Thursday, April 10, 2008

Innocence Project Wants State Pathologist's License Revoked

WAPT- Jackson, MS

Attorney's for the Innocence Project have asked that the medical license of a state pathologist be revoked.

Dr. Steven Hayne has come under scrutiny for his role in the murder convictions of two innocent men.

The group filed a formal complaint Tuesday with the Mississippi Board of Medical Licensure.

Peter Neufeld, Innocence Project co-founder, said the complaint outlines numerous alleged violations by Hayne, who uses the state Crime Lab to conduct autopsies in criminal cases on behalf of counties.

Dr. H. Vann Craig, executive director of the Board of Medical Licensure, wouldn't confirm that he had received a formal complaint because of a confidentiality policy.

In the early 1990s, Hayne testified in two separate trials that two children in Noxubee County had human bite marks on their bodies.

It was later determined the marks weren't caused by human teeth.

The men in those cases were cleared of charges earlier this year after another man allegedly confessed to the crimes.

The Innocence Project is a New York-based organization that takes on the cases of inmates who are believed to be wrongfully imprisoned.

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