ABSTRACT
Ask most any medicolegal investigator, investigating an arrest-related death, officer-involved shooting, or suicide death in custody, and he or she will comment that these classifications of deaths present some of the most complex and challenging death investigations they are required to perform. Prior researchers have reported that deaths classified into these categories are among the most highly charged and emotional cases investigated by coroners or medical examiners (Lifschultz & Donoghue, 1991). Luke and Reay (1992) noted that investigating deaths in police custody is considered a “perilous and a slippery slope, in the never-never land of death.” Reay (1998) further reported that a death in police custody, due to unsubstantiated facts and rumors surrounding the death, has the potential for controversy, and major disturbances have erupted because of alleged police misconduct. Moreover, Southall et al. (2008) reported that a death during arrest or while in police custody is one of the most contentious and controversial cases facing the medical examiner.
