Autopsy backlog plagues Mississippi, with worst delays in US - TRIGGER WARNING

[SheltieLover]

https://www.localmemphis.com/article/news/regional/autopsy-backlog-plagues-mississippi-worst-delays-us/522-b40441d9-160e-4303-bea6-0e005ef4fe6e

JACKSON, Miss — After Truitt Pace admitted to law enforcement that he beat and shot his wife, her family expected a swift conviction. The 34-year-old mother of three's tiny frame was so bruised and traumatized that the funeral home suggested a closed casket. But as months went by, state prosecutors told Marsha Harbour's family they were waiting on a key piece of evidence: the medical examiner's autopsy report.

National standards recommend most autopsy reports be completed within 60 days. Prosecutors in Harbour's case waited for a year.

Across Mississippi, many families wait even longer. An Associated Press analysis based on state data and documents, as well as dozens of interviews with officials and residents, found that Mississippi's system has long operated in violation of national standards for death investigations, accruing a severe backlog of autopsies and reports.

Autopsies that should take days take weeks. Autopsy reports that should take months take a year or longer, as in Harbour's case. Too few pathologists are doing too many autopsies. Some cases are transferred hundreds of miles to neighboring states for reports without their family's knowledge.

More at link.

MS - last place again.

[XanaDUer2]

1. How terrible nt

[SheltieLover]

2. Ikr!

[Skittles]

3. this should NOT happen

very psychologically damaging to the families and it can delay justice.....this is just plain WRONG