Flawed autopsy on baby gets charge against mother tossed

The autopsy of an Alabama baby was so badly botched that a judge dismissed a murder charge against the mother Thursday, and the state plans to review every forensic case by the medical examiner who bungled the procedure.

Circuit Judge James Moore threw out the case against Bridget Lee, 34, a church pianist who spent nine months in jail after being charged with her child’s death in 2006. An initial autopsy found that the baby was suffocated, but reviews by six experts concluded the baby was stillborn and no crime occurred.

The medical examiner who worked on Lee’s case, Dr. Corinne Stern, now works in Texas, where officials were just learning of the Alabama case. It’s not known exactly how many homicide cases Stern worked on in Alabama, but officials said it could be as many as 100.

Lee hugged her attorney and cried after the ruling.

“It’s a great day. I’m going to go home and have lunch with my family and just be free,” she said.

Lee, who has suffered from depression and bipolar disorder, admitted she committed adultery and became pregnant while married with two children. When the baby arrived stillborn, she did not seek medical help but instead panicked. She placed the newborn in a plastic container and left it for several days in the back of her sport utility vehicle.

Prosecutors filed the capital murder charge based on Stern’s autopsy. Lee said she feared being convicted and executed, but prosecutors said they didn’t intend to seek the death penalty. Still, she could have faced life in prison without parole.

“I just hope no one is on death row because of an autopsy she did,” Lee said of Stern.

Stern was not at the hearing and has not returned telephone calls or an e-mail from the Associated Press.

The judge said that in 30 years of law practice he had never seen an expert make such a bad mistake. He praised Dist. Atty. Chris McCool for listening to a defense expert who raised the first red flags about the flawed autopsy.

Police learned about the baby when a couple who had been lined up to adopt the child called authorities. Lee told police what happened, but Stern’s autopsy concluded that the baby had suffocated.

The body had bruises on the forehead and mouth, she wrote, indicating the use of force.

Once Lee’s defense questioned the autopsy, McCool got other experts to review the case.

Evidence during the hearing showed six forensics experts found the baby died of pneumonia caused by an infection and was stillborn. What Stern thought were bruises were actually signs of decomposition.

Stern left Alabama in 2006 and is now the chief medical examiner in Laredo, Texas. Attorneys for Lee are considering a lawsuit against her.

Alabama’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Kenneth Snell, said in an interview that he would review every homicide autopsy Stern performed during her 16 months in Alabama. He estimated she handled as many as 100.