Santa Clara County Grand Jury
• 2005-2006
2005-2006 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury Report Santa Clara County Medical Examiner/coroner’s Office – One Year
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 6 findings
F1a
The Grand Jury finds that the Sheriff’s Office has provided good administrative support to the MEC Office during its first 18 months of transition. Quarterly and annual operational assessments have been conducted and document positive results. The most recent evaluation report of the MOU supports this progress, and has led to continuation of the MOU for a second year.
No recommendations for this finding
F1b
The Grand Jury could not identify a common vision among County management for a permanent organizational structure for the MEC Office. A permanent structure would give the MEC Office a sense of stability, and could also help in recruiting and retaining Medical Examiners.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
The experience of the two board-certified Assistant Medical Examiners is limited. Both the District Attorney and MEC Office Administrator acknowledged that a more experienced Medical Examiner would be a positive addition to the Office.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Recruit a respected, board-certified, seasoned forensic pathologist for the Santa Clara County MEC Office, who would carry the title of Chief Medical Examiner. This person should be situated organizationally so as to ensure independence and objectivity of this Office. 8
F3
Some final Medical Examiner case reports are submitted late. Standards in other Bay Area MEC Offices are that once all laboratory and forensic analyses are received, reports are expected to be completed within one month.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Implement a formal computerized case-tracking tool to monitor progress of all cases from opening to closure, and use this tool to ensure timely reporting. Report timeliness should be included as a factor in annual performance reviews of Medical Examiner personnel.
F4a
The current “one size fits all” protective clothing can be both cumbersome and a serious safety problem for smaller or larger stature personnel.
No recommendations for this finding
F4b
No comprehensive long-term capital improvement plan existed for the MEC Office at the time of the Grand Jury visit, for example, to upgrade X-ray technology.
No recommendations for this finding
Conclusions 10
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CL1 Page 8The experience of the two board-certified Assistant Medical Examiners is limited. Both the District Attorney and MEC Office Administrator acknowledged that a more experienced Medical Examiner would be a positive addition to the Office.
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CL2 Page 9Some final Medical Examiner case reports are submitted late. Standards in other Bay Area MEC Offices are that once all laboratory and forensic analyses are received, reports are expected to be completed within one month.
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CL3 Page 111997-1998 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury report “Investigation of the Office of Medical-Examiner-Coroner”.
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CL4 Page 11June 22, 2004. Memorandum of Understanding Between the County Executive and the Sheriff for the Provision of Administrative Services to the Medical Examiner-Coroner Department.
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CL5 Page 11November 2004. RGN Consulting, Coroner Transition Plan, County of Santa Clara, Sheriff’s Department.
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CL6 Page 11October 18, 2005. Agenda, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.
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CL7 Page 11October 18, 2005. 2005 Evaluation Report of the Memorandum of Understanding between the County Executive and the Sheriff for the Provision of Administrative Services to the Medical Examiner/Coroner’s Office, attachment to #3 above. 6. 1998-1999 Orange County Civil Grand Jury, “Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Conflict Of Interest Study.” (http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/SherifGJ.pdf last visited on February 17, 2006.)
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CL8 Page 12December 16, 2005. County Executive, Santa Clara County.
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CL9 Page 11Hanzlick R and Combs D, “Medical examiner and coroner systems: history and trends,” JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association); 279(11):870-4, 1998 Mar 18.
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CL10 Page 11DiMaio VJ and DiMaio D, Forensic Pathology, Second Edition, CRC Press (2001). Interviews
No Responses Found 3
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Elected County Office
Santa Clara County District Attorney
Elected County Office
Santa Clara County Sheriff
Elected County Office