Last week, two large news organizations, the Washington Post and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published explosive comments and speculation from the leaked official autopsy of Michael Brown. Both papers published accounts which supported the narrative of Officer Darren Wilson, who shot and the killed the unarmed teen last August in Ferguson, Missouri.
Among the statements made regarding the results were that Michael Brown was shot at close range and was going for Darren Wilson’s gun. However, according to one of the experts quoted, Dr. Judy Melinek, she was misquoted by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Melinek stated she had a half-hour phone interview with a reporter from the news organization. During that conversation, she was asked if she could examine and analyze the autopsy report from the perspective of a forensic pathologists with no official involvement in the Ferguson shooting. She explained to the reporter that she did not want to be quoted, but instead would send quotes the reporter could use in an email. However, the reporter used selective comments from the conversation that were taken out of context and led to inaccurate and misleading quotes that were picked up by the national media.
According to the Post-Dispatch, Melinek is quoted to have said “the fact that this guy is reaching for the gun, if he has gunpowder particulate material in the wound, if he has his hand near the gun when it goes off, he’s going for the officer’s gun.” In addition, Melinek, according to the article stated that “the autopsy did not support witnesses that claimed Brown was shot while running away from Wilson, or with his hands up.”
Melinek, on her personal blog page, explained in great detail what she said, and how she was misquoted. Her detailed explanation can be seen on the next page.
