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It's a certainty that opinions will be different
Coroner?s Report
Dr. Carol J. Huser
Reasonable certainty is the standard people use to conduct their most important business. (People were reasonably certain they'd make money when they invested all their savings with Bernard Madoff, the former Nasdaq chairman who was operating a Ponzi scheme.)
Reasonable certainty means there's no good reason to think otherwise. (People flying TWA 800 had no good reason to think they wouldn't be in Europe in a few hours.)
Reasonable certainty is the standard used to certify a death a homicide. It's the standard required for conviction in criminal court.
For example, a 22-month-old's liver was "pulpified," said the medical examiner. Her heart was torn, her lungs bruised. Many of her ribs were broken.
The injuries bled very little and occurred within a period from shortly before to shortly after death.
This little girl, who had been living with her father, was physically abused by others in the past and had spent some time in protective foster care.
As a result of old, abusive injuries, she still had seizures. (Anybody with a seizure disorder is at risk to die suddenly, and when they do, nothing can be found at autopsy. Such a seizure could explain her death.)
The child's father said he found her unresponsive and, untrained in CPR and desperate to revive her, he pounded her chest and stomach with both fists.
The medical examiner posted details of the autopsy to the e-mail list of the National Association of Medical Examiners, asking for guidance in determining if the girl had been beaten or was injured by forceful CPR.
Some of the forensic pathologists who responded were certain she was beaten. Others were just as certain resuscitation could have caused the injuries.
Maybe an innocent man will be accused or even convicted of killing his child.
Maybe a vicious child-beater will go free.
How's that for reasonable certainty?
A teenager hid her pregnancy from family and friends. In the dark of night, she gave birth to a baby girl, stabbed her more than 100 times, wrapped her in a garbage bag and tossed her in the trash.
Confronted after a caller tipped police, she said the baby was born dead and didn't move or cry.
After the gory garbage bag was found, she said she'd panicked when the baby's finger twitched.
The medical examiner posted details of the autopsy to the e-mail list of the National Association of Medical Examiners, asking for guidance in determining if the baby had been stillborn or live born.
Some of the forensic pathologists who responded were certain the baby was alive when it was stabbed. Others were just as certain it was dead.
Maybe the mother, scared witless, stabbed and disposed of a dead baby.
Maybe she butchered her newborn child.
Forensic science lacks the tools to definitively answer the questions these cases raise. Individuals feel confident, but as a profession, we're divided.
How's that for reasonable certainty?
husercj@co.laplata.co.us
Dr. Carol J. Huser, a forensic pathologist, has served as La Plata County coroner since January 2003.
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