马里兰州总检察长结案 OCME 审计复核：2006年 Rawls 死亡案证据不足、不重启刑事调查
马里兰州总检察长办公室11月10日在巴尔的摩宣布，已完成对 Thomas Rawls 死亡案调查卷宗的复核，认定证据不足，不重启进一步调查。Rawls 于2006年3月2日在巴尔的摩县被巴尔的摩县警察局警员约束后死亡。应 Rawls 家属律师的要求，总检察长办公室暂不公布调查卷宗的更多细节。
这项复核源于一项行政令：要求复查2003年至2019年间41起与约束有关的死亡案件，独立法医在审计中认为这些案件本应被认定为他杀，而州首席法医办公室（OCME）当年并未如此认定。审计结果2025年公布后，OCME 至今没有更改这41起案件中任何一起的死亡方式或死因认定。总检察长办公室说明，按美国法医协会（NAME）的口径，死亡方式认定不是法律结论，他杀认定本身不等于刑事意图或刑事责任成立。
就 Rawls 一案，OCME 于2006年3月3日尸检后把死亡方式定为「未定」，巴尔的摩县州检察官办公室当年决定不起诉。近二十年后，独立法医在州审计中认为该案死亡方式应为「他杀」，但 OCME 至今未更改原认定。总检察长办公室的资深检察官与调查员团队复核执法机关与 OCME 的卷宗后认为，现有证据不足以在排除合理怀疑的标准下证明刑事责任，与巴尔的摩县州检察官办公室当年的决定一致；该办公室将给逝者家属查阅调查卷宗材料的机会。审计涉及的41起案件目前正由该团队全面复查。
（来源：马里兰州总检察长办公室）
Maryland Attorney General Concludes OCME Audit Case Review: Insufficient Evidence to Reopen 2006 Death of Thomas Rawls
The Maryland Office of the Attorney General announced in Baltimore on November 10 that it has completed its review of the investigative file from the death of Thomas Rawls, who died on March 2, 2006, following restraint by Baltimore County Police Department officers, and found insufficient information to warrant opening the matter for further investigation. At the request of counsel for Rawls' family, the office is not releasing additional details from the investigative file at this time.
The review was conducted under an executive order requiring a review of 41 restraint-related deaths between 2003 and 2019 that independent medical examiners, in an audit, determined should have been classified as homicides, while the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) had not classified them that way. Since the audit findings were released in 2025, the OCME has not changed the manner or cause of death certification in any of the 41 cases. The attorney general's office noted that, under National Association of Medical Examiners standards, manner-of-death classification is not a legal conclusion and does not by itself establish criminal intent or culpability.
In Rawls' case, the OCME performed an autopsy on March 3, 2006, and ruled the manner of death Undetermined, and the State's Attorney's Office for Baltimore County declined to pursue criminal charges. Independent examiners in the state audit later determined the manner should have been Homicide, but the OCME has not changed its original certification. After reviewing law enforcement and OCME files, the attorney general's team of prosecutors and investigators found insufficient evidence to prove criminal culpability beyond a reasonable doubt and concurred with the Baltimore County decision. The office will give the family an opportunity to review materials in the investigative file, and its team is now conducting a comprehensive review of all 41 audit cases.
(Source: Office of the Attorney General of Maryland)
来源：马里兰州总检察长办公室
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：位于马里兰州巴尔的摩市的市政厅大楼。Wikimedia Commons，公共领域。 / Photo: Baltimore City Hall in Baltimore, Maryland. Via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
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