"THE CREDIBILITY AND CONDUCT OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE THEIR TESTIMONY CAN INFLUENCE JUDGES AND JURORS ON WHETHER TO IMPRISON -- OR EVEN EXECUTE -- CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS. IN CONTÍN'S CASE, THE TEXAS STATE BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS IN 1991 RULED THAT HE HAD VIOLATED A CIVIL STATUTE TITLED "UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT THAT IS LIKELY TO DECEIVE OR DEFRAUD THE PUBLIC OR INJURE THE PUBLIC." THE BOARD SUSPENDED CONTÍN'S MEDICAL LICENSE FOR THREE YEARS, BUT THEN STAYED THE SUSPENSION AND PUT HIM ON PROBATION. AS ONE CONDITION OF HIS PROBATION, THE BOARD ORDERED CONTÍN TO COMPLETE ETHICS COURSES."
REPORTER MARTY SCHLADEN: EL PASO TIMES;
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BACKGROUND: Richard Nields is on death row having been convicted of killing his girlfriend Patricia Newsome in Springfield Township (just outside Cincinnati). The Supreme Court of Ohio has scheduled his murder for June 10. The Ohio Parole Board hearing was held May 10. The Parole Board issued its report and recommendation on May 18, 2010. By a 4-3 vote, it recommends, based on former Medical Examiner Dr. Paul Shrode's unscientific opinion on the death penalty sentence, that the sentence be commuted to life without parole. The ball is now in the Governor's court.
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"EL PASO -- The doctor who will temporarily handle autopsies and testify about them has a history of disciplinary actions against him, both by professional licensing authorities and by the county government," the El Paso Times story by reporter Marty Schladen, published earlier today under the heading, "Interim medical examiner has history of professional, ethical lapse," begins.
"The County Commissioners Court will rely on Dr. Juan Contín to act as medical examiner after it fired Dr. Paul Shrode," the story continues.
"Shrode, terminated Monday, for years had claimed professional credentials he did not have, and his testimony might have improperly sent an Ohio man to death row.
Contín, 74, was El Paso County's medical examiner from 1978 until his firing in 2000 by the Commissioners Court. Since then he has performed autopsies and testified in court on a contract basis.
His tenure as medical examiner was a rocky one, including discipline by the state medical board, a demotion by the Commissioners Court and ultimately his firing as medical examiner.
The credibility and conduct of medical examiners is especially important because their testimony can influence judges and jurors on whether to imprison -- or even execute -- criminal defendants.
In Contín's case, the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners in 1991 ruled that he had violated a civil statute titled "unprofessional conduct that is likely to deceive or defraud the public or injure the public."
The board suspended Contín's medical license for three years, but then stayed the suspension and put him on probation. As one condition of his probation, the board ordered Contín to complete ethics courses.
While Contín was medical examiner, he also took a position as medical director of the Southwest Pain Management and Biofeedback Clinic.
In that job, he was supposed to make sure that patients had been referred to the clinic by appropriate health-care providers. He later resigned the post when he learned the clinic was using his name -- without his approval -- in questionable advertising practices, the medical board said.
But Contín also was supposed to verify that each insurance claim submitted by the clinic was legitimate. The medical board found that Contín spent only about six hours a week at the clinic and signed insurance claims knowing little or nothing about individual patients.
"During these visits, (Contín) observed treatments taking place on unspecified patients whose identities were not readily known to him," the medical board wrote.
Contín did not respond to phone calls to his home or to the medical examiner's office.
El Paso County District Attorney Jaime Esparza said Wednesday that he was familiar with the disciplinary action against Contín. But, Esparza said, it is up to defense lawyers to decide whe ther they want to bring up Contín's past in an effort to persuade jurors that Contín cannot be believed.
"Dr. Contín, just like any other witness or expert, is subject to cross-examination," Esparza said. "But I don't believe that the events that occurred in 1991 affect his ability to act as a witness."
Contín's professional problems did not end in 1991.
In 1996, Contín was relieved of his duties as administrator of the medical examiner's office amid allegations of nepotism and mismanagement. Investigators in the office said Contín was trying to cut their hours while creating a job for the son of a top aide.
By 2000, the County Commissioners Court decided it had had enough. Members voted 2-1 to fire Contín.
"He was a poor manager," County Commissioner Dan Haggerty said Wednesday.
Haggerty said he had had problems with the way Contín ran the medical examiner's office since Haggerty was first elected in 1995. Even though Contín's offices were new, they had fallen into disrepair and there were regular rumors of unprofessional behavior at the morgue, Haggerty said.
Contín's "got a history. He's got a few skeletons," Haggerty said. "Do we want to make him our next (permanent) medical examiner? No. But is he qualified to do autopsies and testify? Yes."
Haggerty in 2000 voted to fire Contín. This week, Haggerty was the only commissioner to vote against firing Shrode.
Commissioner Anna Perez said Contín can handle the medical examiner's duties while the Commissioners Court searches for a permanent replacement.
"Is Dr. Contín a credible witness even with this in his past? Yes," Perez said.
Right now, Contín is one of the few people available to perform autopsies and testify about them, Commissioner Veronica Escobar said. Escobar said County Human Resources Director Betsy Keller told her that the county advertised for three years for a deputy medical examiner, but the ads generated little interest.
Escobar, who had been a defender of Shrode's, said he had to be fired. Relying on Contín is "one of the consequences of getting rid of the chief medical examiner."
As the commissioners look for a medical examiner, they said, they are trying to avoid the problems they had with Shrode.
In August 2007, Shrode admitted under oath that he had no law degree, though he had claimed one on his résumé. Shrode later submitted another résumé saying his "graduate degree in law" was from a school of political science. The Commissioners Court this year authorized an audit of his academic records. It showed he did not have that degree, either.
In its clemency recommendation last week, the Ohio Parole Board cited problems with Shrode's testimony in urging Gov. Ted Strickland to take Richard Nields off death row but keep him in prison for life.
Shrode testified that he knew from his autopsy that Nields beat Patricia Newsome in their home in 1997, left for a while, then returned and strangled her.
Shrode's supervisor later told the parole board that Shrode had no scientific basis for the claim, which suggested to jurors that Nields acted with premeditation."
The story can be found at:
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_15170258?IADID=Search-www.elpasotimes.com-www.elpasotimes.com
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
