The Accused (Modern Plays) Read Online Free PDF Page B

laboriously by my learned friend. But do you consider, as a scientist, you are also qualified to pass moral judgements on a colleague without relying on a shred of evidence?
    Forsyth The Hippocratic Oath is the very foundation of a doctor’s code of practice.
    Barrington And there is nothing in Mr Sherwood’s equally distinguished career to suggest that he doesn’t agree with you. So let us now consider the facts, Professor. You told the court that none of the doctors at St George’s gave you any reason to believe that Mrs Sherwood had died in unusual circumstances.
    Forsyth That is correct, but none of them was aware that Mr Sherwood had been collecting ampoules of Potassium Chloride from a chemist outside London.
    Barrington I will come to that, Professor. Now, in your long report commissioned by the Crown Prosecution Service, you also confirm (
Holds up the report
.) that Mrs Sherwood’s GP had her on the correct programme of medication for the particular heart problem she was suffering from?
    Forsyth Yes, but Dr Haslam, was not …
    Barrington I wonder, Professor, if you would be kind enough to confine yourself to answering my questions and not making speeches. This courtroom is not an extension of your lecture theatre and I am not one of your undergraduates. So allow me to move on to the constituents of Potassium Chloride and, may I say, Professor, how much we all enjoyed your little demonstration with the hypodermic needle, which you claimed was consistent with the amount of the chemical found on the kitchen glove.
    Forsyth (
now angry
) It most certainly was.
    Barrington But tell me, Professor, as an acknowledged expert on the subject, would it not also be consistent with the amount of Potassium found in this bottle of grapefruit juice, which is more likely to be located in a kitchen?
    Forsyth Yes, but …
    Barrington Search as I might, I couldn’t find any reference to grapefruit juice in your hundred-and-thirty-nine-page report.
    Forsyth My report was not concerned with … the contents …
    Barrington Then perhaps it should have been. Professor, you told the court that the first thing you did when you were asked to look into this case was to study Mrs Sherwood’s medical history.
    Forsyth And I did so.
    Barrington And so did I, Professor, and I discovered that Mrs Sherwood’s father had died of a heart attack at the age of fifty-eight. Why didn’t you consider this possible hereditary condition worthy of mention?
    Forsyth Because I could find no connection between the death of a thirty-seven-year old woman and her father’s demise at fifty-eight. Had you been one of my undergraduates Sir James, you would have learnt that research is one thing, being able to draw scientific conclusions from it is quite another.
    Barrington Well, let us consider some of your scientific conclusions, shall we, Professor, and try to find out what you have learnt from them. On how many occasions have you testified for the crown in murder trials where poisoning was involved?
    Forsyth A dozen - more, perhaps.
    Barrington And was one of those cases ‘The Crown versus Mr Roger Latham’?
    Forsyth (
embarrassed
) Yes, it was.
    Barrington And were you called by the prosecuting counsel as an expert witness?
    Forsyth Yes, I was.
    Barrington And was it your evidence that influenced the jury to return a verdict of guilty?
    Kersley (
leaps up
) My Lord, is my learned friend questioning Professor Forsyth’s integrity?
    Judge Are you, Sir James?
    Barrington Certainly not. But I would refer your Lordship to the Judge’s summing up, and I quote, (
He picks up a book and quotes from the trial
.) ‘I find the evidence presented by Professor Forsyth as compelling, and feel it should weigh heavily with the jury when they come to consider their verdict.’
    Judge In the judge’s summing up. I see. Please continue, Sir James.
    Barrington Did you tell the court on that occasion that after you had carried out extensive laboratory tests, you were