Paul Hoyer, a forensic pathologist in Philadelphia, says there are pros
and cons to his job. "The best part of my job is to finish a case where no
one knew the answers before I got involved," he says.
Hoyer uses the example of a case he worked on in which a two-year-old baby
mysteriously died at home. The cause of death was thought to be a seizure
that had resulted from complications in a pre-existing congenital disease
the child had. But when Hoyer investigated, he found the child had been abused.
"We found out the child died from abuse, but that wasn't apparent
before I started to look into it," Hoyer says.
Hoyer says some of the negative aspects of his job include dealing with
the politics involved and with the sometimes gruesome nature of the work.
"Dead bodies can be stinky and unpleasant," he says.
In addition to his medical skills, Hoyer says his job allows him to make
use of his math and communication talents. He says that one of the most important
things he does on a day-to-day basis is to talk with other people. He often
has to confer with police and talk to family members and lawyers.
It's in court though, where Hoyer says he has the power to influence
a jury. He says it's his responsibility to share everything he knows
about a case with a jury.
"When I go into a courtroom, I face the challenge of presenting highly
technical information in an understandable way," says Hoyer. "You're
talking to a jury which is not educated in the field, but they are intelligent
nonetheless."
Hoyer uses the example of the O.J. Simpson case to illustrate an instance
where the jury did not understand technical information.
"The defense was successful in making the evidence appear not understandable,"
Hoyer says. "The glove didn't fit, but there were reasons why it didn't.
The prosecution didn't do a good job of making that clear."
Laurel Gray, forensic pathologist, has been working in the field since
1984. "It's fun to solve a mystery," she says. "You're not just
sitting in an office all day looking down a microscope. You're discussing
problems with police [and] getting ready for court."
Gray has had some strange cases in her time.
She remembers one body that was flown to her lab for examination. Even
though the body was in an advanced state of decomposition, she still had to
identify the body, determine how long the individual had been dead and what
the cause of death was. "That kind of case means lots of people are involved,"
she says.
A forensic entomologist was brought in to examine the body for different
insects, and a forensic dentist came in to view the skeletal remains to see
if an identification could be made from dental charts.
"We were able to get a positive ID, but we were left with having to obtain
trace evidence from the body, which had badly deteriorated," Gray says, adding
that meant that DNA samples were difficult to obtain.
The gruesome side of the job doesn't faze her at all. Gray says she
notices most young residents quickly lose their distaste and get caught up
in the work. But there are aspects of pathology that do make her nervous,
she says, including going to court.
"I always get butterflies in my stomach," she says. "No one has to ask
me if it's court day, they just know. But most of the lawyers
I deal with on a regular basis know me quite well. And they know I answer
questions honestly -- so it's unlikely I'm going to be crucified
on the stand. And sometimes you just have to say, 'I don't know.'"