Supervisors Skeptical of Critics Who Doubt Doctors’ Competence : Study of County Autopsy Pathologists Ordered

Openly skeptical of critics who say there is a competency problem among the county’s autopsy pathologists, the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to seek the opinions of law enforcement officials, judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys.

“Users of the system” must be surveyed, “otherwise, I can’t make an intelligent decision,” said Supervisor Bruce Nestande.

“All of the investigations (over the years) that we’ve seen . . . have indicated a clean bill of health,” said board Chairman Thomas F. Riley.

Voting unanimously, the board on Tuesday directed acting County Administrative Officer Larry Holms to question the district attorney, public defender, sheriff and other officials about whether there is a problem serious enough to justify further study.

Competitive Bids Urged

Holms’ report is due in two weeks.

Only a few hours later, Holms released a long-awaited study that recommends putting the county’s pathology contract out for competitive bids. An Anaheim firm has held the current contract for 11 years without competitive bidding.

The same county report recommended that the supervisors not separate the coroner’s operations from the sheriff’s office and noted, “Generally, the Coroner Bureau (within the sheriff’s office) was found to operate in a very efficient, effective and professional manner” and has established “generally good working relationships with law enforcement agencies. . . .”

The pathologists’ performance has come under increasing scrutiny, especially since a Superior Court judge recently began hearings about autopsy evidence in a murder case that was misplaced by Dr. Walter Fischer, a partner in the Anaheim firm that holds the county pathology contract.

Complaints by Prosecutors

Prosecutors in some murder cases have complained about the pathologists’ performance on the witness stand, including Fischer’s.

Recently, Fischer’s own colleagues have banned him from performing autopsies in homicide cases and thus from testifying at murder trials.

Meanwhile, board aides said the supervisors have reacted skeptically toward critics of the pathologists, partly because the issue caught board members by surprise.

Referring to the possibility that some county officials have not communicated their criticism to the board, Supervisor Harriett Wieder said such a situation could be “the tip of the iceberg” and might demonstrate a need for daily contact between the supervisors and people such as Dist. Atty. Cecil Hicks.