Michael Baden
Michael M. Baden is an American physician and board-certified forensic pathologist known for his work investigating high-profile deaths and as the host of HBO's Autopsy. Baden was the chief medical examiner of the City of New York from 1978 to 1979. He was also chairman of the House Select Committee on Assassinations' Forensic Pathology Panel that investigated the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
Early life and education
Baden was born in the Bronx, New York, on July 27, 1934, to a Jewish family from Russian Poland. He graduated at the top of his class from the City College of New York in 1955. He received his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine in 1960. He completed a pathology residency at Bellevue Hospital.Professional career
New York City
Baden was the chief medical examiner of the City of New York from 1978 to 1979, but was removed from his position by New York City Mayor Ed Koch, after Koch had received complaints about his work, including memos from district attorney Robert Morgenthau and city health commissioner Reinaldo Ferrer, documenting their criticism of Baden for "sloppy record keeping, poor judgment, and a lack of cooperation". In 1979, Baden's onetime lawyer Robert Tanenbaum defended his autopsy methods, while also acknowledging his lack of cooperation with the New York establishment. Baden later won $100,000 in a wrongful-termination suit. The reinstatement was later overturned by a higher court.HSCA
Baden was chairman of the House Select Committee on Assassinations' Forensic Pathology Panel that investigated the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He was interviewed for the 2023 documentary JFK: What the Doctors Saw.Later career
Afterward, Baden was hired as deputy medical examiner for Suffolk County, but was dismissed for allegedly making inappropriate comments about how to commit the perfect murder. An article in Oui Magazine quoted him describing how to get away with "high tech murder," but Baden strongly denied making the statement. The decision to let him go was rescinded shortly thereafter, as the circumstances of his alleged comments were unclear, but Baden chose to leave the position nonetheless.Baden maintains a private forensic pathology consulting practice. He has been a consulting or lead pathologist and an expert witness on a number of other high-profile cases and investigations. He testified at Sergeant Evan Vela's court martial, and on behalf of Phil Spector at the latter's murder trial, while Baden's wife served as Spector's defense attorney. He has been hired to conduct private autopsies in a number of cases, including the shooting of Michael Brown and the deaths of New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez, civil rights lawyer and politician Chokwe Lumumba, George Floyd and African-American artist Ellis Ruley.
Baden was a Forensic Science Contributor for Fox News, and a frequent guest on Fox's late-night satirical program Red Eye where he was known as the "Death Correspondent". Baden also had his own television series on HBO: Autopsy.
Some of his opinions have been considered controversial, especially where he has opposed the findings of the county coroner. New York Magazine journalist Sarah Weinman labeled Baden as a "celebrity pathologist."
Notable cases
Baden's independent autopsy findings are often in conflict with the local authorities' opinions; as such, many consider him to be a headline-seeking physician as opposed to a legitimate source of information.O.J. Simpson
Baden testified in the O.J. Simpson trial on August 10 and 11, 1995, and made two claims that he later disowned. First, he claimed that Nicole Brown was still standing and conscious when her throat was slashed. The purpose of this claim was to dispute the theory that Brown was the intended target. The prosecution argued that Brown was murdered first and the intended target because the soles of her feet didn't have any blood on them despite the large amount of blood at the crime scene and that she was unconscious when her throat was cut because she had very few defensive wounds. At the subsequent civil trial the following year he disowned that claim and admitted it was absurd to think that someone would stand still without moving their feet while their throat is being slashed and not fight back.Baden then claimed that Ron Goldman remained conscious and fought with his assailant for at least ten minutes with a severed jugular vein. The purpose of this testimony was to extend the length of time it took the murders to happen to the point where Simpson had an alibi. At the subsequent civil trial he initially denied making that claim and then after being confronted with a video clip of him saying it at the criminal trial, he disowned it. Baden claimed he misunderstood the question but the Goldman's attorney allege he said it because the defense paid him to do so. He also alleged that Baden knowingly gave false testimony because he knew that Ron Goldman's blood was found inside Simpson's Bronco despite Goldman never having an opportunity within his lifetime to be in Simpson's car.
After the trial, Baden said that testifying for Simpson was a mistake as his reputation and credibility never recovered and his clientele for his consulting practice all but vanished. Because of the negative reaction to the acquittal by the public, the jurors stating they believed his two aforementioned claims that he later disowned, and the trial being televised making his testimony widely known, he was constantly being made to rehash his testimony from the Simpson case during cross-examination in other cases and constantly being discredited for allegedly being a "rented expert" who sold himself to Simpson and deliberately gave misleading testimony in order to collect a $165,000 retainer.