WSOC TV 9 Investigates: Incomplete autopsies from state impacting deadly NC drug cases
UNION COUNTY, N.C. — Channel 9 is continuing to investigate a statewide autopsy backlog which means some cases are getting left unsolved.
In some types of criminal cases, the medical examiner’s office isn’t even doing a full autopsy, which is making it harder to prosecute crimes in our community. Channel 9’s Genevieve Curtis found out that many of those cases are overdoses.
The Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office performs a full autopsy in overdose cases so that prosecutors can go after the drug dealers under the 2019 Death by Distribution law. But several of our local counties have to send their cases to Raleigh’s medical examiner, where they’re not getting those same results.
Union County District Attorney Trey Robison has been aggressive about prosecuting dealers who sell drugs which cause an overdose death.
“We can’t prosecute any of these cases without autopsies that we can take into court and show to a jury to try and prove our case,” DA Robison said.
But to prove it in court, Robison needs a full autopsy.
Read the full article on the WSOC TV 9 website.
