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A Baltimore city councilwoman hopes that putting the state's chief medical examiner and city police in the same room will lead to an explanation for the large number of "undetermined" deaths in the state and the city over the past four years.

After hearing the concerns of family members about the unclassified deaths of their relatives in the city, Councilwoman Belinda K. Conaway called for a hearing with the two agencies in the fall.

When the manner of a death cannot be classified as natural, an accident, homicide or suicide, the medical examiner labels the cause as undetermined.

Statewide, the number of undetermined deaths reviewed by the state medical examiner rose from 807 in 2004 to 987 in 2007, according to annual reports of the Maryland chief medical examiner's office.

Baltimore accounted for 390 of the cases in 2006 and 373 cases in 2007.

Of the deaths deemed of undetermined cause, "I don't know what kind of effort is put forth toward classifying them, and they are left on the books that way," said Conaway (D-Dist. 7). "At the end of the day it's the medical examiner's call, but the police also are involved in providing information to that office about how the body was found."

Under Maryland's system, information collected by public safety officials investigating unusual deaths is used in helping the state medical examiner determine the manner of death.

Conaway's June 15 resolution requesting the hearing had not yet made it to the office of state Chief Medical Examiner David R. Fowler, and the office had no comment, said a spokeswoman.

Determining manner of death is a collective effort with the medical examiner, and the department will be glad to help in Conaway's requests any way it can, said Anthony Guglielmi, Baltimore city police spokesman.

"I'd like for justice to be served and to know that the numbers being reported are accurate," Conaway said. "I wouldn't want my loved one's death to be left undetermined if it shouldn't be."

Conaway's hearing couldn't come fast enough for Jackie McClary.

Three years ago, the body of McClary's sister, Tyra, was found buried under foliage with a bag around her legs. Tyra was addicted to drugs and had relapsed two weeks before her body was found, McClary said.

At the time, an autopsy, citing a hemorrhaged thyroid gland and the position of the body, noted that asphyxiation could not be ruled out, according to the now-defunct Baltimore Examiner, which covered the case.

Despite the autopsy findings, the cause of Tyra's death was listed as undetermined. McClary believes the death was a homicide.

"I would hope they would stop pushing stuff under the rug. It seems there should be a law against that," said McClary, who buried Tyra on Tyra's daughter's 17th birthday. "It's unbelievable how they can get away with that stuff. It's no way possible from the autopsy of my sister that it should be undetermined."

McClary blames city politicians concerned with the impact of crime statistics on their re-election chances for the number of unclassified cases.

"When a case is undetermined, it doesn't have to be investigated by police because it's not ruled a homicide," said Stephen Janis, a former reporter for the Examiner, who currently operates the Web site Investigative Voice, which uncovers misdeeds in city government.

Prior to Conaway's resolution, Janis did much of the investigation into the city's undetermined cases.

"Doctor Fowler publicly said that a lot of these cases were drug overdoses, but the Baltimore city police said that the number of drug overdoses has gone down," Janis said. "I think it would be good to have it really understood how this happens."

When Conaway's hearing is convened, the medical examiner should be asked what information was lacking for the office to have such a high number of undetermined cases, said Thomas P. Mauriello, an adjunct criminology and criminal justice professor at the University of Maryland, College Park.

If they are lacking some medical explanation, that's one thing, Mauriello said, but if police or emergency medical technicians who responded to the deaths are failing to provide adequate information, that's another issue to address.

Mauriello once worked in the state medical examiner's officer under former chief Dr. John E. Smialek, who died in 2002. He could not recall having discussions about undetermined deaths at that time.

As to why Baltimore city has more undetermined deaths than other jurisdictions, "the medical examiner would have answers to that unless it becomes a political issue," Mauriello said.

Conaway's resolution is nonbinding, meaning the agencies are not required, but are encouraged, to participate in the hearing. A date for the hearing has not been set.