The autopsy done on Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah was released today. You can read it in full here. (pdf)
Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad, at whose request the autopsy had been withheld until today (it was complete in November) held a press conference today at which he apparently said nothing except that the investigation will be continuing for a number of weeks. Rep. John Conyers, Chair of the House Judiciary Committee has already previously written to the Justice Department requesting an independent federal investigation of the killing.
The autopsy confirmed that Imam Luqman sustained 21 gunshot wounds…
The autopsy found Abdullah was hit twice in the chest, four times in the abdomen, twice in the groin, four times in the left hip and side, seven times in the left thigh, once in the scrotum and once in the back.
“At some point his back was turned,” Schmidt said. “Whether that means someone meant to shoot him in the back or not, I couldn’t say. He must have been slightly turned to the left (at the time of the shooting).”
Schmidt said his investigation could not determine whether Abdullah was shot while lying down.
The county’s medical examiners routinely testify in other cases that they use police reports about circumstances and investigator’s observations in helping them arrive at their conclusions. But Schmidt said today his office received no information from law enforcement sources to aid in the autopsy’s findings.
The autopsy also noted abrasions to the hands and face of Imam Luqman, although there was no speculation as to the source of those injuries. The medical examiner said he received no information from law enforcement in coming to his findings, and that it was not part of his examination to do any tests to see if Imam Luqman had fired a weapon.
Of course, since no trial has taken place, there is no way we could know the full facts of the case…all we know is what the government alleges and/or admits to doing in its own indictment.
I don’t think many people are arguing, however, that the defendant is likely to prevail based on entrapment at trial. The legal standard for entrapment, especially in federal court, and what most people think of as morally dubious government behavior which is often loosely referred to as entrapment are two different things.