The Medical Examiner testifies - The case of Angel Diaz

The medical examiner who performed the autopsy of Mr. Diaz confirmed:

[Mr. Diaz] did not have actual sorosis [sic] yet or, in fact, he didn't have ongoing activity that would lead to sorosis [sic]. He did not have the so-called piecemeal necrosis which indicates an active inflammatory and destructive process of hepatocytes or liver cells. And he was not developing the scars that eventually result in sorosis [sic].

(T. 849)(see also T. 2363). Nothing about Mr. Diaz's liver would have affected the way his body processed the chemicals. The medical examiner saw nothing in his examination that would indicate that Mr. Diaz had "a markedly deranged metabolism" (Id.). The identity and qualifications of the person who started the "liver story" remains unknown beyond some reference to personnel who DOC had previously determined to be "medically qualified."

This misinformation can only be described as an attempt to hide the Department of Corrections own incompetence in carrying out the execution of Mr. Diaz.

Excerpt from Defense Closing Argument in State v. Lightbourne, Case No. 81-170-CF-A-01 (5^{th Cir. Marion Cty.) including transcript references.}