Texas medical examiner’s testimony halted amid investigation

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Prosecutors in Travis County will not allow a medical examiner to testify in criminal cases amid an investigation involving Texas Rangers and the Texas Medical Board into the examiner’s work at his new job in West Texas.

Dr. Sam Andrews previously performed autopsies and testified in cases in Travis County before becoming the chief of the Lubbock County medical examiner’s office in October.

The basis for the investigation is unknown but the Austin American-Statesman reports that a letter from a Lubbock County commissioner to a judge alleges that Andrews had improperly harvested body tissue from deceased children for research.

The letter also asserts that a doctor in Andrews’ office had performed autopsies despite not being licensed to practice medicine in Texas.