Ronald Kornblum
| Ronald Kornblum | |
|---|---|
| Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner for the County of Los Angeles | |
|
In office April 27, 1982 – July 1, 1990 |
|
| Preceded by | Thomas Noguchi |
| Succeeded by | J. Lawrence Cogan (Acting) |
| Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner of Ventura County | |
|
In office January 1, 1974 – August 31, 1980 |
|
| Preceded by | First |
| Succeeded by | F. Warren Lovell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 5, 1933 Chicago, Illinois |
| Died | September 23, 2008 (aged 74) La Cañada Flintridge, California |
| Alma mater |
University of California Los Angeles University of California San Francisco |
| Occupation | Coroner |
Ronald N. Kornblum was an American coroner who served as Los Angeles County Coroner from 1982 to 1990.
Kornblum was born December 5, 1933 in Chicago. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Los Angeles and earned his medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco. From 1960 to 1961, Kornblum was a Navy medical officer in Saigon.
After Kornblum's naval service, he pursued his medical residency at Santa Clara County Hospital. Kornblum discovered that he enjoyed diagnosing illnesses more than treating them and decided to specialize in pathology. In 1966 he took a job with the Maryland Medical Examiner's office, where he rose to the position of chief deputy. There he presided over the autopsy of Yosef Alon.
In November 1973, Kornblum was named Ventura County's first full-time Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner after the county adopted a new system. He took office on January 1, 1974.
In 1980, Kornblum left Ventura County to become the top assistant to Los Angeles County Coroner Thomas Noguchi. In 1982 Noguchi was demoted to physician specialist for speaking too freely to the media, moonlighting, and alleged mismanagement. Kornblum was appointed acting coroner. In 1987 he was appointed to the job outright after the Supreme Court of California declined to hear Noguchi's legal challenge of his demotion.
Kornblum was praised for improving the office's efficiency and professionalism. He was also recognized for his knowledge of Sudden infant death syndrome, chokehold deaths, and fatalities involving Tasers. However Kornblum's office was also criticized for moving too slow on autopsies, leaving bodies at crime scenes for hours, and for bouncing corpses on freeways due to bad door locks on old coroner vehicles.
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