Following a lengthy and meticulous process, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, in association with the Prosecutors’ Center for Excellence, is preparing to enter the final stretch of its inquiry into cases that involved the medical testimony of Dr. Michael McGee, the former Chief Medical Examiner of Ramsey County. The review scrutinizes the period from 1985 to 2021 to reassure the community of the verdicts’ integrity given recent concerns about the medical expert’s testimony.
In a statement made by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi expressed his commitment "to supporting this process and the recommendations without fear or favor." He openly acknowledged the collaborative role held by the Great North Innocence Project in shaping the evaluation framework, a move designed to potentially overturn wrongfully secured convictions. Simultaneously, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office has begun to specifically examine cases they prosecuted in which Dr. McGee played a pivotal role.
The first phase of the review started back in fall 2021 with an initial pool of 215 cases. These were parsed through initial and peer reviews, leading to classifications ranging from high priority, requiring urgent attention, to those not needing any further review. In the PCE Phase 1 Report, the subsequent Phase 2 focused on 71 cases and dug deeper, examining trial and grand jury transcripts, as well as police reports and photos.
In essence, seven cases were flagged to require further evaluation by medical experts. Kristine Hamann, the Executive Director and Founder of the Prosecutors Center for Excellence remarked on the thorough independence of their review, stating, "The RCAO provided unfettered access to case documents and then stepped aside to allow PCE's review of the evidence and testimony to proceed thoroughly and objectively," as per Ramsey County. This ensures a rigorous and unbiased reassessment of those convictions most in question.
Jim Mayer, Legal Director of the Great North Innocence Project, expressed support for the process and praised County Attorney John Choi for the courage to welcome external scrutiny of their convictions. Gloria Reyes, Ramsey County Deputy County Manager for the Safety and Justice Service Team, reaffirmed the county's endorsement saying, "Accountability and transparency are core values of the county, which is why we fully support the ongoing work by Ramsey County Attorney John Choi to examine past cases involving Dr. McGee's work on Ramsey County cases."
