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Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Ind. Courts - Wayne County Prosecutor sued for defamation by coroner

Bill Engle reports today in the Richmond Palladium-Item:

The pathologist who performed the autopsy on the body of Erin Stanley of Centerville in 2007 has sued Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Shipman for defamation.

Dr. Joseph Czaja, [now] a resident of Smith County, Texas, alleged in a lawsuit that Shipman defamed him with his comments after the dismissal of a murder charge against Stanley's boyfriend, James McFarland, in February 2009.

The suit was filed Friday in the Delaware County Clerk's office in Muncie.

Czaja said Shipman made comments to members of the victim's family, other prosecutors, and to print, radio and television media after the case was dismissed that placed the blame for the dismissal on Czaja and attacked his integrity and professional qualifications. * * *

In the suit, Czaja said Shipman, after the charge against McFarland was dismissed, wrote a letter to Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards "littered with misleading and false information" that caused Czaja to lose pathology work in that county and other counties in Indiana.

He also alleges he was delayed in becoming a partner in Pathology and Forensic Consultants in Fort Wayne, Ind., because of the incident.

The Pal-Item story includes a link to the 8-page complaint.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 13, 2010 09:27 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts