The Maryland Attorney General’s Office is launching an investigation into reports regarding death in police custody that were handled by former Chief Medical Examiner Dr. David Fowler, just days after his testimony in defense of former police officer Derek Chauvin drew criticism and calls for a review of his work and medical license.
Just read this at WaPo. He testified that at Chauvin’s trial that Floyd’s death was not a homicide. Yeah, you better review any cases that look questionable.
No reason to stop with Maryland.
All suspect cases of death in police custody in the US need review, ASAP.
I won’t be surprised to learn Fowler was a reliable cohort in the cover-ups of multiple murders committed by Maryland cops.
Yes, this scum bag previous work should be scrutinized whether it was lawful and factual!
I suspect he lied on the witness stand and he drummed up false statements to be favorable to a KNEE KILLING MURDERER!
Kind of like a lynching but on the ground without a rope.
If he’s corrupt, this is very grave.
Few years back, a lab tech in OK was “helping” the DA by finding fingerprint, blood, semen and DNA matches where there were none.
More than one poor, dumb bastard went to the joint. Don’t know if any got executed. Forgot how they caught her.
I wouldn’t argue with that, but I think in most cases where police kill someone, there’s no question of how they died, but rather whether lethal force was justified.
Kinda like asking someone to “find” votes.
I’m sure we’ll find out that a few died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Boy, did this guy ever step in it.
Yes, if was smart he would have filed an accurate evaluation. Now he may be in trouble with Maryland and he would have gotten away with it otherwise.
I’m not ordinarily a fan of the expression “Ya think”?, as a response to a perhaps obvious statement, as it comes off a bit rude to my ears.
Maryland officials are launching an investigation into reports regarding death in police custody that were handled by former Chief Medical Examiner Dr. David Fowler, just days after his testimony in defense of former police officer Derek Chauvin drew criticism and calls for a review of his work.
Ya think?
I suppose racists in lofty positions outing themselves is a thin sliver of a silver lining, but it’s chilling to realize how many lives were sacrificed or negatively effected over the years because of men like Fowler. Apparently, we never left the era of Jim Crow. It’s been with us all along.
In most cases, yes, when the cause of death is gunshot from a police weapon. Cause of death is more important in cases like Floyd with aggravated assault-by-cop. What this guy argued was that Floyd just happened to have a heart attack, aggravated by prior drug use and a heart condition, at the exact time that Chauvin just happened to be kneeling on him. So it wasn’t the cop’s fault. He’s used that argument before in another case, probably more than one.
He’s clearly biased to protect cops no matter what, and he’s now earning an income as an independent expert witness. He was paid thousands to testify in the Chauvin trial. Got a cop with a problem? Better Call Fowler!
He is “IT”.
In the Michael Brown case, citizens were so concerned with the actions taken by both the medical examiner and long time district attorney that they were swept out of office in the next election.
Working so close with police everyday, relationships are sure to develop within the entire prosecution team even though it isn’t unethical to let it take over. There are many families who have members serving in both the police department and the support teams.
And when you have had a loved one disabled or killed in action, the chances that Mulligans might be given to bad actors increases even more.
It’s become clear that some law enforcement doesn’t agree that any Black person is innocent until proven guilty. Exercising power over others has become a right not a privilege. That power needs to be scaled back with others like health professionals and social workers answering some calls. It’s really not fair to all those involved to expect law enforcement to handle things they don’t understand.
Perhaps we should stop assuming a competency unless it’s earned:
When a freezer housing hundreds of DNA samples at the Austin police crime lab broke down this spring, officials were unsure whether heat had damaged critical evidence in pending cases.
Because they had no way of knowing, according to a memo obtained by the American-Statesman and KVUE-TV, they decided to keep mum. They alerted no one outside the lab — not investigators, prosecutors, defense attorneys or judges.
…
Two months later, the Austin Police Department shuttered the DNA lab, citing multiple issues raised by the Texas Forensic Science Commission that focused primarily on scientific measurements and staff training.
But the freezer memo has only recently emerged — through the work of an outside nonprofit — and is deepening concerns in the criminal justice community about the lab’s operation in recent years.
From 2017: Memo reveals freezer malfunction at Austin police’s troubled DNA lab.
I suspect you’re right about how ill considered his actions were. I also suspect that his practice as medical examiner was built on years, if not generations, of precedent and, so, the world he lived in would have supported him in the assumption that he would get away with it.
This is simplified version of @sandyh’s post above.
That’s the thing with stuff like this. You get away with it until, one day, you don’t.
You can get away with embezzling for years and then, one day, you don’t.
You get away with serial murders for years and then, one day, you don’t.
You can get away with selling street drugs for years and then, one day, you don’t.
That’s how these things work
