The family of IU student Joseph Smedley, whose body was found last October in Lake Griffy, has filed a formal complaint against the Bloomington Police Department.
The complaint, written by Smedley’s sister, Vivianne Brown, was filed Jan. 20, after Brown said she had received little cooperation from BPD.
Brown said that after multiple attempts to request information from BPD regarding the investigation of her brother’s death, she has received no response from the department.
“With all of the friends and family that Joseph has, we’re going to keep talking about him and we’re going to keep putting pressure on them until they realize that it’s not going anywhere, we’re not going anywhere and you actually need to step up,” Brown said Wednesday.
Brown, who said she does not believe her brother’s death was a suicide, wrote the complaint on behalf of her mother. Brown’s mother, who lives in the U.S. Virgin Islands, transferred her power of attorney rights to Brown, who lives much closer to the case, so that she might be able to communicate with local officials.
BPD, however, has only kept contact with Smedley’s father, who Brown said has been estranged from the rest of the family.
“My father has been kind of acting as a wedge between the Bloomington Police Department,” Brown said. “I’ve been trying to work with him but he hasn’t really been responsive.”
The complaint was filed against BPD on grounds of “obstructing an autopsy, withholding information from the mother while speaking to the father and being unreasonable with Vivianne, who has tried to do nothing but be kept in the loop to continue to find the justice for Joseph that he deserves,” according to the complaint.
In early December, Monroe County Coroner Nicole Meyer determined Smedley’s death to be a suicide by drowning. Brown has since hired forensic pathologist Thomas Sozio of Central Indiana Forensic Associates to perform a second autopsy of the body.
The first forensic pathologist failed to examine Smedley’s back in the initial autopsy, according the complaint.
The complaint stated that hemorrhages were found in the second autopsy that “could be consistent with someone pressing down on his back while he drowned.”
While Sozio said trauma was found in his examination, he said the complaint’s statement is “one of many possible scenarios,” and that he has not yet been able to determine a source or cause of this trauma.
Sozio said he has been unable to complete his examination because he has not been able to obtain more specific details of the case from BPD.
Sozio attempted to reach out to BPD to request access to interviews, police reports and photography to complete his autopsy. However, Sozio said he was told it was against BPD policy to release such information.
Until such information has been made public, Sozio said he could only list Smedley’s cause of death as undetermined, but that he could wait as long as Brown chooses to make this his final determination.
Without details from BPD, Brown said her next step would be to file a subpoena for the release of information that could assist in Sozio’s report; a process Sozio said could be lengthy and expensive.
Sozio said he understands both sides, that Brown is searching for answers and that BPD is sticking to department protocol.
At the time of publication, no representatives from BPD responded to requests for comment.
Brown encouraged friends and family not to give up on the case.
“Keep having faith and don’t stop talking about Joseph,” Brown said. “Keep asking questions. The police department’s trying really hard to shut this whole situation down and I know that we’re not going to let that happen.”
