Jacksonville.com
The Trial of Dr. Chua
Chua, 45, has been held in the Camden County jail since September 2006 when he was arrested and charged with the drug overdose death of Jamie Carter III. Prosecutors say Carter, 20, died from drugs Chua prescribed for no legitimate medical purpose.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Chua originally said medications were stolen from office

Johnny Guy, a detective with the St. Marys Police Department, continued his testimony when jurors returned to the courtroom about 2:30 p.m. after a brief break.
During cross examination, Guy said he gave a copy of the 911 call Chua made when he reported Carter's death. Chua remained outside after Guy arrived and began his investigation.
Medications were found in different parts of the house, including desk drawers, plastic bags and a closed zippered pocket of a suitcase.
Chua told investigators Carter probably stole some of the medications from his office, Guy testified.
Defense attorney Donald Samuel asked Guy why information explaining the contents of a syringe found in Carter's room was not included in his final version of an incident report, even though the contents of the syringe were mentioned in two earlier incident reports.
Defense attorney Donal Samuel showed medical records indicating Carter's medical history, including the medications prescribed by other physicians. Many of the drugs were the same ones Chua is accused of prescribing for no apparent medical purpose.
When Samuel asked Guy to give details about seized medical issues, Judge Amanda Williams sustained an objection about their contents. Williams said Guy had no first-hand knowledge about how the records were gathered and didn't have to testify.
"It's almost repititous," Williams said. "It's already in evidence. He doesn't know when the doctor received the evidence."
Williams said she would not permit heresay evidence contained in the medical records.
She said Guy was not the appropriate witness to discuss the evidence from medical records.

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