>> ERIC: THIS WEDNESDAY RAMSEY COUNTY ATTORNEY JOHN CHOI GAVE MORE DETAILS ON AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION INTO THE COUNTY'S FORMER MEDICAL EXAMINER, DR. MICHAEL MCGEE.

BACK IN 2021, A FEDERAL APPEALS COURT JUDGE CALLED MCGEE'S TESTIMONY "UNRELIABLE, MISLEADING, AND INACCURATE" ON HIS TENURE AS CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER REACHES FROM 1985 TO 2019 AND CALLS INTO QUESTION CASES ACROSS SEVERAL DECADES.

ST. PAUL "PIONEER PRESS" REPORTER MARA GOTTFRIED HAS BEEN FOLLOWING THE STORY AND JOINS US NOW.

WELCOME BACK.

>> HOW DID THEY NARROW THE FIELD FROM, LIKE, 200 SOME CASES DOWN TO, WHAT, SEVEN?

>> THANK YOU.

YES.

THEY STARTED WITH 215 CASES.

>> Eric: OKAY.

>> THAT THEY SAID DATED BACK TO THE 1980s.

SO, THEY GIVE AN UPDATE JUST ON WEDNESDAY, AND THEY SAID THEY ELIMINATED CASES WHEN CAUSE AND MANNER OF DEATH WEREN'T AT ISSUE, ALONG WITH SITUATIONS IF A PERSON WAS FOUND NOT GUILTY OR IF THE DEFENDANT WAS DECEASED.

>> Cathy: HOW DID THIS POP UP?

I MEAN, BECAUSE HE'S BEEN AROUND FOR, WELL, OBVIOUSLY A LONG LONG TIME.

>> RIGHT.

>> Cathy: WAS THERE A CASE THAT WAS THE SPARK FOR ALL OF THIS?

>> YEAH, SO IT WAS THE DREW SJODIN CASE, WHICH DATES BACK TO 2003.

AND THEN IN SEPTEMBER OF 2021, A FEDERAL APPEALS COURT JUDGE ISSUED AN ORDER IN THAT CASE AND THAT'S WHEN, LIKE, ERIC SAID, THE JUDGE WAS CRITICAL OF Dr. McGEE'S TESTIMONY IN THAT CASE.

HE THREW OUT THE DEATH SENTENCE FOR THE MAN WHO WAS CONVICTED, THAT MAN IS STILL SERVING LIFE IN PRISON, BUT THIS ALL CAME ABOUT AFTER THAT JUDGE'S ORDER IN SEPTEMBER OF 2021.

>> Eric: WHAT WILL BE DONE WITH THE RESULTS OF THE SEVEN CASE INVESTIGATION?

IT'S HARD TO DO A DO-OVER HERE.

OR IS THERE A POSSIBILITY TO RETRY CASES?

>> WELL, WHAT THEY SAID AT THE -- ABOUT THE SEVEN CASES IS THEY MADE CLEAR AT THE PRESS CONFERENCE ON WEDNESDAY THAT THEY HAD NOT REACHED A CONCLUSION ABOUT THOSE CASES ABOUT WHETHER THERE ARE LEGAL PROBLEMS WITH THEM OR MEDICAL PROBLEMS.

THEY'RE CASES THEY IDENTIFIED AS NEEDING A CLOSER LOOK.

THEY SAID, THEY'RE ATTORNEYS, THEY'RE PROSECUTORS, THEY'RE NOT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS SO, THEY ARE AS PART OF THIS INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION, THEY ARE HIRING ON OR CONTRACTING WITH THREE INDEPENDENT MEDICAL EXAMINERS WHO AREN'T FROM MINNESOTA TO TAKE A LOOK THROUGH THESE SEVEN CASES AND TO REALLY ANALYZE THESE EVEN CASES.

AND THEN COME BACK WITH A REPORT ABOUT THEM.

>> Cathy: SO IT'S NOT CLEAR JUST HOW ALLEGEDLY SHODDY HIS WORK MAY HAVE BEEN, IF THAT'S A RIGHT WORD TO USE?

>> THAT'S RIGHT.

THERE HAVE BEEN CERTAINLY CASES IN ADDITION TO THE DRU SJODIN CASE, THERE WERE OTHER CASES THAT HAVE COME INTO QUESTION, THERE WAS ANOTHER CASE THAT THE MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE VACATED A SENTENCE IN IN WHICH THEY SAID Dr. McGEE'S TESTIMONY WAS THE LINCHPIN OF THE CASE.

SO THERE HAVE BEEN OTHER CASES, BUT OF THE SEVEN THAT THE RAMSEY COUNTY ATTORNEY TALKED ABOUT THIS WEEK, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL BE FOUND FROM A MEDICAL REVIEW OF THOSE CASES.

>> Eric: AS HE DEFENDED HIMSELF AT ALL PUBLICLY, PRIVATELY, IN COURT, ANYWHERE ELSE?

>> Dr. McGEE IS THE SUBJECT OF A LAWSUIT AND I GUESS I HAVEN'T REALLY SEEN EXACTLY WHAT THAT LAWSUIT'S ONGOING, I HAVEN'T SEEN WHAT'S COME OUT OF THAT.

I KNOW THIS WEEK I TRIED TO REACH HIS ATTORNEYS, AND I WAS UNABLE TO REACH THEM AS FAR AS WHAT HE THINKS OR THEY THINK OF THE CURRENT REVIEW.

>> Cathy: IS RAMSEY COUNTY SAYING AT ALL, PROBABLY NOT, RIGHT?

>> THE COUNTY, SO THERE'S BEEN A DIFFERENT MEDICAL EXAMINER SINCE HE LEFT IN -- I BELIEVE SHE TOOK OVER IN 2020, BUT THEY HAVEN'T REALLY TALKED ABOUT WHAT HEIR CURRENT PRACTICES ARE.

>> Cathy: OKAY.

>> Eric: IS THERE -- COULD THERE BE NEW TRIALS INVOLVED OR RE-EXAMINATION OF THE CASES?

WHAT MIGHT BE DONE WITH THIS WORK PRODUCT WHEN IT'S CONCLUDED?

>> YEAH, IT'S HARD TO SAY.

I THINK THERE COULD BE.

I THINK THOSE WILL BE QUESTIONS THAT WILL GO TO RAMSEY COUNTY ATTORNEY JOHN CHOI, HE'S GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE DECISIONS BASED ON WHAT'S FOUND, WHETHER THERE WOULD BE NEW TRIALS OR WHETHER HE WOULD LOOK AT DISMISSING A CASE, I'M NOT SURE EXACTLY WHAT COULD HAPPEN, VACATING A SENTENCE.

>> Cathy: I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN ANSWER THIS QUESTION, I'M GOING TO TRY IT ANYWAY, THOUGH, BECAUSE YOU COVER COURTS, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE VERY FAMILIAR WITH EVIDENCE, AND I WONDER, THERE ALWAYS SEEMS TO BE QUESTIONS, NOT LWAYS, BUT IT SEEMS SENSITIVE, MEDICAL EXAMINER'S REPORT'S PRETTY SENSITIVE, RIGHT?

>> RIGHT.

>> Cathy: IS THIS PAR FOR THE COURSE IN OTHER PLACES IN THE COUNTRY WHERE THE RESULTS OF A CASE ARE EXAMINED LIKE THIS OR IS THIS UNUSUAL?

>> I DON'T KNOW IN PARTICULAR ABOUT MEDICAL EXAMINER CASES.

I KNOW FORENSIC EVIDENCE IS ALWAYS COMING INTO QUESTION.

AND I SHOULD SAY, FOR THESE SEVEN CASES, THE ONES THAT ARE REMAINING, ONE ASPECT OF THEM IS THAT THEY SAID THE CAUSE OF DEATH WASN'T NECESSARILY STRAIGHTFORWARD, IT WASN'T LIKE THEY WERE DEALING WITH A MURDER CASE THAT WAS A GUNSHOT CASE.

SO THEY WERE CASES THAT SEEM TO BE MORE COMPLEX AS FAR AS THE CAUSE AND MANNER OF DEATH.

>> Eric: THANKS SO MUCH FOR COMING