Saturday, May 22, 2010

Coroner's Inquest on Pagano

Today's Northwest Herald says Sheriff Keith Nygren said reports pertaining to Phil Pagano's death by suicide would be released upon completion of a coroner's inquest, pending further investigations by other agencies. They say that they haven't learned the motivation for Pagano's thirst for money over the past ten years.

Hopefully, Sheriff's Department reports will dispel rumors of shredding in the Pagano home.

It may or may not even be the responsibility of the Sheriff's Department to determine why a person committed suicide. And they may not want to know, so they might not look very hard. And maybe they shouldn't unless or until some crime, if any, shows up.

But here's what to watch for. Under Illinois law, a Coroner is not required to hold an inquest. The Coroner can decide that she will conduct a closed administrative hearing, not open to the public, and issue the cause of death.

If a public inquest is held - i.e., if a Coroner's jury is empaneled - then the public can attend. Certain rules are in place, but these are not always followed.

To provide an example, following the David Maxson death a Coroner's jury was convened. The Coroner's own rules state that witnesses with first-hand knowledge should be called. What happened in that case? A supervisor from the sheriff's department testified as to what he knew about the case from reports he had read. No deputies who were actually at the scene attended or testified.

In Pagano's case, there should be no need to call the engineer who watched the train bear down on Pagano, but any in-cab video might show Pagano's position on the tracks, expression, any gesture and whether he was on the trackbed when the train rounded the curve approaching Hillside. So far, I have seen nothing in the media about a videotape.

A public suicide warrants a public Coroner's inquest. Will McHenry County Coroner Marlene Lantz empanel a jury to examine the death of Phil Pagano?

2 comments:

mike said...

A VERY public suicide warrants squat from the coroner's office whose sole purpose is to determine the cause and manner of death - accidental, natural, homicidal/suicidal. There's no question (except for the tin foil hat squad) of how Pagano died. He died by his own hand by standing in front of an oncoming train. The video will show that. The WHY he did it, like the why when some gang banger shoots a 2 year old infant in the arms of its mother is NOT something that the coroner need be concerned with by law.

mike said...

Maxon's case - "Apples and Oranges" the law REQUIRES the inquest for in custody deaths or deaths in which there is police involvement.