WEBVTT 00:00:00.500 --> 00:00:07.520 [ Silence ] 00:00:07.520 --> 00:00:14.400 >> But this was -- this gentleman committed suicide by actually inserting a -- 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:20.150 probably with some force, a meat thermometer through the skull into the brain. 00:00:20.150 --> 00:00:24.580 So when he arrived at the medical examiner's office there was still the meat thermometer was 00:00:24.580 --> 00:00:25.580 in place. 00:00:25.580 --> 00:00:29.430 My name is Melissa Brazzle [phonetic]. 00:00:29.430 --> 00:00:32.290 I am assistant medical examiner at the Office 00:00:32.290 --> 00:00:34.590 of the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Maryland. 00:00:34.590 --> 00:00:41.580 In a homicide we look for things like you said, bruising, abrasions, where are they located, 00:00:41.580 --> 00:00:48.280 what could have caused them, gunshot wounds, stab wounds, telling the difference 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:53.060 between entrance and exit gunshot wounds, trying to determine what type 00:00:53.060 --> 00:00:57.540 of a knife may have caused the stab wound, things of that nature. 00:00:57.540 --> 00:01:03.640 This area is a place where detectives, attorneys, whoever's here to observe an autopsy 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:11.510 or give additional information get the autopsy results, will observe the autopsy from up here. 00:01:11.510 --> 00:01:16.210 [ Silence ] 00:01:16.210 --> 00:01:22.240 So each of these rooms has 8 stations so we can do 8 autopsies in each room. 00:01:22.240 --> 00:01:26.370 One of my major duties here at the medical examiner's office is to perform autopsies, 00:01:26.370 --> 00:01:31.880 and to investigate deaths, particularly deaths that occur suddenly or unexpectedly. 00:01:31.880 --> 00:01:37.850 So on any given day I'll either be doing -- actually performing autopsies, 00:01:37.850 --> 00:01:44.440 or doing all of the things that go along with performing autopsies, so speaking with family, 00:01:44.440 --> 00:01:49.750 speaking with detectives, doing paperwork, writing reports, 00:01:49.750 --> 00:01:53.160 looking at lab results, medical records. 00:01:53.160 --> 00:01:58.290 In some cases they require photos be taken, so we start off with that. 00:01:58.290 --> 00:02:03.300 So we document everything externally, take photos, take evidence for the police, 00:02:03.300 --> 00:02:08.490 if they require that, make sure that that's all documented. 00:02:08.490 --> 00:02:15.580 And then we move to the internal part of the autopsy so the body's actually opened, 00:02:15.580 --> 00:02:20.460 and we look inside for any injuries or disease. 00:02:20.460 --> 00:02:26.990 And then we take all of that together to form our opinions about cause and manner of death, 00:02:26.990 --> 00:02:29.360 and write the written report, autopsy report. 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:33.840 >> We've all seen the television shows, and I'd be remiss if I didn't ask how they compare 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:36.240 to the actual job and what you're doing. 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:39.950 >> They're not very realistic at all. 00:02:39.950 --> 00:02:42.770 I won't say that I don't enjoy the television shows as well, 00:02:42.770 --> 00:02:46.160 but they don't really portray my job. 00:02:46.160 --> 00:02:52.540 They like to show medical examiners always going to the scene. 00:02:52.540 --> 00:02:56.170 In some states and jurisdictions medical examiners do go to the scene. 00:02:56.170 --> 00:03:03.310 I do not often go to a scene, unless there's something of special concern about a case 00:03:03.310 --> 00:03:06.130 that they want a medical examiner at the scene to look at. 00:03:06.130 --> 00:03:10.550 We don't do it all that frequently anymore. 00:03:10.550 --> 00:03:13.720 So I'm not going to the scene a lot. 00:03:13.720 --> 00:03:18.310 And they show the medical examiner going to the scene and giving a time 00:03:18.310 --> 00:03:22.030 of death pretty much immediately when they get there. 00:03:22.030 --> 00:03:26.150 And that's one of the biggest inaccuracies. 00:03:26.150 --> 00:03:31.590 We can't often give even a reasonable estimate of the time of death. 00:03:31.590 --> 00:03:36.890 So in that sense television's doing a bit of disservice 00:03:36.890 --> 00:03:41.720 to the legal world in death investigation.