Dr. arrested in storage unit body part case

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) - UPDATE: Sept. 7, 2012 - Former Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Berkland has been arrested on conservation and disturbing the peace charges.

Sept. 5, 2012 - The Florida State Attorney’s Office will have to decide whether a former medical examiner will face criminal charges after human remains were found in a storage unit he owned in Pensacola.

Bill Eddins with the State Attorney’s Office is in charge of determining whether Dr. Michael Berkland broke any laws regarding biomedical waste and the storage and disposal of human remains.

Brains, hearts and lungs from more than 100 bodies are just some of the things found in the storage unit. Not what you would expect in a storage locker.  

“It's a very unusual case. I've been practicing law a long time. I haven't had the occasion to be involved in a case of this nature before,” said Eddins.

 Eddins is trying to determine is the original owner, Berkland broke any laws.  

 "It's a complicated case. We are in the process of making sure that we clearly and completely understand the facts,” said Eddins.

 Police said the locker’s contents were auctioned off for $900. That’s when the new owner  found dozens of crudely preserved human brains, hearts and lungs in soda cups and plastic food containers

 Eddins said the organs came from Berkland’s career as a medical examiner and some of them date back to cases as old as 1999.

Berkland was profiled on FOX10 News in 2007. He lost his post as an assistant medical examiner for filing late autopsy reports. He was also fired from his job as a medical examiner in Missouri in 1996.

"I am aware of the occurrences in his past. However, they will not play any role in our determination about the facts in this case,” said Berkland.

Eddins said there is no law that addresses medical examiners keeping organs, but he is looking at several other laws, one involving handling hazardous materials.  

 "There’s not only the organs or the body parts, but the items the liquid they were stored in as well,” said Eddins.

Eddins also wants to talk to the family members of the deceased before making a decision which has been a challenge.

"Some of them have been identified. Some have not, and it is a little bit more complicated process than you might imagine with the limited information we have,” said Eddins.

Eddins hopes they will have a decision this week but said this case is unusual so they are taking their time.

According to Eddins, Berkland has not made a statement. Berkland’s Attorney did not return our calls.