San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi Died Naturally, According To Independent Report
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - The public defender's office in San Francisco says their former leader Jeff Adachi did not die the way a medical examiner's report said he did.
They say an independent review of the autopsy found that Adachi died naturally of heart disease, and not from chronic drug use or an overdose. The coroner had called Adachi's death an accident due to a mix of drugs and alcohol.
"The reviews question why, given the observed coronary artery disease, was the death originally deemed an "accident" due to "acute mixed drug toxicity" when the ethanol (alcohol) level was 0.01% and the trace amount of cocaine was detected only in the central (heart) blood, a generally unreliable sample without corroboration," the statement from the office says.
In their announcement, public defenders slammed the medical examiner's office calling it understaffed, conflicted and politicized.