Ramsey County Medical Examiner Case Review

On September 3, 2021, Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ralph Erickson issued an order in United States vs. Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr. criticizing the work of Dr. Michael McGee, who served as the Chief Medical Examiner of Ramsey County for over 40 years. Judge Erickson called out the findings and testimony of Dr. McGee regarding the cause of victim Dru Sjodin’s death as "unreliable, misleading and inaccurate.” As a result of Judge Erickson’s order, the RCAO engaged the Prosecutors’ Center for Excellence (PCE), an independent nonprofit comprised of career prosecutors with extensive trial skills to lead the initial phases of the review of RCAO cases where Dr. McGee was a witness. In the final phase of the review, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office also consulted with the Great North Innocence Project (GNIP), who are experienced, career defense attorneys. The RCAO convened a panel of three independent medical examiners to review, (re)examine and draw conclusions about Dr. McGee’s case work in the final phase cases and facilitated the opportunity for PCE attorneys and the GNIP attorneys to also meet with the medical examiners before they made their final recommendations. Having received recommendations from expert medical examiners, expert prosecutors, and expert defense attorneys, the RCAO then conducted some further study and consideration of each case before reaching a final conclusion.  

Identification of Cases

The RCAO was able to generate a list of cases where Dr. McGee was listed by the prosecutor as a witness. The RCAO also learned that as a result of the Rodriguez opinion, the Great North Innocence Project and the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office were being made aware of cases associated with Dr. McGee and so the RCAO coordinated with those agencies to ensure that the Ramsey County cases that they were aware of were included in the review. A total of 215 cases were identified for review.

Phase 1

The first phase of the review identified whether any cases required a further, more detailed investigation.  

•  PCE Report: Phase 1 and recommendations for Phase 2

Phase 2

The second phase of the review consisted of a deeper analysis of cases identified in Phase 1 that required further review. This included review of transcripts and reports to determine which cases required an in-depth review of the entire case, an analysis by an expert or both.

• PCE Report: Phase 2 and recommendations for Phase 3

Phase 3

The third phase of the review consisted of seven RCAO cases requiring further review. PCE interviewed potential medical examiner experts who had not previously testified or consulted in cases involving Dr. McGee.

• PCE Report: Phase 3 and Final Recommendations