death investigation systems 49
It is often thought by uninformed individuals that a medical examiner’s
assignment of manner of death forms the basis for prosecution of crimes,
insurance settlements, and other legal matters. In fact, however, the manner
of death classification put forth by the medical examiner is not a legal opinion
or criminal charge, nor is it binding to parties in civil disputes. It is, instead, a
classification scheme for use by state vital records agencies charged with glean-
ing epidemiologic data from deat h cer tificates. By way of i l lustration, consider
that if a driver causes a collision by virtue of his recklessness or intoxication,
he may be prosecuted for manslaughter even though the medical examiner
classifies the death as an accident. Conversely, if a police officer shoots and
kills a weapon-wielding felon, it will generally be classified as a homicide by
the medical examiner. But if the shooting is considered justifiable, no charges
of murder or manslaughter may be brought against the officer. The belief that
the medical examiner assigns criminal culpability when classifying manner
of death is incorrect, but it is often a source of misunderstanding.
Because of these inconsistencies in the classical manner of death classi-
fication, some experts would prefer to delete this system in favor of a greatly
expanded and more useful list of manner of death choices, or a more detailed
and flexible narrative statement giving sufficient information so that the
events of a death are clear to those perusing the death certificate. However,
since death certification is driven by agencies other than medical examiners
or coroners, the statutorily prescribed manner of death classification scheme
must be utilized. Its shortcomings can be somewhat ameliorated if the forensic
pathologist provides sufficient narrative detail in the autopsy or investigation
reports to clearly define the circumstances of death to the extent that they are
known, in spite of the limitations of the concept of manner of death.
4.6 Facets of a Modern Death Investigation Office
The majority of ME’s offices are funded and chartered by government
entities, such as counties, cities, or states. These organizations are established
by statute, and function as agencies of that government. Typically, a chief
medical examiner is appointed by the local city, county, or state executive,
and he or she then appoints deputy medical examiners and other personnel
as needed in order to meet the mission and statutory mandate of the office.
The personnel of the office are employees of the jurisdiction, and the office
is funded by the county, city, or state. In some other jurisdictions, private
forensic pathology medical groups are appointed as medical examiners by
governments on a contract basis. In coroner jurisdictions, forensic patholo-
gists may be employed by government coroners’ offices, or may be hired on
a contractual basis to provide medical autopsy and examination services
for the lay coroner. Small coroners’ offices may send decedents to a large