Michael Baden to Testify Before Ferguson Grand Jury

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Wed Nov 12, 2014 at 11:59:24 AM EST
Tags: Michael Brown, Ferguson (all tags)

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Forensic pathologist Michael Baden, who conducted an autopsy on Michael Brown at the request of his family's attorney, has been subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury investigating Brown's shooting death.

According to the lawyer for Brown's parents:

Baden had only limited access to information and has asked to review several other pieces of evidence before he testifies.

Among the items Baden did not have access to when he performed his autopsy:

Baden said there was no gunpowder residue on Brown's body, indicating he was not shot at close range, though he said at the time he wasn't given access to Brown's clothing and the residue could be there.

It's not known when the grand jury will be finished. The prosecutor has said "sometime this month."

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Michael Baden to Testify Before Ferguson Grand Jury | 49 comments (49 topical)

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What he'll probably be asked about (5.00 / 1) (#4)
by toggle on Wed Nov 12, 2014 at 07:21:38 PM EST

Michael Baden conducted an autopsy on Brown's body in August at the request of the teen's family and concluded then that the teen could have been shot from as far away as 30 feet. A leaked copy of the St. Louis County medical examiner's autopsy report says microscopic particles of gunshot residue were found in a deep layer of skin, showing that the teen was shot once in his thumb at close range.
Baden said he wants a gunshot residue report, as well as several pieces of evidence, to draw his own conclusions. He said is willing to testify about his findings before a grand jury deciding whether to charge the officer who shot Brown.
"Gunshot residue can look very similar to ordinary dirt on the ground, and his hand, for four hours, was on the ground," Baden said. "So dirt on the ground, the body being moved when they were putting him in the body bag could create the microscopic appearance of gunshot residue."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/29/browns-family-pathologist-questions-leaked-auto psy/18154107/

: Is there any chance... (none / 0) (#18)
by unitron on Thu Nov 13, 2014 at 02:29:46 AM EST

...that the SLC examiner actually took some of those microscopic particles and put them under a microscope and determined whether they were dirt or gunpowder residue?
Seems like the kind of thing a competent autopsy would include.
Otherwise I'd expect the county's report to say "Microscopic particles which might be gunpowder residue".

I'm pretty sure (5.00 / 1) (#31)
by Reconstructionist on Thu Nov 13, 2014 at 12:02:40 PM EST

Baden has stated his findings were subject to the caveat he lacked all the information, samples, etc. examined by the official ME.

I know he has asked for a chance to review such things prior to testifying before the GJ.

Moreover, as I have said before, I don't believe that whether Brown was shot at close range at the vehicle is dispositive as to the question of Wilson's state of mind/intent when he fired the fatal shot[s] which everyone seems to agree were not fired at close range.

Well, "close range" needs to be defined (none / 0) (#34)
by leftwig on Thu Nov 13, 2014 at 01:33:54 PM EST

Baden made his statement about the shots not being at close range due to no stipling or gun shot residue being found on the skin. That means Brown was roughly 1 meter or more away from the gun or, a little more than an arms length for the average man. We don't know whether it was 1 meter or 20 meters from the information we have.
