Innocence Project seeks to have license revoked of embattled Mississippi pathologist

A nonprofit group of attorneys that helps inmates believed to be wrongfully convicted has filed a formal complaint against a pathologist whose work has come under scrutiny.

Innocence Project attorneys said Tuesday they've asked a Mississippi board to revoke the medical license of Dr. Steven Hayne, who has worked as the state pathologist for several years.

Hayne came under scrutiny after DNA and other evidence cleared two men convicted in separate murder cases. The two men were cleared of the charges earlier this year after a third man allegedly confessed to both murders.

"Steven Hayne's long history of misconduct, incompetence and fraud has truly sent innocent people to death row or to prison for life. This is precisely why regulations are in place to revoke medical licenses," said Innocence Project co-founder Peter Neufeld.

Hayne didn't return a call to his cell phone seeking comment. A woman who answered Hayne's telephone at his office said the doctor was out of town and unreachable.

Hayne has said he conducts about 1,500 autopsies a year, which is four times the recommended standard. He's not certified in forensic pathology by the American Board of Pathology, said Neufeld. The board said on Tuesday that Hayne has general certification.

Two cases that have called Hayne's work into question involve the rape and killing of two 3-year-old girls.

Levon Brooks was convicted and sentenced to life for the 1990 slaying of 3-year-old Courtney Smith. In an almost identical case, Kennedy Brewer was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1992 killing of his then-girlfriend's child, 3-year-old Christine Jackson.

In both cases Hayne had testified that human bite marks were discovered on the girls' bodies, according to the Innocence Project. Odontologist Dr. Michael West had testified at the trials that wounds on the girls were caused by the suspects.

A panel of forensic experts that later examined the Brewer case said the wounds on Christine were not human bites at all, but were probably caused by crawfish and insects nibbling on the corpse, decomposition, and rough handling when the body was pulled from the pond where it was found.

In its complaint, the Innocence Project points to other cases, including that of Tyler Edmonds, who was 13 when he was arrested for the 2003 slaying of his brother-in-law, Joey Fulgham.

Hayne had testified that Edmonds and his half-sister, Kristi Fulgham, both pulled the trigger when the victim was killed. Edmonds was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Kristi Fulgham was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death.

Last year, the Mississippi Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Edmonds, saying a trial judge should not have allowed Hayne to testify about a two-shooter theory.

Hayne testified that the positioning of the weapon led him to believe that two people had pulled the trigger. But the court said there was no evidence to support the theory.