He testified he didn't test a syringe found at the crime scene, because the liquid inside was transferred to another container by investigators. The liquid found inside was a local anesthetic, he said.
Lynette McCall testified she was a nurse at the Southeast Georgia Health System hospital in St. Marys when Carter was admitted as a patient by Chua in a week before his death. Carter had complained about severe headaches.
When Carter arrived to the hospital, he was "semi-conscious," she said.
Carter appeared to be "under the influence" of drugs," she said.
Nurses were unable to get Carter from a stretcher to a table for tests, after he was admitted to the hospital, she said.
All the medications later prescribed were listed on medical charts, she testified.
While he was hospitalized, Carter repeatedly asked for more pain medication than had been prescribed, McCall said.
Joanna Talano, a Drug Enforcement Agency employee, said doctors are required to prescribe methadone for the purposes of treating drug addiction.
But doctors don't need a special license if they prescribe methadone for pain, she said.
Steve Will, an investigator with the Composite State Board of Medical Examiners, said doctors should not treat or prescribe drugs to immediate family members. At the time of Carter's death, he was living with Chua.
Johnna Carter, the victim's step-mother, described her son's relationship with Carter from September 2005 until his death three months later.
Jamie was staying at her home nearly every night until Oct. 31, then he quit coming home every day.
She wiped tears from her face as she described her son failing to come home to celebrate his birthday in mid-November. She described her son and Chua showing up three hours late for Thanksgiving dinner.
She asked her son if he had a health problem when she saw his hands trembling at the dinner table.
I asked him, 'What is wrong with you?'"
She said her son told her he and Chua were going to New York together a few days later. It was the last day she saw her son, she testified.
She got a call from a sheriff's deputy notifying her about her son's death. Chua never talked to family members after her son's death, she testified.
She said she never received any bills or other information indicating her son had ever been one of Chua's patients.
Tammy Flannery, Carter's mother, was the next witness to testify about her son's relationship with Chua.
She described seeing her son the weekend after Thanksgiving and said he appeared "very sleepy and lethargic."
She said she questioned Chua to determine if her son had been prescribed any medications.
Chua told her not to worry about her son's health and that he had "everything under control."
On Dec. 11, Flannery said her son returned home and brought gifts he purchased while he and Chua were in New York.
She said her son had a bag of white powder he described as a crushed up pain medication. Medical experts earlier testified some drug users crush pain pills to get a faster, more intense high.
She asked him why he was so sleepy and couldn't keep his eyes open.
Chua never tried to contact her after her son's death, Flannery said.
1 comment:
"Steve Will, an investigator with the Composite State Board of Medical Examiners, said doctors should not treat or prescribe drugs to immediate family members. At the time of Carter's death, he was living with Chua." Great to note that he was living with him. The fact i sthat he isn't an immediate family member!!
As for the mothers. If they were so suspicious why didn't they intervene or call someone?
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