BACKGROUND: From a previous post of this Blog (29 December, 2022) under the heading: "‘Disgraced doc’s evidence sent man to prison. No one knows how many others are like him."...Headnote: "Charles Harlan: Tennessee: Enough to make one weep: A nightmarish, disgraced medical examiner. He died in 2013. But the victims of his mistakes and oversights live on, crying out for redress by the appeal courts, which would much rather look the other way. An important story by 'USA Today' Justice Reporter Mariah Timms headed: ‘Disgraced doc’s evidence sent man to prison. No one knows how many others are like him’..."Charles Harlan confirmed a patient’s death to her family by fax: “She is green and has maggots crawling on her.” He once misidentified the bodies of two inmates killed in a car crash and sent their remains, still shackled, to the wrong families. Once, a Tennessee man was pulled over, alive, two years after Harlan incorrectly identified a burned corpse and declared him dead. The litany of mistakes and oversights is staggering in retrospect for the former Nashville-area medical examiner. Decades of significant concerns about Harlan, a key witness in several murder prosecutions that sent Tennesseans to prison for most of their lives, have prompted little remedy. It's impossible to estimate how many of his cases contained grievous flaws because no one has checked. Harlan was suspended without pay as an assistant Davidson County medical examiner in 1994. His contract as State Medical Examiner was terminated by 1995. And by 2005, his medical license was permanently stripped. Harlan died in 2013. Even after losing his position in Nashville, he performed autopsies across much of Tennessee and was trusted by prosecutors to help build cases in the pursuit of justice. After evaluating Harlan's medical opinions in one 1995 case, Dr. George Nichols, then Kentucky's chief medical examiner, wrote to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation: "If this line of irrational thinking has been applied to other cases in the state of Tennessee, then God help you and the rest of the citizens of Tennessee."
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Shacie Fielder, Christy's childhood best friend writes this regarding the process leading up to the fundraiser as well as intentions going forward: "31 years ago, the lifeless body of a young mother was found beside the driveway of her Hohenwald, TN home. Christy Lynn Carroll was found deceased on February 6th, 1995, beside the driveway to the home she shared with her parents in Hohenwald, TN. No justice has ever been served, as you read the following, I think you will understand the reasons that her family has long sought acknowledgement of her case and justice."
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SECOND PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "A glimpse of hope came in January 2025, when the DA's office contacted Christy's family and informed them that they would review the file but no updates or further communication has happened. Please continue to show support for Christy's loved ones in their quest for truth and true closure." "Christy Carroll was my childhood best friend," she closes. "So many people have reached out to me wanting to help her family so I am opening this Go Fund Me to assist the family in getting an exhumation, a new autopsy, and legal fees associated with her death investigation. This Go Fund Me will go directly to her daughter so that they will finally have answers and Justice for Christy."
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GIST: "Saturday, February 28th, several friends, family members and community volunteers gathered together to invade the streets of downtown Hohenwald.
The goal was to raise the remaining funds needed to proceed with the exhumation and second autopsy of Christy Carroll, a beloved mother and daughter whose life was lost too soon.
Together, they raised over $8,436 to be put with the over $13,000 raised on a "GoFundMe" campaign, and have now exceeded the original goal of $15,000 needed to proceed.
Shacie Fielder, Christy's childhood best friend writes this regarding the process leading up to the fundraiser as well as intentions going forward:
"31 years ago, the lifeless body of a young mother was found beside the driveway of her Hohenwald, TN home. Christy Lynn Carroll was found deceased on February 6th, 1995, beside the driveway to the home she shared with her parents in Hohenwald, TN.
No justice has ever been served, as you read the following, I think you will understand the reasons that her family has long sought acknowledgement of her case and justice.
As noted by investigators, she had blood covering her face and contusions on the left side of her groin and thigh.
Her clothes were muddy; her pants were down, and her shirt was pulled up and torn.
She was still wearing her jewelry, but her shoes were missing.
Christy's autopsy was performed by the late Dr. Charles Harlan, whose actions and professionalism were under question in 1995.
During Dr. Harlan's tenure, he misidentified bodies, failed to preserve vital organs and often did not complete specific testing that would provide clearer answers.
It is also a well-known and documented fact that Dr. Harlan ruled several deaths as natural, medical, etc., that secondary autopsies proved otherwise, and even more concerning is the fact that in some of these cases, the actual cause should have been very obvious to him.
For these reasons, I think it is fair to say we can not just accept as an undisputed fact that he was accurate in his ruling that Christy's probable cause of death was systemic hypothermia and acute ethanolism.
Her blood alcohol level was reported as 0.01% gram of ethyl alcohol.
Dr. Harlan did, however, note that there was blood on her face from her mouth and nose, a contusion on her face, and contusions on her groin and thigh.
Unfortunately, he failed to perform a rape kit. (It is also worth noting that her death is listed wrongly as 2/6/1994 in the report of Investigation by State Medical Examiner.)
The events that transpired before the discovery of Christy's body are as follows.
On February 4th, 1995, Christy went to a bar with an unnamed female friend, while there they ran into Christy's brother Ted and his friends.
They asked for a ride back to Christy's friends house but the driver couldn't take them.
Christy's friend found another ride and Christy stayed back to hang out with her brother.
They rode around town and ran into Daniel Lay (now deceased) and Eric Amacher.
Daniel and Eric said they would take Christy back to her friends house.
Christy was seen alive for the last time shortly before midnight when a deputy spotted her, Daniel and Eric in a vehicle on the side of the road.
Daniel told the officer that the vehicle had overheated but declined assistance.
A call reporting a suspicious male walking near the area where the car overheated was placed around 2:00 am on February 5th, 1995.
When officers arrived they found Eric alone leaving the scene of an accident in which he had wrecked a different vehicle.
In the days following the discovery of her body, Daniel and Eric were questioned by the police.
They said they propositioned Christy, but she declined the offer.
They dropped her off at her residence between 12:30 am and 1:00 am on February 5th, 1995.
Eric stated to police that he walked her to her door.
I know the dates seem confusing so for clarification Christy was last seen alive on February 4th, Eric and Daniel claimed they dropped her off between 12:30 am and 1:00 am on February 5th and her body was discovered by a mail carrier around 3:30 pm on February 6th.
It is also worth noting that on February 5th, 1995 Christy's family drove by the exact spot where her body was found 4 different times without seeing her there leading them to believe that she was not there until February 6th, 1995.
A glimpse of hope came in January 2025, when the DA's office contacted Christy's family and informed them that they would review the file but no updates or further communication has happened.
Please continue to show support for Christy's loved ones in their quest for truth and true closure."
"Christy Carroll was my childhood best friend," she closes. "So many people have reached out to me wanting to help her family so I am opening this Go Fund Me to assist the family in getting an exhumation, a new autopsy, and legal fees associated with her death investigation. This Go Fund Me will go directly to her daughter so that they will finally have answers and Justice for Christy."
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. 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.
Lawyer Radha Natarajan: Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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;
