PHOENIX- A jury returned a verdict recently in favor of Maricopa County in Lisa Randall v. Maricopa County, a lawsuit involving the Office of the Medical Examiner. In 2007, an investigation into the death of a four-month-old infant resulted in the prosecution of the Plaintiff, the operator of an in-home daycare. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office later dismissed criminal charges after medical experts disagreed with one another.

The Plaintiff sought to hold Maricopa County liable for the Medical Examiner’s conclusion that the infant died due to blunt force trauma of the head and neck. After a judge invalidated a defense verdict in 2013, the parties were back in court for a retrial from December 5 to 19, 2016. The Civil Services Division of the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office successfully defended Maricopa County and the Medical Examiner in a jury trial before the Honorable David Gass. The jury agreed that the Medical Examiner was not grossly negligent in the performance of his statutory duties, rendering a 9-1 verdict in favor of Maricopa County.