3.15.2012

My Continued Rant Against Medical Examiner Rulings

 Story

There is nothing more archaic than the language used in rulings by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner.  To call it a "homicide" causes everyone to speculate and rumors to swirl.  But as the DA of Tarrant County has said before about ME rulings, "The word homicide does not mean crime," he said. "It just means that the death involved another person."

Really? So a person could die in an auto accident as a passenger that did not involve any negligence on the part of anyone -- it was simply an accident -- and it would be ruled a homicide? That's ridiculous.

But I've even got a problem with the medical examiner considering that the death involved "another person." There is a 99% chance that the ME did not send out an investigator to the accident scene. The only information the ME has personal knowledge of is what the body tells him through an examination. Yes, he can certainly rule that the death was due to a cerebral injury, but to rule she was a passenger or the victim of a "homicide" has absolutely nothing to do with that medical examination.

Edit: Let me say this again. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner will issue a "homicide" ruling even if a person's death was not the result of someone else's fault, blame or criminal conduct.