Register Sued for Articles on County Coroner

An Anaheim pathologist under contract to perform autopsies for the Orange County coroner’s office has filed a $6.6-million libel suit against the Orange County Register, claiming that articles published by the newspaper about alleged coroner misconduct were false and defamatory.

Dr. Robert I. Fukumoto, one of three contract pathologists who came under fire in an April newspaper series, alleged in his suit that the articles were libelous “because they charged (him) with dishonesty . . . (and) subjected (him) to contempt and ridicule.”

The suit, filed in Orange County Superior Court on Aug. 2, was served Wednesday on Freedom Newspapers Inc., the Santa Ana-based company that publishes the Register.

Others Named in Suit

In addition to the newspaper, Fukumoto also sued Jim Welsh, an assistant metro editor; reporters Judy Brennan, Robert E. Kroll, Jean Olswang and Larry Peterson, and columnist Bob Emmers.

N. Christian Anderson, Register editor, declined Friday to comment on the lawsuit.

Fukumoto, Dr. Robert Richards and Dr. Walter Fischer were the focus of the three-part inquiry by the Register, which focused on alleged complaints and alleged questionable procedures on the part of the coroner’s office and the pathologists’ firm--Richards, Fischer and Fukumoto Medical Group Inc.

(Fischer was hospitalized for what his partners called a stress-related illness in May, and on July 8, was found shot to death in his car, an apparent suicide.)

Wording of Suit

According to the suit, the articles said: “In numerous criminal cases, members of the contract pathology firm have issued faulty autopsy conclusions, lost or misplaced critical evidence or changed previous medical opinions during trials.”

The suit also charged the Register with invasion of privacy. According to court documents, Fukumoto refused to be photographed or interviewed for the series, but a photograph of him from the Orange County Medical Assn. Directory was published in the newspaper.

According to the suit, the Register refused a May 16 request by Fukumoto’s attorneys that the paper publish a correction or retraction of the articles.