Note

Protecting the Accused and Our Criminal Justice System’s Integrity

Autopsy Reports are Testimonial in Homicide Cases

The right to confront one’s accuser at criminal trial is enshrined in the Bill of Rights and could find its origin in the Magna Carta. But this right is denied to many accused where an autopsy report is at question. This means that many thousands of Americans are not afforded one of the basic guarantees of our criminal justice system. The system must be changed to allow for such confrontation.

a. J.D., 2020, University of Illinois College of Law; Research Attorney, Third District Appellate Court of Illinois. Special thanks to my wife and my first child who was born in the middle of the pandemic. I am desperately grateful that they kept me sane and stable during such a difficult time. I would also like to credit any legal success I encounter to Professor Andrew Leipold and Magistrate Judge Jonathan Hawley of the Central District of Illinois. Thank you for believing in me before I did.

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