On the day of 20-year-old Daniel Smith’s funeral – six weeks after his drug induced death during a visit to his mother and new baby sister – a Bahamian jurist expressed anger at the “injustice” that has so far been done to the Bahamian public by authorities since his death.
The jurist’s anger and disappointment with authorities centred on the fact that they have thus far not conducted, or set a date for an inquest into Daniel’s death, despite it being a “matter of policy and procedure” in all cases of “sudden death,” such as his, in which no-one is criminally charged.
result that determinations that “no foul play” was involved in Daniel Smith’s death remain merely speculative, according to the source, who denounced such claims as “irresponsible” and “scary”.
In Monday’s INSIGHT, Tribune managing-editor John Marquis described similar concerns:
“Pathologist Cyril Wecht told us Daniel had at least three drugs in his body…and that the ‘acute toxicity’ of this powerful cocktail probably caused his death. With that established it is clear that Daniel’s death is not natural.
“An inquest now needs to decide whether it was an accident, a suicide, a homicide or a case of misadventure.”
Yesterday, however; the lawyer ultimately expressed confidence in the likelihood that an inquest would eventually take place.
“It certainly has not finished,” said the source.
It was claimed that because of the high profile of the case, authorities will not be able to “just push ļ¾ something like that under the rug.”
“If you are not going to charge anyone with homicide you must hold an inquest, there’s no ifs and buts about that,” said the source.
According to the source, however, the pertinent question with regard to the inquest is: “When?”
Without an inquest at this stage “you know you’re losing your trail,” and as more time elapses since Daniel’s death, it becomes increasingly likely that evidence can “disappear.”
Last week, Chief Magistrate Roger Gomez told The Tribune that before a date could be set police and pathology reports had to be completed.
However, the lawyer implied the possibility that a decision as to whether an inquest is to be held could be delayed indefinitely by the police.
“How long is it going to take the police officers to complete their report – how long?” asked the jurist.
Pointing out that the coroner’s court closes on December 15, the jurist indicated that time was “running out.”
According to assistant commissioner of police, Reginald Ferguson, the four Bahamian police officers who went to California to conduct investigations returned almost two weeks ago, reportedly bringing with them information gathered from interviews with doctors and “other persons.”
However, at that time Mr Ferguson said he could not reveal the outcome of these investigations.
Both the source, and Monday’s INSIGHT, stated that a key question yet to be answered is how the 20-year-old got possession of the methadone, which was later found in his system.
The October 16 edition of People magazine quoted someone, who had seen the results of the pathology report, as claiming that “he had seven times the therapeutic dose for methadone and seven times the therapeutic dose for Zoloft” in his system.
In the meantime, the source expressed fears that authorities would set a dangerous precedent if they fail to set a date for an inquest.
“There’ll be someone else and then you’ll be in trouble,” the source said.
Sister
Daniel Smith died in Doctors Hospital on September 10 while visiting his mother, Anna Nicole Smith, and his baby sister, Dannie Lynn Hope, born three days earlier.
After being found-dead in the early hours of the morning, an American pathologist hired by Miss Smith, Dr Cyril Wecht, subsequently determined that Daniel died “accidentally” as a result of the effects of a “cocktail” of drugs in his system.
The combination of drugs – two anti-depressants and methadone – would have reportedly affected the brain, lungs, and ultimately Daniel’s heart, with devastating results.
Last week, Daniel’s grandmother, Virgie Arthur, told CNN’s Nancy Grace that she believes her grandson was murdered. “Daniel did not take drugs. No-one could convince me of that,” she told the show’s host.
By: Alison Lowe, The Tribune
