Trial for the murder of Fernando Báez Sosa: Defense doctors questioned the autopsy

Two experts cited by the defense of the eight accused of the crime of Fernando Báez Sosa questioned the autopsy report performed on the body of the law student after the beating he suffered in front of the Le Brique bowling alley, in the early hours of January 18, 2020. In addition, they considered that the injuries that the victim had on his face “were minor.” The forensic doctor Juan José Fenoglio – later his colleague Jorge Velich would declare – maintained that the autopsy “does not explain why Fernando died” and returned to the theory presented by the defense, headed by Hugo Tomei, that the victim suffered -at least- complications due to the CPR maneuvers practiced on the scene by a young woman who helped him as well as the police who arrived first at the scene. ” The injury to the liver may be due to a crush caused by resuscitation, “said the expert, in that sense. “We found literature similar to those types of breaks,” he added. And he added, pointing to the images of the autopsy that were exhibited during the 13th and last hearing of the trial: “It is by crushing, if it had been a trumpet it was different.” He then elaborated: “Here we have a patient with 60 seconds of blows and 45 minutes of CPR. There are injuries that occurred when the patient was alive, they are those that caused death, but the other 45 minutes may appear vital but they must be investigated if they are the product of resuscitation or those injuries. ” The specialist said that “it is rare for a person due to trauma to die at the scene.” In that line, he said that it would be necessary to see if the presence of an aneurysm did not coincide with a head trauma. “We do not say that he had an aneurysm, but that it should be investigated,” he clarified about that proposal. After that, he resumed his criticism of the report, noting that “it is important from the autopsy report to determine cause and mechanism of death, and the mechanics are not described.” The autopsy does not explain why Fernando Báez Sosa died,” he said. Thus, he explained that many times the brain stops working but that does not imply that the heart also does, and that the doctor who performed the autopsy did not determine what was the injury that caused the brain trauma. In another part of his presentation he considered that the injuries that Fernando Báez Sosa had on his face “were minor” caused by “legs and trumpets.” In turn, Velich, emergentologist, also proposed by the defense of the accused, said that Báez Sosa did not die as a result of the cardiopulmonary resuscitation that they did to try to save him, but it did “aggravate the situation by the mobilization of the body.” In line with his colleague, he maintained that Fernando “did not die at the place” where he was beaten. “Yes, he was unconscious, in such a critical state that he stops breathing and maneuvers are performed to perform it,” he clarified. “Could bleeding in the liver cause death?” asked Tomei. “It can cause death or hasten the death that is already coming,” the professional replied. Tomei also asked him the time of death that appears in the cause and Velich said that at “six in the morning” and that there is no data since the doctor left Fernando Báez Sosa in the shock room at 5:15 in the morning. “The autopsy brief causes embarrassment to others as a medical examiner,” he said.

Original source in Spanish