Dr. Christopher I. Swalwell -- in consultation with his boss, San Diego County Medical Examiner Dr. Brian D. Blackbourne, and the department's chief deputy, Dr. Harry J. Bonnell -- made the crucial decision to convert the cause of death from accident to homicide.
Initially, after Kristi Miller's body was found on the night of Aug. 23, 1993, in a pasture behind her home in the city of Imperial, Swalwell ruled the 28-year-old woman had died accidentally from numerous head wounds apparently inflicted by an ornery cow.
But five months later, the pathologist formally changed his opinion, calling the death a homicide.
Jeffrey Miller's attorney, Everett L. Bobbitt of San Diego, is blunt in his assessment of the Medical Examiner Office's role.
"They were incompetent," Bobbitt said. "They didn't spend the necessary time to determine what happened. Only after political pressure did they change their minds. They gave him (the sheriff) the opinion he wanted."
Blackbourne said, "That is absolutely not right. I don't think this has any effect on the Medical Examiner's Office."
Swalwell did not respond to repeated requests for comment.