I need to continue with thoughts very much in the same vein as yesterday's post, and they are prompted by a quote of the local district attorney cited recently in the local newspaper. The district attorney was explaining why he would not be responding to the preliminary autopsy report and the likelihood that he would be filing charges in a particular case. I most certainly appreciate and applaud his reticence to speak before he has all the facts and the input of others, but I am rattled by his explanation. "...I'm not comfortable talking about it [autopsy report]. It goes from the pathologist to the coroner to a cop to me, and black might be turned into white by the time it goes through that,..." What is unclear might be made clearer by this process or shades of gray will hopefully become black and white--to continue with the same figure of speech. But black becoming white? I assume and certainly hope that the pathologist, who performed the autopsy was an experienced forensic pathologist, who was very aware of the importance of his or her work and the potential impact of his or her science and judgment. We can certainly expect the report to be thoughtful and disciplined and, taken in concert with the other investigators' reports, to provide for a coherent account of the event and supports the district attorney's decision to file or not file charges.



If black is capable of becoming white, are known facts driving this case? If not, what is? A quote from James K. Galbraith comes to mind: [persons in positions of authority] "...trust their own system of beliefs and their affinities of politics and class," rather than a reasoned examination of the circumstances guided by intellectual honesty tempered by a degree of personal humility. I posit that we are all subject to such narrowness of vision, which is not vision at all, but a form of intellectual blindness. The challenge that each of us faces is to refuse to be take this easy way out.

I can only hope that an honest read of the facts guides the local district attorney. And that intellectual honesty is my regular partner.