tanisha anderson

Mauvion Green at a rally held for her mother, Tanisha Anderson, who died in police custody in November.

(Brandon Blackwell, cleveland.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cuyahoga County medical examiner will not be allowed to testify in the death of Tanisha Anderson, a mentally ill woman who died in police custody, according to an order released late Friday.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Presiding Judge John J. Russo issued the order to forward the investigation to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's office. The order also bars the first page of the medical examiner's findings from being used as evidence.

Russo's order says it's barring the medical examiner's verdict in Anderson's death. The medical examiner deemed her November 2014 death a homicide, a fact that is mentioned on the now-barred first page of the report, but is included in the second page.

Russo privately reviewed the investigation before ordering the report's exclusion.

The email distributed to the media from Russo's spokesman Darren Toms offered no explanation for Russo's decision in the almost two-year investigation. Toms said Russo would not comment further on the order.

Dan Tierney, a spokesman for DeWine, said his office would "have to consider" the difficulty of continuing a homicide investigation without a cause of death report after receiving the full investigation. The order requires the investigation to be hand delivered, and Tierney expects the hand off will happen some time next week.

A medical examiner's report and testimony are normally regarded as key evidence in criminal cases involving homicide.

The attorney representing Anderson's family, David Malik, said he could not comment on the order without further explanation from the judge, and remains focused on a pending civil case against the City of Cleveland and Cleveland Division of Police.

A special master returned a report Sept. 20 after reviewing the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department report and removing any so-called Garrity material. Garrity material includes interviews with police officers which are conducted internally that are protected under federal law.

The decision to prohibit the medical examiner from testifying could signal that he had access to information from interviews with the officers before making a determination of homicide.

In March, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty asked for a special master, an independent outside party, to review the sheriff's department investigation and remove any Garrity material.

Anderson, who suffered from schizophrenia and anxiety, died while being placed under arrest in November 2014. Police claim Anderson died while trying to escape from the back of a patrol car, while Anderson's family, who called 911 that day, claim police slammed her head into the ground.