Monday, February 15, 2016

UPDATED - Scalia's Body Embalmed Without an Autopsy

UPDATE - President Barack Obama shakes hands with John Poindexter, owner of 30,000 acre luxury Cibolo Creek Creek Ranch

Photo of Barack Obama with Ranch Owner John Poindexter

SOURCE OF PHOTO.




Ranch Owner Describes Scene Of Justice Scalia’s Death, Including ‘Pillow Over His Head’ 

Judge declared it a heart attack without looking at the body, but after talking with Scalia’s doctor. Scalia has already been embalmed.

---If This Report Is Correct Mitch McConnell May Have Given Obama a Supreme Court Victory
Obama can make a recess Appt. to replace Scalia GatewayPundit

02/12/2016 Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

despite TX state law requiring autopsy, Scalia's already been embalmed if you view the html source code it shows

< title >Scalia to have autopsy in Texas, according to state law | WFAA.com< / title >

That would have been the original Headline or lead of the story when it went into the Content Management system (sorry inside baseball) but the story now says

Scalia's death to be ruled a heart attack

Wiki already states he died of heart attack

NYT: Ranch Owner Recalls Finding Justice Antonin Scalia's Body no mention of finding Scalia with "pillow over the head" detail.


Embalming at 4am on a Saturday without State required autopsy? Someone was in a God Damn hurry!

UPDATEDFamily agreed to no autopsy?


"Lujan said that Scalia’s family did not request an autopsy..."

Clear as mud. 

Was the decision to not order an autopsy as (required by TX law, Art. 49.04 parts 2 & 6) by the justice of the peace (Cinderela Guevera) made as a result of 'NOT receiving word' from Scalia's family or in confirmation of family's word declining autopsy? Cinderela did speak with Scalia's personal physician who examined him onWed/Thurs. prior, issued an MRI for shoulder injury. Shoulder pain is sometimes related to heart attacks MayoClinic. Would a Dr. not advise a patient to limit travel if questions about his heart condition arise, given the shoulder injury exam (MRI)? Scalia had just returned from an overseas trip to Hong Kong as well. How limited was the MRI? Could it have revealed a pulmonary embolism?


Coincidental to this medical visit,Friday, Feb. 12th, McConnell & co. were in the process of arranging their 10 day recess

Scalia was to travel to TX ranch with one of his sons - who cancelled at the last minute. 
I'd like to know more about the circumstances pulling this son from this trip.

Scalia died alone, unaccompanied (a situation which triggers state req'd autopsy). He was found with a pillow over his head, with his bed clothes un-rumpled. Curious characterization which is bound to trigger questions. 

A resident of Maclean, VA, Scalia's body could not be transported back to VA unless he was first embalmed as required by TX state law. 

Why is it, the law requiring embalming prior to transport was followed, yet the law requiring autopsy under these circumstances, as reported initially was not...especially given no qualified physician/medical personnel was on site to determine exact cause of Scalia's death? 

One of two justices-of-the-peace determined over the phone, without visually examining the deceased, cause of death as 'heart attack'. 

A second justice-of-the-peace states she would have issued order for autopsy.

Given the political hot potato of these circumstances - one would expect every i to be dotted and every t to be crossed when issuing a legal death certificate. Instead, so many coincidences raise endless questions and a run on tin foil. Ugh! Banana republic, here we come!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

original headline suggests autopsy required by state law

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/CR/htm/CR.49.htm

Art. 49.04. DEATHS REQUIRING AN INQUEST.
(a) A justice of the peace shall conduct an inquest into the death of a person who dies in the county served by the justice if:
(3) the body or a body part of a person is found, the cause or
circumstances of death are unknown,
....
(6) the person dies without having been attended by a physician;


Regarding "the pillow over his head"...

Art. 49.041. REOPENING AN INQUEST. A justice of the
peace may reopen an inquest if, based on information provided by a credible
person or facts within the knowledge of the justice of the peace, the justice of the peace determines that reopening the inquest may reveal a different cause or different circumstances of death.


Note:

"A second justice of the peace, who was called but couldn’t get to Scalia’s body in time, said she would have ordered an autopsy.
“If it had been me . . . I would want to know,” Juanita Bishop, a justice of the peace in Presidio, Tex., told The Washington Post in an interview Sunday about the chaotic hours after Scalia’s death at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a luxury compound less than an hour from the Mexican border and about 40 miles south of Marfa."
WaPo

An autopsy would have gone a long way to confirm the MRI reportedly taken on Wed/Thurs prior to Scalia's demise: "The justice’s personal doctor called Guevara at 8 p.m. Saturday night. “When [the physician] explained [Scalia] had just visited on Wednesday and Thursday and [the doctor] had done an MRI, then I felt comfortable what I knew was going on with him physically,” the county judge said.
Guevara said Scalia had gone to his doctor for a shoulder injury last week, but he also suffered from several chronic ailments.
WFAA

The Last English Prince said...

In Texas a Justice of the Peace and also Registered Nurses are allowed to make determination of a death. In other words, I can say "Yep. He is dead." I can declare a person deceased.

* What is the average time from death to autopsy?

* What were the wishes of the family? Would not the remains have been transported via official flight back to the home of record and all burial arrangements been accomplished with the family present? Does embalming require a signatory for the action? And is embalming required for transport of human remains across state lines?

* In Texas hospitals, deaths fall within certain criteria in which the body MUST be transported to the Medical Examiner for autopsy.

* I cannot imagine that a Supreme Court Justice who dies suddenly and away from home would not require an autopsy just as a matter of legal course.

Regardless, we do not have facts.

Anonymous said...

“This was strictly a group of friends that the judge decided to join. He was coming with his son who had to drop out for reasons I don’t’ know."

http://m.chron.com/news/local/article/Texas-ranch-owner-recalls-Scalia-s-last-hours-6830372.php

***********
"Lujan said that Scalia’s family did not request an autopsy and that the body is being prepared for the funeral and will be transported back to Washington on Monday. It is under guard by six law enforcement officials, including U.S. marshals and Texas state troopers, Lujan said." (WaPo)

Anonymous said...

May God forgive me for being this cynical, but this country resembles a Third World country more and more, every day.

You expect something like this to happen in a banana republic, certainly not in the US of A ...

Always On Watch said...

My local news is saying this morning that there was no autopsy recommended by the local-county person and that "the family agreed."

Strange. To say the least.

Anonymous said...

Family agreed to no autopsy?


"Lujan said that Scalia’s family did not request an autopsy..."

Clear as mud.

Was the decision to not order an autopsy as (required by TX law, Art. 49.04 parts 2 & 6) by the justice of the peace (Cinderela Guevera) made as a result of 'NOT receiving word' from Scalia's family or in confirmation of family's word declining autopsy? Cinderela did speak with Scalia's personal physician who examined him on Wed/Thurs. prior, issued an MRI for shoulder injury. Shoulder pain is sometimes related to heart attacks MayoClinic. Would a Dr. not advise a patient to limit travel if questions about his heart condition arise, given the shoulder injury exam (MRI)? Scalia had just returned from an overseas trip to Hong Kong as well. How limited was the MRI? Could it have revealed a pulmonary embolism?


Coincidental to this medical visit,Friday, Feb. 12th, McConnell & co. were in the process of arranging their 10 day recess.

Scalia was to travel to TX ranch with one of his sons - who cancelled at the last minute.
I'd like to know more about the circumstances pulling this son from this trip.

Scalia died alone, unaccompanied (a situation which triggers state req'd autopsy). He was found with a pillow over his head, with his bed clothes un-rumpled. Curious characterization which is bound to trigger questions.

A resident of Maclean, VA, Scalia's body could not be transported back to VA unless he was first embalmed as required by TX state law.

Why is it, the law requiring embalming prior to transport was followed, yet the law requiring autopsy under these circumstances, as reported initially was not...especially given no qualified physician/medical personnel was on site to determine exact cause of Scalia's death?

One of two justices-of-the-peace determined over the phone, without visually examining the deceased, cause of death as 'heart attack'.

A second justice-of-the-peace states she would have issued order for autopsy.

Given the political hot potato of these circumstances - one would expect every i to be dotted and every t to be crossed when issuing a legal death certificate. Instead, so many coincidences raise endless questions and a run on tin foil. Ugh! Banana republic, here we come!

Anonymous said...

Photo: President Barack Obama shakes hands with John Poindexter, owner of 30,000 acre luxury Cibolo Creek Creek Ranch

Source:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Texas-ranch-owner-recalls-Scalia-s-last-hours-6830372.php#photo-1287288


Dem?

Unknown said...

Question is the ranch owner related to Adm poindexer?

http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-man-in-the-white-hat/

Pastorius said...

Hi Will,
What significance would that have, do you think?

christian soldier said...

murder is definitely not out of the question considering all of the 'political' murders in Washington (think of all the murders attributed to the clintons alone!)
C-CS
BTW - an attempt on Robinson (UK) was made a few days ago in the UK--

Unknown said...

Hi Pasto, Poindexter the ranch owner did his military service in Vietnam, was he by any chances a friend or close to Kerry?

Anonymous said...

Will...it will be difficult to narrow down any info given his identity is easily confused with John Poindexter of Iran Contra fame...
as seen here
vs.
Vietnam vet, ranch owner here

Epaminondas said...

Here is the best case .. given what has gone on in this nation since I was in 8th grade (11/22/63), the call to not have an autopsy demonstrates every claim made by Donad Trump about the people running the govt being too incompetent to comb their own hair 100% correct.

Scalia's name will FOREVER now be linked with suspicion and conspiracy theories.

FUCKING MORONS

The worst case is that this is an incompetent crime with a really stupid set of excuses which will be gotten away with because the republicans won't raise hell in case they are wrong.

Given that Scalia saw his doc twice in the 2 days b4 this trip, this is probably natural causes, but this should have been an autopsy in the presence of 2 DIFFERENT LOCALITY coroners and his personal physician along with SCOTUS security.

Pastorius said...

Yes, there should have been.

Supreme Court Justices ought to be treated with the same security and caution as is the POTUS, given the power they wield.

Anonymous said...

Will - checking the contra Poindexter's wiki page, it notes he had five children, including the late Alan G. Poindexter, a NASA astronaut. None of the other children are identified. A link to the obit for Alan doesn't make any reference to his father's identity: obit

Neither does Alan's wiki page.

I am assuming that contra John Poindexter's family details are not online because of the sensitive nature of his work.
Ranch owner/Vietnam vet, John Poindexter does mention a long established military history for his extended family.

Unknown said...

The ranch owner did have a Vietnam war record, highly decorated as well.

He was president of his class at officer candidate school, an airborne ranger, and a captain and a troop commander during a highly decorated tour in Vietnam.


- See more at: http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-man-in-the-white-hat/#sthash.zWPkNPoH.dpuf

Anonymous said...

NYPost: Detectives question lack of autopsy in Scalia death
Veteran homicide investigators in New York and Washington, DC, on Monday questioned the way local and federal authorities in Texas handled the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

“It’s not unreasonable to ask for an autopsy in this case, particularly knowing who he is,” retired Brooklyn homicide Detective Patricia Tufo told The Post.

“He’s not at home. There are no witnesses to his death, and there was no reported explanation for why a pillow is over his head,” Tufo said. “So I think under the circumstances it’s not unreasonable to request an autopsy. Despite the fact that he has pre-existing ailments and the fact that he’s almost 80 years old, you want to be sure that it’s not something other than natural causes.”

Bill Ritchie, a retired deputy chief and former head of criminal investigations for the DC police, said he was dumbstruck when he learned that no autopsy would be performed.

“I took a look at the report and I almost fell out of my chair,” Ritchie told The Post from his home in Maryland.

“I used to be an instructor in the homicide school. Every death investigation you are handling, you consider it a homicide until the investigation proves otherwise,” Ritchie said.