Long history of problems at Sonoma County morgue

When it opened in 1990, Sonoma County’s central morgue was one of the most modern sheriff’s autopsy programs in the state.

Up until then, autopsies were conducted in embalming rooms at local funeral homes. In a move that revolutionized the way it handled the dead, the Sheriff’s Office took over a storage facility across the street from the old Community Hospital and transformed it into a central morgue, with sterile autopsy rooms, a body storage area and offices for the coroner’s staff.

Currently, four detectives, two forensic assistants, office staff and a sergeant run the office.

For about 10 years, autopsies were done by a staff forensic pathologist, Dr. Jay Chapman. In 1997, the Sheriff’s Office put the pathologist job out to bid and awarded a contract to a Fairfield company, Forensic Medical Group.

Within three years, sheriff’s officials began dealing with a series of embarrassing and troubling issues connected to FMG. They revealed a lack of thorough vetting of FMG doctors, both by the company and by sheriff’s officials.

There was a botched 1999 Petaluma death investigation conducted by an FMG doctor, Thomas Gill, which led to the collapse of a high-profile homicide trial. In the aftermath, Gill was banned from performing autopsies in Sonoma County and a county prosecutor was suspended for coaching Gill’s court testimony. Gill, whose work history prior to coming to Sonoma County included a string of mistake- ?ridden autopsies and being fired in another state for incompetence, was rehired by FMG to work in other parts of Northern California. He was dismissed in 2010 following problems with a Solano County autopsy, according to news reports.

Problems in Sonoma County, however, continued with his replacements. One doctor mistakenly concluded a death resulting from a 2004 jet ski accident on San Pablo Bay was a homicide. Another was dismissed when it was revealed he’d falsified his resume, omitting that he was fired from one job and left another under adverse circumstances. Sheriff’s officials initially said his resume had been checked going back five years, but later said the review wasn’t thorough.

The current FMG pathologist in Sonoma County, Dr. Kelly Arthur-Kenny, also suffered early setbacks, including a 2006 autopsy on the wrong man. She has since been repeatedly praised for her work by law enforcement officials, prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys.

FMG’s missteps went global in 2011 when PBS broadcast a “Frontline” investigation into the state of autopsies around the country. A segment highlighted FMG’s string of troubles in Sonoma County. Sheriff’s officials then defended the private company, saying its problems were in the past.

Within the year, unfinished autopsy reports began stacking up, resulting in delays in issuing death certificates.

In the almost 20 years since it hired FMG, the Sheriff’s Office has routinely renewed the company’s contract. It put the forensic pathologist out for competitive bidding in 2003 and 2012.

In 2003, no one else submitted a bid. And in 2012, FMG ranked highest among four applications for the five-year contract, according to county criteria, said Sgt. Greg Stashyn, who now runs the Coroner’s Office.

Sheriff Steve Freitas defended the quality of the work - both the autopsy reports and court testimony - by Arthur-Kenny,? who has served as Sonoma County’s chief forensic pathologist since 2006. Instead, he said, the problems stem from time management.

The Sheriff’s Office already is preparing to request proposals for forensic pathologists to potentially replace FMG when the contract expires in 2017. FMG is paid $1,185 per autopsy and $600 per external examination for the fiscal year that ends June 30, 2015.

“I’ll have faith in them when they meet that goal,” Freitas said of FMG’s agreement to clear the backlog by the end of January 2015. “My faith is shaken.”