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Frantzesco Kangaris/EPA
Amy Winehouse was found dead in her home in Camden, north London, on July 23.
Story updated 1:15 p.m. ET: The local authority, Camden Council, said it was confident Reid "had made an error in good faith" when he appointed his wife, but said the matter was being investigated by Britain's Office for Judicial Complaints.
Story published 11:30 a.m. ET: The coroner who oversaw the inquest into the death of singer Amy Winehouse has resigned after her qualifications were questioned, officials in Britain said on Wednesday.
Suzanne Greenaway ruled in October that the 27-year-old soul singer had died from accidental alcohol poisoning.
However, she resigned after authorities learned she had not been a registered U.K. lawyer for five years as required. It means the verdict in Winehouse's case and 11 others carried out by Greenaway could be subject to a High Court challenge.
Winehouse's relatives said they were still absorbing the implications of the news.
Greenaway had been appointed an assistant deputy coroner in London by her husband, Coroner Andrew Reid. She had practiced law for a decade in her native Australia.
Reid said Wednesday he was "confident that all of the inquests handled were done so correctly" — but offered to hold inquests over again if the families of the deceased wanted it. Greenaway had been in the job since 2009.
Winehouse's family said it had not yet decided what to do.
In a statement, the family said it was "taking advice on the implications of this and will decide if any further discussion with the authorities is needed."
The Sun newspaper, which broke the story, said the dozens of verdicts given by Greenaway would only be overturned if they were challenged in Britain's High Court.
A security guard found Winehouse dead in bed on July 23 at her home in the Camden district of north London. The singer, known for her distinctive beehive hairdos and multiple Grammy-winning album "Back to Black," had battled drug and alcohol addiction for years.
The inquest heard evidence from a pathologist, Winehouse's doctor, the security guard who found her and a detective who described seeing three empty vodka bottles in her bedroom. It appears unlikely that a second inquest would produce a different conclusion about how she died.
The full statement issued by Reid on Wednesday was reported in north London newspaper, the Camden New Journal. It read: "I appointed my wife as an assistant deputy coroner as I believed at the time that her experience as a solicitor and barrister in Australia satisfied the requirements of the post. In November of last year it became apparent that I had made an error in the appointment process and I accepted her resignation.
"While I am confident that all of the inquests handled were done so correctly, I apologise if this matter causes distress to the families and friends of the deceased. I will be writing to the families affected to personally apologise and offer for their cases to reheard if requested."
Although the singer was adored by fans worldwide for her unique voice and style, praise for her singing was often eclipsed by lurid headlines about her destructive relationships and erratic behavior. Winehouse herself turned to her tumultuous life and personal demons for material, resulting in hit songs such as "Rehab" and "Love Is a Losing Game."
Msnbc.com's Alastair Jamieson in London and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Unless I'm mistaken, she's dead from an alcohol over-dose...period! WHy drag on the obvious...stupid people!
Must be potential money involved.
Politics: plain common or garden politics. She is an Australian, appointed by here husband, & whilst it stinks of nepotism, apparently it is not illegal.
Just morally corrupt.
I think this means that, legally, she's still alive.
Family are always vultures, many of you have some, just waiting for your grandmother or a relative to pass away and see what kind of monetary gain they will grasp.
So people have your paper work ready, because if not you'll have war's within your families!!1
but if you died, its wouldnt bother one one bit, even in the afterlife.
Probably a mix of alcohol and the effects of a lifetime of drugs killed her. She was a loser. Very talented singer, (although I didn't like most of her music) but a loser. Just like all you other losers doing drugs and drinking too much. Sorry. Just a fact. Get some help.
Alan290, Your classy comment certainly identifies you as a real "winner." Didn't your mommy ever tell you that if you have nothing nice too say, say nothing at all? Or do you actually believe that drug addicts and alcoholics are on here desperately searching for words of wisdom from you? Get over yourself. You are not all that. Sorry. Just a fact. YOU get some help.
The ultimate fact is we're all going to die someday, The question is where will you go? Christ died for our sins.
Must be some life insurance or royalties money at stake here. Otherwise..
My thoughts exactly. They may be afraid a life insurance company will deem her drinking 3 bottles of vodka suicide and refuse to pay out. Or something of that nature. There are definitely some kind of financial consequences at play or her parents would right now be singing a different tune.
So...this means she isn't really dead?
Heh heh. Good one!!
I'll bet she will be relieved to see her death ruled unlawful as any dead person would be
Hey, Elvis is alive! I saw him driving Amy around King's Cross in an Austen Mini.
I thought you had to be a doctor or pathologist to be a coroner, not a wife and lawyer!
In most places here in the US, you don't even need a high school diploma to be a coroner. All you need to do is win the election.
Wronmg answer Mr. Death! Still need that medical degree in the good old U.S. of A!
roger white, I think you'll find that varies from County to County. The only time you would need that medical degree is if the person holding the job of Coroner is also required to be the Medical Examiner. A Coroner in most places can simply have a degree in forensics and as stated right above your post, the only other requirement is that they win the local election. I am familiar with quite a few locations where the Coroner has to subcontract out anything that requires the input of a M.E.
In several cities in California the sheriff also holds the title of coroner
Voter-in-LA: Thanks for the clarification. Never hurts to learn something new!
Roger, right and it also exposes some of the stupidity we have with some regulations. An example with coroner I can cite right now is local to me. A neighboring Parish (County for the rest of y'all) uses a Funeral Home director as Coroner. Any time they needed an M.E. they simply by contract (expires 2015) had used the Coroner/M.E. from another neighboring and higher populated Parish. Well this neighboring location recently voted in a new Coroner who was an EMT Tech in his previous career whereas their previous Coroner/M.E. was a doctor AND a lawyer. By Contract the first Parish still has to use the Coroner of the 2nd Parish but because he can not perform autopsies, he has to sub it out. And get this, the person doing the autopsies is the previous Coroner/M.E.
Actually this doesn't surprise me. Just yesterday PBS had a show on how many Coroner's in America are not pathologists or doctors. In Rural America, the small towns elect their Coroner and they do not even have to be doctors. Some county Coroner's have been elected for other offices and later given the coroner position. They had one that was the town treasure and given the job of Coroner because they couldn't afford to put anyone else on the payroll. Most big cities are fortunate enough to actually have medical pathologists.
Voter:
This sounds like something the U.S. Surgeon General should address.
My sister, whose late husband was a physician, just yesterday told me what you addressed to me. She went on to say that when our father died the same Physician's Assistant (PA) who took him off his meds ruled on his cause of death; complications from a stroke. According to my brother-in-law (he was still alive at the time), those meds would have kept him going for a few years yet. Hmmm! The P.A. screwed up and then got to cover it up?
I guess all this is a serious issue.
Nice talking to you!
Roger
I guess my wrong answer wasn't so wrong after all.
Mr "Death": No, it wasn't. Never hurts to admit when I'm wrong. "Thanatos" is Greek for "death", somehow, I think you know that. So in Greek: me singhoris (Ok, so the spelling in in English).
Grace is hard to find nowadays and I'm always delighted win I find it. Lord knows that I have little of it, myself.
P.S. I was as shocked as anyone to learn of the low bar that has been set in the US for coroner qualifications. I, too, expected every US coroner to AT LEAST have a PhD in Medicine, if not a post Doc in Forensics. Scary, huh? ;)
This is ridiculous, what do law school credentials have to do with pathology? You don't have to know contract law to rule whether a person died of stabbing or drugs! Sheesh!
It's just another stupid rule I am sure. Doesn't make sense to me.
It's Great Britain, people. Don't get your panties in a twist.
Those crazy Brits
It's knickers not panties.
Watched Frontline last night regarding Coroners in the U.S. They lack skill and oversight and make many false reports that get overturned by a pathologist, if the death is challenged. Most times families don't question though. Many homicides overlooked, it's pretty scary. The fed doesn't regulate them.
Good grief let this lady and her departure rest in peace....
Poor Amy. Rest in Peace. Leave her alone
When I heard cause of death for Amy was "alcohol poisoning", my immediate thought was that the report had been sanitized. There is no way she didn't also have illegal or legal (meaning only that they are prescribed by doctors, not that she necessarily obtained them that way,) drugs in her system. While it doesn't make any difference in the outcome because, after all, Amy is still deceased, it might indicate to some of her "fans" that the drugs were OK; it was the booze that did her in.
I was under the impression she died because she had a seizure while going through alcohol withdrawl. This little lady had BIG talent-listen to 'Back to Black' on youtube. Yes she had her 'demons' but who doesnt? R.I.P. Amy.......
Dead is dead just because an attorney had no license doesn't make her come back to life she is still dead.
Yes- overturn her death and bring her back! I want some more great Amy music!!
thats an oxymoron "great Amy music" really ?
Brings back the pain. Such a waste. I definitely miss her.
RIP Amy!
Oh, I thought they meant she wasn't really dead.
Do they not do autopsys across the pond?
"Your friend is only mostly dead."
"Have fun storming the castle!"
"(Do you think it'll woik?)"
"(It'd be a miracle.)"
"BYE!!"
I liked it better when she wasn't in the news any more.
Does this mean she's not dead?
Then what's the point?
this clown is dead..now let's move on people
Cute pic of your kid.
So, the question is not how she died, but whether the coroner had been in Enland long enough to declare her dead?
What a waste of time and additional grief to her family.
And the cause of death does not change one iota. The "authorities" think giving another inquest will change to cause of death to something more palatable to the family? The coroner not being registered for 5 years doesn't mean she is not qualified. Play with drugs and alcohol and you will die sometime.
What's the big deal?
The cause of death seems plausible given Amy's lifestyle. Why challenge it and cause the family more pain? Let Amy and her family be at peace.
What kind of archaic laws and or rules allows a person regardless of his/her position; to appoint a spouse to a position of authority.
If the person is qualified, no big deal. It's when people start hiring relatives for do-nothing jobs or jobs they aren't capable of doing that problems start.
Eugene Saxe
While there is merit to what you say... the problem is that it is more likely that the appoint-er of a spouse is less like to verify that the qualification are both there and or current.
OottRascals:
Point taken. The appointers at times do need supervision, a point I sometimes forget.
Ok seriously, someone is after money or they want to try and clean up her image or memory. Really? She was known to have problems with both drugs and alcohol, at some point abusing them causes death. This is not a Homicide !!!!! Thank goodness this is in the UK .....
They should just bring her back to life and ask her why she died, well that was easy.
Chris: Not only was it easy to say, but also incredibly insensitive (not to mention stupid).
Come on people, Amy still has living parents, a sibling and other loved ones. Please walk in their shoes for at least one mile before you post such hateful comments. What you put out there in the atmosphere always comes back just like a Boomerang.
Yes, she does. But I have to side with the idea, even if I disagree with the statements. Dead is dead, and it doesn't matter who makes that determination. Now, had she only been in a coma, then run through the crematorium... "Hey Ed, you hear that?" "Hear what?" "Sounds like somebody's screaming 'Help, I'm being burned alive!' in there." "Doesn't matter, paperwork says they're dead."... then yes, there would be a problem.
Such is not the case here.