More delays in Monterey Taser case
By Vince Mancini
Published on August 22, 2005
The Monterey County Sheriff's Office late last month was set to release a pathologist's review of the autopsy on Robert Clark Heston, to determine whether shocks from the Taser or an illegal drug was the primary factor in his death. A series of investigations into his death has delayed the report's release, said sheriff's officials.
Heston died at a Salinas hospital on Feb. 20, a day after being shot five times with a Taser by police.
Heston's initial autopsy was performed by pathologist Terri Haddix for the Monterey County Coroner's Office. Haddix's findings were not formally made public, but representatives of the Sheriff's Office said she had attributed Heston's death to Tasers as well as a high level of methamphetamine in his system.
County officials had Haddix's findings reviewed by John Hain, who performs the majority of the county's autopsies.
Sheriff's officials had been expected to disclose Hain's report earlier this month, but chose instead to send it, along with Haddix's report, to Steven Karch a former San Francisco medical examiner considered an expert on drug-induced and Taser-related deaths.
A Sheriff's department official said that additional input was sought because the department had handled only two Taser-related deaths in the past year.
Last week, a Sheriff's investigator said that all agencies investigating Heston's death -- the Sheriff's Office, Salinas police, and the Monterey County District Attorney's Office -- must finish their investigations before the pathologists' reports can be released.
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