Jackson Free Press

Former Mississippi medical examiner Steven Hayne is suing the Innocence Project for defamation. In a suit filed Oct. 28 with the Rankin County Circuit Court, Hayne claimed that the New York-based non-profit organization damaged his reputation and cost him income with press releases and letters calling for the revocation of his medical license.

"The Defendants owed a duty to Dr. Hayne to conduct a reasonable and unbiased investigation into the true facts prior to publishing the allegations they have made against Dr. Hayne," Hayne's complaint said. "The Defendants breached this duty by publishing, both orally and in writing, numerous false, misleading, and inaccurate allegations against Dr. Hayne."

In April 2008, the Innocence Project sent a letter of complaint to the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure, detailing instances of what it alleged was Dr. Hayne's "unprofessional conduct." Hayne's testimony weighed heavily in the original murder convictions of Levon Brooks and Kennedy Brewer, two Mississippi men and Innocence Project clients who were exonerated in February thanks to DNA evidence. At both Brooks and Brewer's trials, the Innocence Project charged, Hayne provided misleading testimony based on evidence that he inaccurately classified as human bite marks.

The licensure board, while expressing concern at Hayne's workload, did not subject Hayne to any disciplinary action.

In the absence of an official state medical examiner, a position unfilled in Mississippi since 1995, Hayne performed the bulk of the state's autopsies. Hayne has stated under oath that he performed 1,500 autopsies a year, six times the maximum recommended by the National Association of Medical Examiners.

In August, Public Safety Commissioner Steve Simpson announced that Hayne would be removed from the state's list of approved medical examiners and that the state would hire a full-time examiner within six months. At the time, Simpson said that Hayne had a backlog of 400 to 500 autopsy reports that he needed to complete before his contract expired. Simpson added that Hayne had "provided a tremendous service under very, very difficult circumstances.

Previous Comments

ID

140999

Comment

It must drive Dr. Hayne crazy that the legislature raised the autopsy fee to $1000 from $500 and then took his name off the approved list of medical examiners. I hope he suffers plenty for all of the botched work and poor testimony he did.

Author

gwilly

Date

2008-11-25T17:03:41-06:00