For over five years a Lincoln, Neb. day care provider felt she deserved an explanation for why she was wrongly accused of felony child abuse. She may now get her day in court.
A pathologist used over the years by a number of Nebraska law enforcement agencies
will have to defend himself against accusations he botched an autopsy that
lead to criminal charges being filed against a Lincoln women.
The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled today, Carla McKinney had sufficient cause to have her day in court.
The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled today, Carla McKinney had sufficient cause to have her day in court.
McKinney ran a day care out her home for more than 20
years. In 2009 a 6-week-old infant died in
her care. Dr. Matthias I. Okoye performed an autopsy
and determined the baby had died of “blunt force trauma to the head.” The Lancaster County Attorney charged McKinney
with felony child abuse resulting in death, but dropped the charges a year
later. Medical experts she had hired discovered the baby had actually died of
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, rather than from any injury. They found the doctor’s autopsy “shockingly”
misrepresented the cause of the baby’s death. McKinney sued Okoye for malicious prosecution.
Okoye successfully kept the case from going to trial in District Court. Today, the Nebraska
Supreme Court said McKinney should be allowed to present her case. The Supreme Court justices felt there was
“evidence of reckless disregard for established
pathology procedures could lead to the inference that Okoye was unconcerned
with establishing a truthful report.”
The District Court judge who threw the case out, according to the high court, should have let the evidence be heard so a jury could have decided if Dr. Okoye had acted irresponsibility when he filed the autopsy report with the County Attorney.
The Lancaster County (Neb.) County Attorney's Office ended its contract with Okoye in 2009. He still serves as president of the business he founded, the Nebraska Institute of Forensic Science.
