A defending attorney was cross examining a coroner. The attorney asks, "Before you signed the death certificate, had you taken the man's pulse?"

The coroner says, "No."

The attorney asks, "Did you listen for a heartbeat?"

"No."

"Did you check for breathing?"

"No."

"So when you signed the death certificate, you had not taken any steps to make sure the man was dead, had you?"

The coroner, now tired of the brow beating, says, "Well, let me put it this way. The man's brain was on my desk, but for all I know, he could still be practicing law somewhere!"