Autopsies misclassified deaths in police custody that were homicides, Maryland officials say [View all]

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Autopsies misclassified deaths in police custody that were homicides, Maryland officials say

By BRIAN WITTE and LEA SKENE
Updated 4:44 PM EDT, May 15, 2025

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — An audit of Maryland autopsies has uncovered at least 36 deaths in police custody that should have been considered homicides, state officials announced Thursday following a comprehensive review of such cases spurred by widespread concerns about the former state medical examiner’s testimony in the death of George Floyd.

Medical examiners under Dr. David Fowler displayed racial and pro-police bias, according to the review. They were “especially unlikely to classify a death as a homicide if the decedent was Black, or if they died after being restrained by police,” Attorney General Anthony Brown said during a news conference.

“These findings have profound implications across our justice system,” Brown said. “They speak to systemic issues rather than individual conduct.”

The auditors reviewed 87 in-custody death cases after medical experts called Fowler’s work into question because he testified that police weren’t responsible for Floyd’s death. The Maryland team focused on cases in which people died suddenly after being restrained, often by police, officials said.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/david-fowler-maryland-autopsy-homicides-george-floyd-71e52a4cd2cc4103eab9648a127f1835