Coroner's Role Questioned in Police Killing of Charles Dixon

Criminal Charges Still NOT Filed in Police Murder of Black Man

Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht said Saturday he had already recommended charges against police in the death of Charles Dixon when the man's relatives asked him to be an expert witness in a federal wrongful death lawsuit. Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. is investigating a $5,000 payment to Wecht by a law firm working for relatives of Dixon, a 43-year-old Altoona man smothered in 2002 as police tried to handcuff him during a brawl at the Mt. Oliver Fire Hall. Wecht recommended that Zappala pursue criminal charges in Dixon's death, and said yesterday that he was approached two months later by J. Kerrington Lewis, a lawyer for the Dixon family, about writing a report for the lawsuit filed against police. Wecht was paid $5,000 for the report, which explained positional asphyxiation, which the coroner's office cited as Dixon's cause of death. Zappala's criminal investigation of Wecht comes as the two the district attorney and Wecht battle in court over whether the coroner has the authority to use inquests to determine whether anyone should be held accountable for a death. Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning is expected to issue an opinion sometime this week. Zappala's office also is looking into contracts Wecht has as an independent forensic pathologist with seven other counties to conduct autopsies on cases outside Allegheny County. Zappala has said that for several years, there has been a backlog of evidence testing in the coroner's office. As county coroner, Wecht ruled that Dixon died due to positional or mechanical asphyxiation when arresting officers placed the 300-pound man face-down while trying to arrest him. Wecht ruled in July 2003 that the death was a homicide and police should be charged, but he couldn't determine which officers should be charged. He urged Zappala to identify the offices and prosecute them. Criminal charges have not been filed. [more]