In his fight to clear his name in the death of a suspect, former Cincinnati Police Officer Blaine Jorg found a New York coroner who says the man died of a heart attack after an adrenaline rush.

Jorg

        Roger Owensby Jr. suffered a “sudden cardiac death” — an irregularity in his heartbeat that followed “a period of intense exertion, from the effects of epinephrine and nor-epinephrine,” says Dr. Charles Wetli, chief medical examiner in Suffolk County.

        Epinephrine is adrenaline.

        The opinion, sought by Officer Jorg in his $10 million defamation suit against the Cincinnati Black United Front, is the first to take blame for the November 2000 death away from officers.

        Two other coroners have said Mr. Owensby died of manual asphyxiation brought on by a chokehold or by police officers piling on top of him so he couldn't breathe.

        But Officer Jorg's attorney, William Gustavson, has said for months that he would prove that Mr. Owensby was not asphyxiated. Dr. Wetli, in his affidavit filed Monday, listed factors that led him to his belief that Officer Jorg wasn't to blame, including:

        The death occurred suddenly, with “absolutely no evidence of neck injury”; and some witnesses said Mr. Owensby walked to the cruiser, where he had a “sudden loss of vital signs.” Such a sudden loss after an intense period of physical exertion is typical for a cardiac arrhythmia.

        Mr. Owensby had an injury to his chest wall, but there's no evidence that chest compression occurred over three to five minutes, which would be necessary to cause asphyxia. And the bruises on Mr. Owensby's back were consistent with blows from a fist, not with compression from knees.

        Tiny hemorrhages in the white parts of Mr. Owensby's eyes, called petechiae, are not adequately shown in the autopsy pictures, casting doubt on their existence. Petechia in only the right eye, which a doctor testified to at trial, would be evidence of an injury to only that eye, possibly from an irritant or dirt.

        Dr. Wetli's findings have no impact on the possibility that Officer Jorg will face trial again in the death.

        Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen has said he will not retry the officer on an involuntary manslaughter charge that a jury could not decide upon. Officer Jorg was found not guilty of assault. He resigned from the Cincinnati force and now works for Pierce Township.

        In the suit for which the doctor's opinion was sought, Officer Jorg accuses the Cincinnati Black United Front of defaming him in a letter last year which said he used a “Marine-style chokehold” to kill Mr. Owensby.

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