Torgersen v. State

Andrews, Judge.

Howard Roy Torgersen, Jr., was indicted for murder and convicted by a Chatham County jury of involuntary manslaughter in the death of his wife, Diane Torgersen.

At trial, the State’s case was founded on the testimony of Dr. Check, the pathologist who performed the autopsy on Ms. Torgersen, who opined that the injury which caused her death resulted from a forceful blow to the abdomen. The defense theory was that Ms.. Torgersen’s death resulted from a blow she received when she accidentally fell on a bedpost. This theory was supported by the testimony of Torgersen, several of his…