Victim did not get blood
Jehovah's Witness died after shooting
By Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News
May 5, 2005
An autopsy report confirmed that a man who died from gunshot wounds after a parking lot confrontation with another man did not receive blood transfusions at the hospital because of his religious beliefs.
The report released by the Arapahoe County pathologist was not surprising, given that the victim, Aaron P. Davis, was a Jehovah's Witness.
The autopsy found that Davis, 39, died from one of two shots fired by Glen Eichstedt on Nov. 13, 2004. The deadly shot struck Davis in his lower left chest.
The report indicated that Davis' blood-alcohol level was very low, about 0.015 percent, when the autopsy was performed.
Eichstedt used a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver to shoot Davis and his wife, Benita Davis-Coleman, in the parking lot of a Blockbuster video store in Aurora.
Police said Eichstedt told detectives that Davis and his wife attacked him during a dispute over a damaged car door. Davis' wife is recovering from her wounds.
Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers took the case to the Arapahoe County grand jury in February. It has not decided whether to indict Eichstedt.
Eichstedt's lawyer, Larry S. Pozner, declined to talk about the autopsy report's findings. However, he previously has said that Eichstedt is innocent of any wrongdoing because he acted in self-defense after Davis hit his client in the head with an iron pipe.
However, lawyer Scott Robinson said if the case ever goes to trial, it could lay the legal groundwork for some interesting strategy about how to interpret the pathologist's notation that "blood products were not used during resuscitation due to the decedent's religious beliefs."
The report does not indicate whether Davis would have survived had he received any blood transfusions. It does note that Davis died in the hospital "despite resuscitative measures," but it does not describe precisely what was done in an attempt to save the victim.
Michael J. Doberson, the pathologist who performed the autopsy, declined to discuss the report until the legal proceedings are completed.
Jehovah's Witnesses follow certain biblical mandates that they say prohibit blood transfusions.
Former criminal prosecutor Craig Silverman said defense lawyers would do everything they could to raise reasonable doubt, including questioning whether lack of a blood transfusion contributed to a victim's death.
"That being said, lots of different religions have different traditions when it comes to medical and post-death procedures, and hospitals and coroners' offices generally accommodate those different religious beliefs," Silverman said. "I doubt something like this will lead to any kind of dramatic change in the outcome of this case."
from http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_3753058,00.html
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