Shortchanged Autopsies

April 5, 2007 — -- On television, medical examiners work with cutting-edge technology and limitless budgets. They are surrounded by walls full of diplomas and colleagues full of helpful insight.

In reality, the physicians tasked with investigating how and why people died are often underqualified and underpaid. They regularly work alone, with outdated technology, limited oversight and paltry budgets.

Dr. Johnny Glenn's small office in Tuscaloosa, Ala., located across the street from a sewage-treatment plant, was a far cry from the plush forensic labs seen on "CSI." From 1999 to 2004, Glenn examined hundreds of bodies. His testimony at murder trials helped put suspects in jail and on death row. For a time, he was the only state physician examining dead bodies in the western third of Alabama.

But for at least a part of that time, he suffered from dementia and depression. Now defense attorneys in the area, and at least one doctor who took over for him, contend that Glenn was incompetent, his autopsies were inadequate, his notes insufficient and his testimony inaccurate.

The discovery that Glenn may have been incompetent casts doubt on the trials in which he participated, but experts said it also sheds light on the problem of limited funding and poor oversight facing forensic laboratories all over the country.

"The facility in Tuscaloosa is less than optimal," said Michael Sparks, director of the Alabama Department of Forensic Science. "The increase in funding we received in 2007 is the first substantial increase in 10 years. If you're underfunded for 10 years in a row, you're basically in trouble."

Sparks only recently took over the department and was not in charge when Glenn had what he described as a "catastrophic event that led him to need immediate care at that time." The director maintained that until his breakdown, Glenn was a competent though overworked physician.

Sparks said much of the attention surrounding Glenn, including a recent story by The Associated Press, can be attributed to a former department employee hired after Glenn's unexpected retirement. That employee, Sparks said, noted that Glenn's reports were incomplete and his cases unfinished.

But according to the director, those sorts of complaints are typical when one medical examiner reviews another's work, and they do not indicate the quality of Glenn's autopsies.