Governor RICK SCOTT should reject the recommendation to reappoint malfeasant Medical Examiner PREDRAG BULIC, M.D.
The Governor should fire malfeasant medical examiner PREDRAG BULIC.
Waiting to hear back from him.
Posted August 26, 2017 06:16 am
By JAKE MARTIN jake.martin@staugustine.com
Local medical examiner settles with state commission on complaints stemming from O’Connell case
TAMPA | The state’s Medical Examiners Commission on Friday settled with Dr. Predrag Bulic, medical examiner for District 23, over administrative complaints filed against him and his former associate, Dr. Frederick Hobin. Both men faced scrutiny and possible disciplinary action for their office’s mishandling of records pertaining to Michelle O’Connell’s death investigation.
O’Connell died of a gunshot wound through her mouth on Sept. 2, 2010, in the home of her boyfriend Jeremy Banks, who was, and still is, a St. Johns County sheriff’s deputy. The gun that fired the fatal shot was Banks’ service weapon.
The death, initially investigated by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, was eventually ruled a suicide by the local medical examiner’s office, which is based in St. Johns County but serves Putnam County and Flagler County, as well. Members of O’Connell’s family have said she wouldn’t have killed herself and some have questioned the integrity of the original investigation and believe Banks is responsible, though he has denied any wrongdoing.
Bulic was not the medical examiner at the time of O’Connell’s death but he has overseen much of the aftermath of the investigations. The original complaints against him and Hobin were filed last year by Clu Wright, a private investigator hired by the O’Connell family, and, shortly after, by O’Connell’s mother and sister.
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State panel proposes disciplinary action for 2 medical examiners involved in O’Connell caseIn February, the commission found probable cause that Hobin unlawfully maintained investigative findings, amended autopsy findings and an amended death certificate at his home; that Hobin failed to have complete notes and the investigative report in the files maintained within the office; that Bulic failed to have a clear policy in place to dissuade such activity and for his “apparent unawareness” the file for O’Connell’s death investigation, housed in his office, was incomplete; and that Bulic violated statute by allowing a staff member to provide autopsy photographs to a person (Wright) who was not a legal next of kin and who did not have the permission of the legal next of kin to view any such images.
Chris Bufano, prosecuting the matter for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said Friday that Hobin resigned from his posts at the District 8 and District 23 offices in December and from his post at the District 19 office in May and, therefore, is now outside the commission’s jurisdiction.
He told commissioners if Hobin ever came back into the employment of any medical examiner’s office in Florida, the complaints against him would be back on the table for consideration.
Bulic, although denying the claims brought against him, agreed to a settlement in which he would implement revised policies and procedures for handling records, subject to the commission’s approval.
Bufano said if the commission found Bulic’s corrective action (already implemented at the office since March 2016) was not up to snuff, it would have the option to put Bulic on probation for up to one year in order to get those policies and procedures on the right track.
Despite some back and forth among commissioners about whether they would like to tack on some probation time, if only for monitoring purposes, to the settlement with Bulic, they ultimately and unanimously decided against it and approved the agreement as-is.
“Obviously, he screwed up,” commission member Carol Whitmore, a Manatee County commissioner, said prior to the vote. “That’s why we’re here.”
Commission member Jim Purdy, public defender for the 7th Judicial Circuit, said Bulic essentially entered a “no-contest plea” instead of an admission of guilt. Bufano had said the case would be going to a trial if the commission denied the settlement, so Bulic really didn’t have any option but to dispute the claims.
Neither Bulic nor Hobin were present at Friday’s proceeding.
Regina Ross, assistant attorney for St. Johns County, said she was there only on Bulic’s behalf, at least officially. However, since Hobin’s own representation was not at the meeting, Ross got stuck with the follow-up questions from commissioners regarding the records in dispute.
Commission chair Steven Nelson, medical examiner for District 10, questioned whether all the files had been removed from Hobin’s home and are now in possession of the District 23 office. Ross said the county retrieved all the documents he had on file at his home and that those documents were copies rather than originals.
Nelson said it wasn’t just copies Hobin had in his possession but that there was an original death certificate amending O’Connell’s manner of death to homicide that was missing from the case file.
“And that’s what started all this,” he added.
Ross said Hobin had only a copy of the document and that the original was in the office, at least at the time of the public records request associated with the complaints. It was unclear whether the death certificate was found in the actual case file or elsewhere in the office.
That was during the discussion regarding Hobin’s case.
The matter resurfaced toward the end of the proceeding for Bulic when Nelson said Ross’ recollection of the document’s whereabouts and how the whole controversy started were “vastly different” from his.
“It was not contained in the file,” he said. “Nobody could find it, and for the longest time, and that is the issue.”
Ross agreed that’s how the matter originated but that the original documents have been in the District 23 office and remain in the District 23 office. She noted several agencies had their hands in the investigation before the county attorney’s office got involved.
Nelson said he found it hard to believe something that went missing for so long and that garnered national and international attention in the media could now be back in the file without a clear understanding of where it had been all that time.
“Where was it?” Nelson asked.
Ross replied: “According to Dr. Hobin, they completed the document and they had a runner come over from the State Attorney’s Office to pick the document up.”
But Nelson said there would be “no reason” a medical examiner’s office would send a death certificate to a state attorney’s office.
Ross said this was all prior to Bulic being appointed to the office and reiterated that Hobin and his counsel were not present to speak for themselves and she would rather not speak on Hobin’s behalf.
Still, Nelson said Bulic is now the superintendent of the records regardless of what happened before his time with the office and that the question stands why Bulic did not retrieve the document if there was knowledge it was missing.
Ross said District 23 staff, including Bulic, have received training from the county in records-keeping and that such training will be taking place annually.
In May, commissioners approved sending a recommendation to Gov. Rick Scott that the incumbent medical examiners from seven districts, including District 23, be reappointed for additional three-year terms. No other names were submitted for consideration.
Bulic’s reappointment already had formal support from St. Johns County.
“I think he’s done an exceptional job, we’re lucky to have him,” County Administrator Michael Wanchick told his commissioners at their April 18 meeing. “He’s gone through a lot since he’s been here but he’s very highly regarded in the community.”
At the head of Friday’s meeting, staff informed the Medical Examiners Commission its recommendations for reappointment have been submitted to the governor’s office and are still pending approval.
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