美国国家公共电台 NPR In California, Critics Say Sheriff-Coroner Gig Is A Conflict Of Interest

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A scandal in California's Central Valley could change how officials investigate sudden, suspicious or violent deaths. In 49 out of 58 counties, that job falls to a coroner who is also an elected sheriff. Critics say that's an inherent conflict of interest, especially when someone dies at the hands of law enforcement. Julie Small of member station KQED and NPR's criminal justice team reports.

JULIE SMALL, BYLINE¹: San Joaquin County landed in the national spotlight² recently when its chief forensic³ pathologist quit. Dr. Bennet Omalu, renowned⁴ for his expertise⁵ on concussions⁶, accused the sheriff-coroner there of pressuring him to change autopsy⁷ findings in cases involving officers of the law.

BENNET OMALU: He said to me my opinion does not matter to him and does not mean anything in his office and that I must do what he orders me to do.

SMALL: He's talking about Sheriff-Coroner Steve Moore. Moore denies he did anything wrong. Legally, he says, he has the final say on any death investigation⁸.

STEVE MOORE: They believe I did what I was supposed to do under the law - OK? - both that and my interpretation⁹ as far as what my duty is as the coroner.

SMALL: In California, those duties are pretty clear. Even if a forensic pathologist says someone was beaten to death - say, a homicide - the sheriff-coroner can call it an accident, and that's where the conflict is for the counties with this kind of system. Take the case of 47-year-old Daniel Lee Humphreys. In 2008, Humphreys crashed his motorcycle in the city of Stockton when he was being chased by California Highway Patrol for speeding. As he got up, the CHP officer shot him with a Taser 31 times. Humphreys collapsed¹⁰ and later died.

BARBARA STEWARD¹¹: It was preventable, and it was so excessive. And then for nothing to be done...

SMALL: That's Barbara Steward, Humphreys' ex-wife. She used to work for the sheriff. She says the sheriff's department withheld¹² evidence of the Taser use. Without that information, Humphrey's death was ruled an accident. The Taser report only surfaced when Steward and her two daughters sued the state for wrongful death. The family settled for a million dollars. She regrets that.

STEWARD: Money doesn't replace a person. It doesn't fix the wrong.

SMALL: A recent audit¹³ of the San Joaquin County Coroner's Office found at least four deaths in 2016 that involved law enforcement where the sheriff overruled the findings of county pathologists. Randy Hanzlick, a retired¹⁴ forensic expert, has studied the sheriff-coroner system. He knows of just a handful of states and cities that combine the two offices, mostly to save money.

RANDY HANZLICK: I think the downside basically is either a perceived or a real conflict in the goals of the two entities¹⁵.

SMALL: And that's the crux¹⁶ of the debate - whether a sheriff can be trusted to fairly investigate officer-involved deaths. Hanzlick says nationally, there's still a reluctance¹⁷ to call those deaths homicides, but people shouldn't be afraid of that term because it can lead to the truth about what happened.

HANZLICK: If we just call these accidents and ignore any intent or volitional¹⁸ acts, there may not be as thorough investigation as there might have otherwise been into the circumstances of that death.

SMALL: This isn't the first time a California sheriff has been accused of abusing power and death investigations¹⁹, but the controversy²⁰ in San Joaquin County has prompted state lawmakers to introduce a bill to bring changes. It would require some counties to replace the coroner with a medical examiner similar to the setup in San Diego and San Francisco. In those places, a physician certified²¹ in forensic pathology investigates deaths independent of law enforcement. San Joaquin County officials took it upon themselves to go ahead and make the change. In a stunning²² rebuke²³, supervisors²⁴ voted unanimously to strip the sheriff of his coroner duties and install a medical examiner within a year. For NPR News, I'm Julie Small in Stockton, Calif.