When examining someone’s corpse, it can be difficult to determine the cause of death and whether or not it was natural. This can prove especially challenging considering all of the underfunded coroners’ offices and morgues in the country (Frontline, 2011). In fact, these offices are so underfunded that there is often not enough room for them to store their corpses in refrigerator units thus limiting the amount of time the coroners have to perform an autopsy (Frontline, 2011). Therefore it is not surprising that in some cases the cause of death is determined by an official who was elected to his post thus inviting bias and personal gain for often the official will choose the outcome most beneficial for him (Frontline, 2011). It can be said then that this system is a dysfunctional one (Thompson, Secret, Bergman & Bartlett, 2011) with no regulation and full of controversy (Frontline, 2011).
Take the case of Cayne Miceli who died in police custody after suffering a severe allergic reaction (Frontline, 2011). All the police had to do was take her to a hospital and she would not have died; instead they tied her down until she was unresponsive (Frontline, 2011). Yet the worst part is not that a woman died when she could have been saved but that the police chose to ignore the obvious signs that there was something wrong with her and should have been taken to a hospital where she could get care. Instead of mentioning this in the autopsy report, however, Cayne’s death was ruled as a drug over dose even though the marks which were found on her body were for health reason (Frontline, 2011). Thus this illustrates how the police have a strong impact over what the coroner will decide was the cause of death (Frontline, 2011).
The videos and articles also discuss how there is a lack of forensic pathologists as “the field has little appeal to most medical school graduates” for it takes too much time and money to become properly certified (Thompson, Secret, Bergman & Bartlett, 2011). This is why incompetent coroners such as Dr. Gill are still able to find work even after they are constantly proven to be unfit for the job (Gabrielson, 2011). The mere fact that Dr. Gill is able to restart his career in a different city again and again demonstrates how there is a serious flaw at the core of the American system that investigates death and what causes it (Gabrielson, 2011). This flaw is also due to the people who are in charge of the system who do not comprehend the intricacy that comes with determining the cause of death (Gabrielson, 2011). This issue comes up repeatedly in the video in particular as experts discuss competent forensic pathologists versus incompetent coroners like Dr. Gill (Frontline, 2011).
This flaw is especially distressing when one notices how “sudden child deaths are assumed to be murder and caregivers are frequently the accused” (Frontline, 2011). One can witness how truly damaging this statement is through the case of Lopez who was accused of not only killing the six month old baby but raping her as well and has spent over a decade in jail even though there is evidence that the baby was sick beforehand (Frontline, 2011). The video also did a good job of illustrating how the mother would put off her children on the babysitter and would drink extensively by not only interviewing Lopez but the caregiver the children had before (Frontline, 2011). Thus it is clear through cases like Lopez how there is a severe lack of actual investigation in the world of death investigation as causes of death are often determined by assumptions instead of by finding actual evidence.
Overall the videos and the articles do a great job of illustrating how dysfunctional the system of death investigation has become and thus needs to be fixed so that people like Lopez do not go to jail for a crime they probably did not commit. They also show how there is a want of true investigation as some coroners allow the police and politicians to tell them what the cause of death with as well as coach them for when they go on the stand in order to get the result that they want. Not only that but some deaths which should be investigated, for example an elderly person who is more times than not considered to have died from natural causes, are often ignored thus letting murderers go free. While the videos and the articles do a good job of illustrating the several different problems of the death investigation system, they could have done a better job of showing the positive side of the system for not every killer goes free. The main thing to remember then is that every system has its strengths and weaknesses and that while the death investigation system is dysfunctional now, there is room for improvement as long as there are those who admit it needs fixing.
References
Frontline. (2011, February 01). Post Mortem- Death Investigation in America. Retrieved June 18, 2016, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/post-mortem/
Frontline. (2011, February 01). The Child Cases. Retrieved June 18, 2016, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-child-cases/
Gabrielson, R. (2011, February 01). Second chances underscore flaws in death investigations. Retrieved June 18, 2016, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/post-mortem/second-chances/
Thompson, A. C., Secret, M., Bergman, L., & Bartlett, S. (2011, February 01). The Real CSI: How America's Patchwork System of Death Investigations Puts The Living At Risk. Retrieved June 18, 2016, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/post-mortem/real-csi/
