As he cross-examined the coroner, the
defense attorney asked, "Before you signed the death certificate, had you taken
the man's pulse?"
"No," the coroner replied.
"Oh? Did you check for
breathing?"
"No."
"So when you signed the death
certificate," the attorney asked with a smirk, "You had not taken any steps to
make sure the man was dead, had you?"
"Let me put it this way," the
badgered coroner replied. "The man's brain was sitting in a jar on my desk.
But," he added, "I guess that he could still be out there practicing law
somewhere."