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The Honolulu Star-Advertiser ran this story tonight:
http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/03/05...-big-isle/
I remember this Waimea child's death from blunt force trauma last summer. The part of the article that floored me was this:
"Detectives received on Feb. 22 the results of the autopsy performed July 27."
Is it just me, or is it utterly incomprehensible that someone or some office could sit on an autopsy report on this sort of case for seven months? Or that the cops would wait that long without asking for one? Something really stinks here.
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Well, sometimes I just go by the idea that there is either a very good reason for something, or there isn't. Normally, when there is a very good reason, it shouldn't be a problem for authorities to say so. When there is no reason, well, you can imagine the rest but usually includes hiding something or incompetence.
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It's usually incompetence around here mixed with lack of funding. Don't even ask what the rape kit backlog is.
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Expanded article this morning gives this excuse:
"When asked about the length of time it took for the pathologist’s conclusion, Bird explained that the pathologist had to go through her literature, which takes time, rather than making a rash judgment.
The pathologist could not be reached for comment."
Really? I think she could have gone through most of an entire medical library in seven months. Here's a link to today's article, but it may be behind the pay wall by now:
http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/03/06...180bacd656
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Poor tyke.
Due to irrelevance.
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I hope we learn more because this does not pass any credibility test I can think of. If a pathologist, through no fault of their own, can't quickly determine a cause of death and needs to spend months researching literature, it's obvious that it needs to be given to a much more experienced pathologist a long time beforehand, especially in a case as serious as this.
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TomK, you make a very good point. I would add that seven months' delay in an investigation of this type can be crippling. Supporting forensic evidence will be much more difficult to analyze or obtain, and witnesses will be harder to locate and have faded memories if they are located. It's not just the pathologist who dropped the ball, though. Someone in the police department should have been asking why it was taking so long and insisting on expedience instead of making excuses after the ball was dropped.
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Completely agree, Chunkster, and is what I was hinting at. Unfortunately, we don't know the whole story yet. There may have been budget or procedural restrictions on the pathologist that restricted them from getting further help for instance. Any delay, however, hinders the investigation, so while we look for justice, the state has made it harder to do so.
