Just kidding - it really wasn't murder
Last week Bridget Lee was released from prison after spending 9 months for murder. According to the pathologist, Corinne Stern, the infant was suffocated. It turns out the infant was stillborn - having died from complications caused by pneumonia.
Lee's attorney apparently did what all attorneys should do - he obtained his own expert to review the autopsy. He then presented his findings to the District Attorney, who to his credit took them seriously. He had other experts review the case; by the time it was over, six independent experts determined there was no murder.
There are couple of things that trouble me about this case. One is that Dr. Stern is still at work - she is now conducting autopsies in Webb County. The other is the apparent complete lack of review of such findings. The autopsy in this case was signed off by the other pathologists in the medical examiner's office. You would think that if they looked at the findings at all, they would have questions; one of her findings was bruising on the face and mouth, which turned out to be decomposition. Apparently the other signatures don't mean what you think. I guess they are signing off on the form of the report, and not the results.
This is simply one more instance of a scientist getting it wrong. No matter what their credentials, we cannot blindly accept the conclusions of someone who claims to be an expert, especially when their conclusion determines whether someone is guilty or innocent. Alabama authorities are reviewing the other autopsies she performed while there; let's hope there was an isolated incident, and there aren't others in prison who shouldn't be there.
