Stephon Clark case: Coroner's report disputes ‘erroneous' results of private autopsy

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento County officials on Tuesday released the official autopsy results in the fatal police shooting of Stephon Clark, and many of them sharply contrast with the findings of a private autopsy conducted in March at his family's request.

County Coroner Kimberly Gin wrote in a letter to police officials Friday that she sought the expertise of five pathologists for the autopsy of Clark, a 22-year-old father of two who was shot to death by police officers March 18 in his grandparents' backyard.

The officers, who were looking for a vandalism suspect, said they believed Clark had a gun, but all that was found with his body was a cellphone. The shooting and aftermath, which were captured on body camera and helicopter footage, led to large-scale protests in Clark's name.

Gin wrote that the additional doctors were brought in "in light of the erroneous information that was released from the private autopsy." The private autopsy conducted by Dr. Bennet Omalu, a noted pathologist, indicated that Clark was struck by eight of the 20 bullets fired at him.

Omalu said that six of the bullets hit Clark from behind.

The official autopsy, conducted by pathologist Dr. Keng-Chin Su two days after Clark was killed, found that he was struck by seven bullets, not eight. Su reported that Clark was struck once in the neck, once in the right arm, once in the chest and once in the thigh.

Su ruled that three of the shots -- not six -- struck Clark from behind.

His findings also differed from Omalu’s on which of the shots was the first to strike Clark, as well as the direction he believes Clark was facing when the officers opened fire.

The toxicology report shows that Clark's blood was analyzed by two different labs. The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office's crime lab found traces of alcohol, cocaine, cannabis, codeine, and the benzodiazepines Xanax and etizolam in his blood. The second lab, contracted by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office, did not find the cocaine traces, but found everything else, as well as hydrocodone and promethazine, a sedative and anti-nausea medication.

Clark’s urine showed traces of codeine and hydrocodone, which are both painkillers.

See the entire autopsy report, toxicology reports and letter from Sacramento County Coroner Dr. Kimberly Gin below.

Official autopsy report on Stephon Clark by c_bonvillian on Scribd

Three additional Sacramento County pathologists reviewed Su’s findings and signed off on the autopsy report with him. Gin also sought an independent review by Dr. Gregory D. Reiber, a Placer County pathologist who used to work for Sacramento County.

"All five doctors are board certified forensic pathologists and combined, have over 50 years of experience in the field of forensic pathology," Gin wrote.

Reiber, who did not view Clark's body himself, but studied the coroner's report, diagrams, photos, police officers' body camera footage and other evidence in the case, wrote in his April 22 review that Su's conclusions appeared accurate.

"It is clear from review of the written report and photographic documentation that Stephon Clark was struck by seven bullets, not eight as claimed by Dr. Omalu in his press conference statements and as shown on his autopsy diagram," Reiber wrote.

Omalu said in March that his autopsy findings, along with his viewing of the helicopter footage of the shooting, led him to conclude that the first shot hit Clark under his left armpit. The pathologist said the findings indicated that Clark was facing the back door of his grandparents’ house when shot -- not advancing toward the officers as they claimed.

Omalu stated that the force of those shots spun Clark around, leading to the six rounds being fired into the back of his body. He found that the final shot was to Clark’s thigh, which the pathologist said was fired as Clark fell to the pavement of his grandparents’ patio.

Reiber said, however, that the bullet wound on the left side of Clark’s chest, which Omalu said was an entrance wound, was really an exit wound.

See Reiber’s entire report below.

Reiber review of Stephon Clark autopsy by c_bonvillian on Scribd

"This is a significant error, as it leads to incorrect conclusions regarding the relative positions of the victim and shooters during the event," Reiber wrote.

Reiber also concluded that the bullet to Clark’s thigh was the first shot that struck him. He said Clark sustained the wound either as he was walking toward the officers or as he moved into a crouching position.

He disputed Omalu’s claims that Clark was struck in the back while standing. Instead, he said that flashes of light from the officers’ position and from beyond Clark’s position on the patio after he was already down indicate the wounds to his back may have come from bullets ricocheting off of the pavement. The flashes can be seen in the infrared video shot by a Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office helicopter.

“Once he is in a hands-and-knees position, Clark’s back is partly exposed to the officers’ position and his back becomes more exposed to the officers’ gunfire once he is prone,” Reiber wrote.

Reiber went on to say that the official autopsy findings and Clark’s position, as shown in the helicopter footage, indicate that the remainder of the gunshots struck him from right to left.

“At no time does the video show Clark to have the left side of his body facing the officers' position as shots are fired, nor does the video show him turning around from a left-facing position, still upright, and putting his back squarely toward the officers as there are further shots fired which then dropped him,” Reiber wrote. “The video evidence provides clear refutation of Omalu's description of Clark's positioning during the shooting as described in his press conference statements.”

Omalu blasted the new findings in a statement to the Sacramento Bee and questioned the need for Reiber's outside review.

"I find it extremely unusual that an outside doctor is reviewing an autopsy report and is coming out to state (I) am wrong," he said. "A doctor cannot say another doctor is wrong. All you can say is, I don't agree with the opinion of that doctor."

Omalu, who is best known as the first forensic pathologist to uncover evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in football players, also said that the county coroner’s findings are an example of why the independent autopsy requested by Clark’s family was vital.

"This is why the family saw the need to hire their own outside expert, because they don't trust the pathologists or the county because of things like this," Omalu told the Bee. "What they forget is we have pictures, and pictures speak for themselves."

About the only thing Omalu and Reiber agreed on is the extent of the damage the bullets did once inside Clark’s body. Both pathologists said it took several minutes for Clark to die as a wound to his heart caused his chest cavity to fill with blood and cause his lungs to collapse.

He had bullet damage to his lungs, as well as rib fractures and damage to his spinal cord, the official autopsy report showed. His arm was also broken by the bullet that struck it.

The cause of death was listed as multiple gunshot wounds, and the manner of death was homicide.

Cox Media Group