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Medical expert who performed autopsy shows series of photos at Summit deputy's murder trial
By Ed Meyer
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Wednesday, Jul 30, 2008
Summit County Jail inmate Mark D. McCullaugh Jr. suffered multiple anal injuries during his fatal 2006 struggle with sheriff's deputies from ''an object that has to be rigid and unforgiving,'' a medical examiner's official said Tuesday.
Demonstrating the injuries in a series of graphic autopsy photos — each magnifying the area of the injuries — the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on McCullaugh said there were three specific areas of impact into and against the anal sphincter muscle.
''The anal blood vessels are crushed and leaking blood into the tissues,'' Chief Deputy Medical Examiner George C. Sterbenz said as he narrated the photos with a red laser pointer.
His testimony marked the first time that a medical examiner's official explained McCullaugh's anal injuries in detail, and it came after Sterbenz had been on the witness stand for more than five hours over two days in the trial of Deputy Stephen Krendick.
Before court adjourned for the day, defense lawyers for Krendick began their cross-examination of Sterbenz, but did not ask any questions about the alleged anal injuries.
Krendick, 35, is charged with one count of murder for the death of McCullaugh on Aug. 20, 2006, after a violent struggle in the inmate's cell in the jail's mental health unit.
Four other deputies indicted in connection with the case are scheduled to go to trial later this year.
Sterbenz did not identify the rigid object that he said caused the anal injuries, but in questioning by Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor John R. Kosko, Sterbenz did say that ''these were foreign-body, sodomy-type injuries.''
Defense lawyer James M. Kersey objected to the term sodomy, and after a conference at the bench with all of the lawyers, Judge Herman F. Inderlied Jr. ordered the term to be stricken from the court record.
Causes of death
In testimony that backed up previous Summit County autopsy findings, Sterbenz concluded his time on the stand for the state by describing the causes of McCullaugh's death.
Sterbenz said McCullaugh died from asphyxia resulting from the combined effects of chemical, electrical and mechanical restraints.
McCullaugh, who was shackled in a hogtied position, choked to death within ''minutes'' of being sprayed with ''a large amount'' of pepper spray, Sterbenz said.
Using his autopsy photos, Sterbenz also pointed out 10 distinct marks on McCullaugh's back from what he said were Taser stun-gun barbs.
In Monday's opening statements, Kosko said Krendick used an entire 16-ounce can of pepper spray, shooting it into McCullaugh's cell through an open flap in the cell door while McCullaugh was naked and restrained.
Kosko said the 16-ounce can, previously described in court records as the ''Sergeant's can,'' was the type used by deputies on numerous people in riot situations.
Krendick asked Sgt. Brett Hadley for the can after the initial confrontation with McCullaugh, and Hadley turned it over, Kosko said.
Hadley and Deputy Brian Polinger — identified by Kosko as the one who opened the cell door flap in the moments before McCullaugh was hit with the pepper spray — were indicted for reckless homicide.
The other deputies, Dominic Martucci and Mark Mayer, were indicted for felonious assault.
In their first chance to question Sterbenz, Krendick's defense team began with Akron attorney Robert C. Baker spending much of the afternoon on McCullaugh's background of psychological problems and the possible life-threatening effects of a ''drug cocktail'' that he received from a jail nurse.
The purpose of the drug cocktail — separate injections of Geodon and Ativan apparently given to McCullaugh before he was pepper-sprayed — was to calm him down, Sterbenz said.
But when Baker tried to question Sterbenz about whether the drugs and the stress from the jail-cell struggle could have caused sudden cardiac death, Sterbenz answered quickly.
''The real issue here in terms of life-threatening [injuries],'' Sterbenz said, ''is the inhalation'' of fumes from ''large amounts'' of the pepper spray.
Fumes from the pepper spray, he said, caused ''severe airway burns.''
Other factors
Krendick's other lawyer, James M. Kersey of Cleveland, contended in opening statements that a combination of heart disease and a condition known as excited delirium caused McCullaugh's death.
And on that issue, Baker followed up with Sterbenz and appeared to create the first hole in the prosecution's allegations about the cause of death.
Revealing the intricacies of his autopsy, Sterbenz said McCullaugh had a ''significantly enlarged heart'' weighing 570 grams.
Such a condition, combined with high blood pressure and blockages in the three main coronary arteries, which McCullaugh also had, could ''place someone in danger of sudden cardiac death,'' Sterbenz said.
But Sterbenz also pointed out that his autopsy report listed heart disease as a ''contributing factor'' in the death.
The trial, entering its third day, is being conducted before Inderlied without a jury. The prosecution is expected to call jail medical personnel in the next round of witnesses.
Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.
Summit County Jail inmate Mark D. McCullaugh Jr. suffered multiple anal injuries during his fatal 2006 struggle with sheriff's deputies from ''an object that has to be rigid and unforgiving,'' a medical examiner's official said Tuesday.
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