PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Not surprisingly, 140 (93%) of the 151 cases in which death investigation contributed to the false conviction were homicides. However,death investigators did contribute to eleven non-homicide cases, all involving abuse of vulnerable people: children or dependent adults. Eight of these eleven were cases involving the Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) diagnosis, in which the top charge was child abuse."
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: " We did not find that most false convictions occurred in cases with underqualified death investigators. In fact, board-certified forensic pathologists contributed to 61% (92) of the 151 cases in this study."
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PASSAGE THREE OF THE DAY: "Seventy-two different individual board-certified forensic pathologists were the experts in the 92 cases involving board-certified forensic pathologists. This is more than a tenth of the estimated 500 board-certified forensic pathologists practicing in the US during the relevant period. Only two of the 72 are no longer certified. The rest who are alive remain board certified today."
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PASSAGE FOUR OF THE DAY: "Twenty-three death investigators were “repeat players” who contributed to more than one case. The most significant repeat player was widely criticized Mississippi pathologist Stephen Hayne, who contributed to five false convictions. Eighteen board certified forensic pathologists were repeat players. In two cases, the death investigator was not a physician. One was a funeral director, and one was a toxicologist."
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PARAGRAPH FIVE OF THE DAY: " Death investigators were involved in all 31 known exoneration cases in which SBS contributed to the conviction, but not always as experts for the state. In 9 cases, a death investigator rebutted the evidence of a physician without expertise in forensic pathology. These physicians opined on matters usually considered within the domain of death investigators, such as cause of death."
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REPORT: 'Medicolegal death investigation and convicting the innocent', by Simon A. Cole, Maurice Possley, Ken Otterbourg, Jessica Weinstock Parades, Barbara O'Brien, Meghan Cousins and Samuel R. Gross; Published by The Newkirk Center for Science and Society, University of California, Irvine, and the College of Law, Michigan State University Law School published in August, 2024. (The National Registry of Exonerations is an online archive of all known wrongful conviction cases in the United States.)
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A. THE CASES
• This report analyzes 151 cases in which defendants were exonerated between
1989 and 2023 in the United States and medicolegal death investigation
(“death investigation” for short) contributed to the false conviction.
• The 151 exonerees lost a total of 1,837 years in prison, an average of 12.2
years per exoneree. That is less than the average of 14.6 years for exonerees
convicted of comparable crimes but for whom death investigation did not
contribute to the false conviction.
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B. CASE CHARACTERISTICS
• Not surprisingly, 140 (93%) of the 151 cases in which death investigation
contributed to the false conviction were homicides. However, death
investigators did contribute to eleven non-homicide cases, all involving abuse
of vulnerable people: children or dependent adults. Eight of these eleven were
cases involving the Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) diagnosis, in which the top
charge was child abuse.
• In more than one-third of the cases, the death investigation evidence consisted
of a claim that the medical evidence was consistent with the prosecution’s
theory of the crime, e.g., that the victim’s wounds were consistent with a
weapon linked to the defendant.
• In another third of the cases the death investigation evidence concerned cause
of death .
• Manner of death and time of death evidence contributed to fewer cases.
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C. DEMOGRAPHICS
• Women were overrepresented among the defendants for whom death
investigation contributed to their false conviction. Thirty-nine (26%) of the
defendants in the 151 cases were female, more than three times the 8% of all
exonerees who were female. Only around 5% of exonerees convicted of
comparable crimes were female.
• Relatedly, cases involving child victims were particularly vulnerable to
contributions by death investigation. Nearly half (47%) of the 151 cases
involved child victims. That compares to only 19% of all non-death-
investigation exonerations and 34% of non-death-investigation exonerations
for comparable crimes.
• Although concerns have been raised about racial bias in death investigation,
the exonerees in death investigation exoneration cases were whiter than
exonerees in general. One third of death investigation exonerees were Black
compared to 53% of all exonerees. Similarly, 8% of death investigation
exonerees were Hispanic, compared to 12% of all exonerees. The higher
representation of whites diminishes somewhat if women are removed from
the analysis.
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D. DEATH INVESTIGATION SYSTEMS
• The United States has a patchwork death investigation system with variations
among and within states. The two primary types are medical examiner and
coroner systems. Most, but not all, experts perceive medical examiner systems
to be superior and call for them to replace coroner systems. We did not find
that more false convictions occurred under coroner systems. Instead, false
convictions generally occurred in proportion to where more people live: their
occurrence correlated with those counties’ and states’ proportions of the US
population.
• Nor did we find that more false convictions occurred in systems with elected
(rather than appointed) coroners and death investigators.
• In 22% of cases, the death investigation office that contributed to the false
conviction was accredited by the National Association of Medical Examiners
(NAME). Only 17% of US death investigation facilities are accredited.
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E. QUALIFICATIONS OF DEATH INVESTIGATORS
• The highest qualification for death investigators in the US is generally
considered to be board certification in the subspecialty of forensic pathology
by the American Board of Pathology. However, for decades there have not
been enough board-certified pathologists in the US to meet the need for death
investigation services and autopsies. Therefore, many death investigations and
autopsies are performed by less qualified personnel, such as pathologists
without board certification, physicians with specialties other than pathology,
and even, in some cases, non-physicians such as funeral directors. We did not
find that most false convictions occurred in cases with underqualified death
investigators. In fact, board-certified forensic pathologists contributed to 61%
(92) of the 151 cases in this study.
• In only 12 of the 151 cases was the expert either a physician with no claim to
pathological expertise or not a physician at all. In the remaining 139 of the
151 cases (92%), the expert had some form of pathological expertise.
• Seventy-two different individual board-certified forensic pathologists were the
experts in the 92 cases involving board-certified forensic pathologists. This is
more than a tenth of the estimated 500 board-certified forensic pathologists
practicing in the US during the relevant period. Only two of the 72 are no
longer certified. The rest who are alive remain board certified today.
• Contrary to our expectation, exonerations in coroner systems involved at least
as many board-certified forensic pathologists as exonerations in medical
examiner systems.
• Twenty-three death investigators were “repeat players” who contributed to
more than one case. The most significant repeat player was widely criticized
Mississippi pathologist Stephen Hayne, who contributed to five false
convictions.
• Eighteen board certified forensic pathologists were repeat players.
• In two cases, the death investigator was not a physician. One was a funeral
director, and one was a toxicologist.
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F. SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME/ABUSIVE HEAD
TRAUMA
• Cases involving diagnoses of “Shaken Baby Syndrome” (SBS) or “Abusive
Head Trauma” were a significant minority (31) of the 151 cases.
• Death investigators were involved in all 31 known exoneration cases in which
SBS contributed to the conviction, but not always as experts for the state. In 9
cases, a death investigator rebutted the evidence of a physician without
expertise in forensic pathology. These physicians opined on matters usually
considered within the domain of death investigators, such as cause of death.
• In the remaining 22 cases, death investigators gave evidence for the state. In
16 of those 22 cases, that death investigator was a board-certified forensic
pathologist. Thus, we did not find evidence that board-certified forensic
pathologists avoided involvement in SBS diagnoses."
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The entire report can be read at:
https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/DeathInvestigation.pdf
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
- SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
