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Berrien County prosecutor raises problems with contracted medical examiner services, subpoenas and rising expert fees
Summary
County Prosecutor Amy Byrd told an administrative committee that the county's contract arrangement with WMed is producing cases where former WMed doctors are billing large expert fees and evading subpoenas; county leaders asked staff to explore contract edits and local alternatives for lab work.
County Prosecutor Amy Byrd told the Berrien County administrative committee that the county's contract with WMed for medical examiner and autopsy services has produced new problems for criminal prosecutions, prompting officials to seek alternatives and possible contract changes.
Byrd reported that when doctors who performed autopsies for the county under WMed leave that employer, they become private witnesses for later trials and have billed the prosecutor's office as outside expert witnesses. Byrd said she currently has a bill for one such witness for about…
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