Forensic Pathology News
Dr. Young will post links to news articles that interest him about
forensic pathology, medical examiners, coroners and death
investigation in this section.
Pathology in the News
- Trial in boyfriend’s death jeopardized over medical examiner’s testimony
- Austin, TX: A medical examiner finds himself in trouble over a speculation.
- Court: Examine if Austin crime lab botched death penalty evidence
- In a brief order issued Wednesday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals directed state District Judge David Wahlberg to examine claims that the crime lab produced false or misleading conclusions from DNA evidence in the case, particularly on tests performed on the shirt, jeans and shoes that tied Escobar to the murder.
- Pathologist stands firm in Jason Rohde trial
- The wonders of ACCPE: Cape Town - State forensic pathologist Akmal Khan has stuck to his guns in the Jason Rohde murder trial by testifying that the property mogul’s wife, Susan, displayed battered wife syndrome. This is after defence lawyer Graham Van der Spuy questioned Khan’s professionalism and methodology in finding the cause of death. He questioned whether Khan was an expert on making such a diagnosis. “As far as findings of the autopsy (are concerned) there are features to make a diagnosis of it. I may have no psychiatric training, but I looked at the bruising injuries of different ages in hidden places such as breasts, thighs and legs; places where people can’t see. In this particular case, she has a healing bruise on her right thigh,” said Khan.
- Medical examiner accused of trading prescription drugs for sex
- A veteran medical examiner in Georgia allegedly distributed opioids illegally and traded prescriptions for sex, federal authorities said. Joseph Burton, who runs a private forensic pathology practice in Alpharetta, previously served as the chief medical examiner in DeKalb County and worked as a senior consulting pathologist in Cobb, Gwinnett and Paulding counties. Federal authorities arrested Burton last week on a criminal complaint filed by the US Attorney’s Office. He was later released on $50,000 bond, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
- The Latest: Coroner: Stanford to Study Body of Vegas Shooter
- The coroner in Las Vegas says the body of the man who unleashed the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history has been sent to Stanford University for study. Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg (FYOU’-den-berg) said Friday that an autopsy was completed on 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock, but a finding on a cause and manner of his death is not expected for several months. Fudenberg says it will await the results of multiple forensic analyses at Stanford, including a neuropathological examination of Paddock’s brain tissue.
- Editorial: Jury still out on forensic evidence
- Here we go again, blaming the forensic evidence and not the flawed inferences drawn from the evidence.
Pathology Links
- ACCPE means Affirming the Consequent for Complex Past Events
- Whenever an expert states the past events that occurred on the basis of looking only at the physical evidence without reference to eyewitness statements, he or she is Affirming the Consequent for Complex Past Events. This is not only logically invalid and unsound, it never works in practice, Sherlock Holmes, CSI and Bones notwithstanding. Whenever ACCPE is listed in my comments to a news article, recognize one more tragic example of how this fallacy can destroy lives. ACCPE can also be understood as "backward reasoning,""effect-to-cause reasoning," or "abductive inference."
- American Academy of Forensic Sciences
- ForensicScienceDegree.org
- For further information on forensic science.
- National Association of Medical Examiners