlon type instrument, percussion or percussion. Even if the head were covered, the rod would leave a mark. The injury to the occipital bone could have been caused by the fall,” he said.

Regarding the cause of death, the forensic expert – technical consultant formulated her next disagreement. According to him, death was due to hemorrhagic shock, stressing that if the femoral artery were not present, “the scales are tilted in favor of the fact that he is alive.”

“We have two comminuted fractures, but they did not lead to death. We didn’t have any major bleeding. If we only had head injuries, he wouldn’t have died. Cerebral edema was terminal due to the collapse of the body due to the loss of large amounts of blood. Edema cannot be created in 10 minutes. Edema is not disputed, but it is not of traumatic etiology. With craniocerebral injuries, the victims get in touch in the first hours,” said K. Apostolidu, emphasizing that the 19-year-old boy was injured during the defense when he tried to protect his head with his hands.

Source: RES