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- Maryland / Regional
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Tiny clues matter as Md. examiners dissect bodies
(Daily Record)
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Mental health group helps navigate justice system
(Baltimore Examiner)
- National / International
- ---
- Opinion
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O'Malley thankful for warm reception here
(Carroll County Times)
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- Maryland / Regional
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Tiny clues matter as Md. examiners dissect bodies
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- Associated Press
- Daily Record
- Monday, February 9, 2009
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- Opinions and controversy surround the body of Inmate
225597 as Ronnie White, 19, lies lifeless on a steel gurney
in the Maryland medical examiner's office laboratory.
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- But the attention of pathologist J. Laron Locke is fixed
on petechiae, burst blood vessels in the corner of White's
eyes and a fracture in his neck. Locke's responsible for
discovering how White died in his cell at a Prince George's
County jail after being charged in a police officer's death.
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- Suspicion ranges from suicide by hanging to
strangulation - that is homicide. But Locke knows 11 bodies
a day arrive at the basement laboratory in downtown
Baltimore. And he can't afford the distraction of what
people say or what they're reading in the papers.
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- He needs to know why White died.
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- "We don't deal in hypotheticals. We deal in verifiable
facts," Chief Medical Examiner David Fowler said. "We know
everything we do will potentially be examined, challenged
and cross-examined."
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- Locke rules that White died from strangulation. But he
doesn't worry about who killed him - that's someone else's
job - knowing it's time for another autopsy. The lab
performs more than 4,000 autopsies every year, starting at
8:30 a.m. daily, as construction for a new, updated $43
million facility continues blocks away.
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- "We have to assume that everybody here has some legal or
public health implication," Fowler said. "Every day, we have
to be able to reconstruct a coherent account of what we
believe happened."
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- And Fowler's found a way to do so with without becoming
embroiled in politics, controversy or the public debate.
That's necessary, he said to maintain "quality assurance"
through prescribed rituals for every pathologist using
investigate reports on the bodies and dissection tasks.
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- "We surround the gurney. The body is right in front of
us," Fowler said. "So when we're discussing that we can see
this mark, or the absence of this mark, we've got 14
forensic pathologists looking at the body and saying,
'You're right, we see it,' or, 'No, we don't.'"
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- Cases are reviewed weekly if a death can't be
immediately classified and specialists are brought in to use
the expertise from their disciplines to determine how a
person died.
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- "We're also asking questions. Say this person apparently
fell down the stairs. Well, if this person fell, why aren't
there any abrasions on the knees and elbows? What kind of
stairs were they? Were they carpeted? Was there padding
under the carpeting? Were they wood? Hardwood?"
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- In another recent case, the bodies of two young girls
found in a freezer in September in southern Maryland could
have been the adopted daughters of Renee Bowman. Fowler said
pathologists spent six weeks engaged in microscopic lab work
to find out how they died and exactly who they were.
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- Until that was completed, Fowler had to list the death
of the bodies wrapped in the freezer as pending.
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- It's not as clear, he explained, as it often seems in
the news how a person died, unless it involved a gunshot or
stab wound. Many times, he said, a pathologist has to make a
judgment call based on training and interviews with police
and peers so they can defend their findings in court, if
need be.
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- "I'd rather be criticized for being honest than making
something up," Fowler said.
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- Copyright 2009 Daily Record.
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Mental health group helps navigate justice system
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- By Sara Michael
- Baltimore Examiner
- Sunday, February 9, 2009
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- A Baltimore mother recently faced an unbelievably
difficult decision: Her 20-year-old mentally disabled son
was arrested, and she wasn't sure she should bail him out of
jail.
- She turned to a resource guide just published by NAMI-Metropolitan
Baltimore, a local chapter of the National Alliance on
Mental Illness, aimed at helping family members and
caregivers navigate the world where the mental health and
criminal justice systems collide.
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- "He just can't make the right choices," the woman, who
asked that she not be identified, said of her son.
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- Right on page 27 of the book, called "Beyond
Punishment," this mother found a list of questions that
helped her decide whether to bail out her son, which she
ultimately decided against.
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- The resource is the first of its kind to compile facts,
tips and phone numbers for those involved with the criminal
justice system. With fact sheets and questionnaires, the
70-page book helps caretakers and others know what questions
to ask and what steps to take.
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- "When you are in a crisis, you might not be the best
communicator," said Kate Farinholt, executive director of
NAMI-Metropolitan Baltimore.
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- Resources scattered around the country have "bits and
pieces" of this information, but an organization had yet to
pull it together in once place, she said.
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- Beyond Punishment is
www.nami.org/MSTemplate.cfm?Section=Mental_Health_Crisis_and_Criminal_Justice_Resources&Site=NAMI_Metropolitan_Baltimore&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=68587
available for free on the organization's Web site, and bound
copies will sold through
www.Amazon.com.
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- People and families dealing with mental illness often
feel isolated and stigmatized, making it harder to navigate
an already confusing legal system, Farinholt said.
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- NAMI-Metropolitan Baltimore officials often get calls
from family members unsure where to turn when their mentally
ill relative has been arrested, said Mary Porter, a program
associate who worked on the book.
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- The person might not have their medications, or the
family doesn't know how to locate specific services, she
said,.
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- "When you are a family member and you don't have the
information," Porter said, "it is a frightening and lonely
and mystifying experience."
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- The book simplifies a complicated process for families
and health providers, said Dimitrios Cavathas, director of
community services for People Encouraging People Inc., a
nonprofit behavioral health organization.
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- "Since the criminal justice system is so fragmented and
complex," he said, "it is critical that there is a resource
that is a one stop piece of information."
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smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com
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- Copyright 2009 Baltimore Examiner.
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- National / International
- ---
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- Opinion
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-
O'Malley
thankful for warm reception here
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- Cumberland Times-News Letter to the Editor
- Monday, February 9, 2009
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- To the Editor:
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- I'd like to express my deepest thanks for the warmth and
hospitality of the people of Western Maryland, where I along
with Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and members of our executive
cabinet held our first in a series of town hall meetings on
education and our economy.
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- I hear every day from Maryland families who continue to
struggle to do more with less. As we travel across our One
Maryland to hear directly from our working families, as we
did in Frostburg on Wednesday night, we hope to put people
in need directly in touch with the services and programs
that are in place to provide assistance during these tough
times.
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- Like Maryland families, our government must find ways to
do more with less, but we continue to protect important
programs such as foreclosure aid, higher education financial
aid, assistance for seniors, the energy assistance program,
employment services, and veterans' affairs.
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- At Mountain Ridge High School on Wednesday night, we
heard from families who've been impacted by this national
recession - people like Jesse from Garrett County, whose
concerns about affordable health care were met with help
from the state's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on
Wednesday night.
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- Workers from DHMH helped Jesse apply for recently
expanded Medicare and Medicaid programs here in Maryland.
Other citizens voiced concerns about pending transportation
projects in Western Maryland. Our Secretary of
Transportation was able to provide updated project status
and timelines for specific infrastructure projects
throughout the region.
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- These folks weren't looking for handouts, or some silver
bullet to solve the economic crisis. Instead, they came to
Mountain Ridge High School to talk with the officials who
they've entrusted to make the tough decisions to quickly
navigate our state through this recession. They came to
Mountain Ridge High School hoping for some answers from
their state, and it's my hope that by bringing those
programs and services to the town hall with us, we were able
to provide those answers.
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- Over these past two years, we've met with folks from
Western Maryland and across our state - people who are
concerned about important things like access to affordable
healthcare, protection of Maryland's open space, and the
quality of our public schools. We're proud now to return to
these areas with proof of the progress we've made as One
Maryland.
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- We've expanded access to quality, affordable healthcare
to 100,000 more Marylanders. We've preserved more than
21,000 acres of ecologically significant land throughout
Maryland, including more than 250 acres in Allegany County
acquired for recreational use just last year. And thanks to
the dedication of our parents and educators, and record
state funding for education, Maryland can stand proudly as
the number one ranked public school system in America.
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- In the year ahead we have some difficult decisions
before us as we work to protect our priorities and expand
the safety net for Maryland's working families. These town
hall meetings will allow the citizens of Maryland to come
together to learn about the various programs and services
our state provides.
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- I want to thank the people of Western Maryland for being
a part of our more recent town hall meeting. We encourage
you to visit
www.problemsolver.maryland.gov for direct access to
the state services available at each town hall meeting. I
also encourage all Maryland citizens to continue this
dialogue by writing our office at
governor@gov.state.md.us.
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- Martin O'Malley
- Governor of Maryland
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- Copyright 2009 Cumberland Times-News.
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