# Dakota County Medical Examiner *County medical examiner office of Dakota County, Minnesota* The **Dakota County Medical Examiner** is the [[medical examiner]] office of Dakota County, [[Minnesota]]. The court record carried here documents the office through two emails. In 2008 the [[Dakota County Attorney]], James C. [[Backstrom]], sent them to the office's holder, Dr. Lindsey Thomas. They objected to a deputy of hers serving as a defense expert during a Washington County murder trial.[^1] On May 23, 2012, the [[Minnesota Supreme Court]] reversed the first-degree premeditated murder conviction of [[Nicole Beecroft]]. It remanded for a new trial in the interests of justice and found "substantial interference" with the defendant's right to present witnesses.[^1] In 2009 the same Court had publicly reprimanded Backstrom in a disciplinary proceeding over the conduct.[^2] On retrial in [[Washington County District Court]], Beecroft was convicted on September 26, 2013, of second-degree intentional murder.[^3] This project's record pins the United States' own term for the State's apparatus. It is the title of [[United States Department of Justice]] release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026), *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified that case as a matter of general public importance.[^4] The project's catalogue of U.S.-government "regime" usages finds that no other U.S. state has been so described. That is the project's catalogue finding, not an independently established fact.[^4] ## Who Dr. Lindsey Thomas was the Dakota County Medical Examiner who received the emails. Backstrom, then Dakota County Attorney, sent them.[^1] The emails concerned Dr. Susan Roe. Roe was a consulting expert for Beecroft's defense team, and she severed ties with that team mid-trial.[^1] The Supreme Court's finding named Roe and Dr. Ophoven as the experts affected.[^1] ## What Backstrom wrote that he was "disturbed that a Deputy County Coroner in our community is testifying as a defense expert in prosecutions" and called the practice a "conflict of interest."[^1] He threatened to withdraw his support for Thomas's appointment as Medical Examiner unless she barred her subordinates from defense work.[^1] ## When Backstrom sent the emails on September 16 and November 5, 2008, while the Washington County murder trial was under way.[^1] The Minnesota Supreme Court issued its disciplinary order on June 23, 2009.[^2] It reversed the murder conviction on May 23, 2012.[^1] Judge John C. Hoffman returned the second-degree verdict on retrial on September 26, 2013.[^3] ## Where The emails went from the Dakota County Attorney to the Dakota County Medical Examiner. The prosecution they affected was in Washington County.[^1] The retrial was held in Washington County District Court. The [[Washington County Attorney's Office]] prosecuted it.[^1][^3] ## Why The Court held that the emails made it "too risky to Dr. Roe's and Dr. Ophoven's professional careers for them to testify."[^1] It found that this was "substantial interference" with the defendant's right to present witnesses. It also found that "multiple state actors participated in a widespread, pervasive violation of a statutory and constitutional mandate."[^1] The record does not establish the sender's reasons beyond the text of the emails. ## How The emails tied the county attorney's support for the medical examiner's appointment to a condition: that she bar her subordinates from serving as defense experts.[^1] In the disciplinary proceeding, Backstrom waived his procedural rights and admitted the allegations. The Court found that he had violated Minn. R. Prof. Conduct 8.4(d).[^2] ## How much The 2009 disciplinary order imposed $900 in costs on Backstrom along with the public reprimand.[^2] ## How many The opinion records two emails, dated September 16 and November 5, 2008. The Court's interference finding names two defense experts.[^1] Beecroft's conviction moved from first-degree premeditated murder before the reversal to second-degree intentional murder on retrial.[^1][^3] ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue record lists one item for this office. That item states that the 2012 reversal followed the County Attorney's email to the Medical Examiner, which objected that her deputy was serving as a defense expert and threatened her appointment.[^1] It does not concern the office's own death-investigation outputs. The pack carries no self-description of the office to set beside them.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Supreme Court, *State v. Beecroft*, 813 N.W.2d 814 (Minn. 2012) (May 23, 2012) — the emails of Sept. 16 and Nov. 5, 2008 to Dr. Lindsey Thomas, their quoted text, the threat to Thomas's appointment, Dr. Roe's mid-trial withdrawal, the "substantial interference" and "multiple state actors" holdings, and the reversal and remand, as recorded in the project's validated dossier (*Backstrom_Apex_Dossier_2026-09-02.md* §IV). The opinion's online copy is not among this pack's allowed URLs. [^2]: Minnesota Supreme Court, *In re Petition for Disciplinary Action against James C. Backstrom*, No. A09-861 (June 23, 2009) — public reprimand for violating Minn. R. Prof. Conduct 8.4(d), $900 in costs, waiver of procedural rights and admission of the allegations, as recorded in the project's validated dossier (*Backstrom_Apex_Dossier_2026-09-02.md* §IV). The order's online copy is not among this pack's allowed URLs. [^3]: [[Star Tribune]], *Oakdale mom again found guilty of killing newborn baby* (Sept. 26, 2013) — retrial in Washington County District Court and conviction of second-degree intentional murder. https://www.startribune.com/oakdale-mom-again-found-guilty-of-killing-newborn-baby/225572212 [^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — release title; Attorney General Pamela Bondi's certification of the case as a matter of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime