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Judge hears argument to open Gates’ autopsy reportBy Chris Wechtenhiser' Gazette Staff WriterA local judge heard argument Thursday to determine if the Bedford County District Attorney’s Office must hand over a copy of the autopsy performed on DanaGates following her murder inNovember.Assistant District Attorney William Higgins and Eric D. Hochfeld, who represents the Johnstown Tribune Democrat, presented their cases to President Judge Daniel Howsare during a hearing Thursday afternoon.The Johnstown newspaper isseeking the court to order District Attorney Dwight Diehl to hand over the copy of the autopsy his office possesses.Hochfeld argued that the document is public record under both the Coroner’s Act and the Right to Know Act and therefore should be turned over for public view.Under the Coroner’s Act, Hochfeld said coroners are required to file their documents in their county’s prothonotary office within 30 days of the end of each year. Therefore Hochfeld contended the Gates autopsy should have been made public on Jan. 31.Blair County Coroner Patricia Ross has been steadfast in her belief that the autopsy isn’t a public record and has yet to hand it over.Ross has said she files a one page summary sheet pertaining to each autopsy she does that defines the time and manner of death and other related details. She said she feels the rest of the document isn’t for public knowledge.Higgins countered Hochfeld’s argument by saying he felt theargument wasn’t appropriate at this time.“They’re attempting to remove the coroner from the equation,” he said.Higgins said he felt the proper action would be to file a mandamus action against Ross and seek relief from the Blair County court system under the Coroner’s Act. The Tribune-Demoerat has filed that motion, with a hearing scheduled for next month in Blair County.Hochfeld said the action was filed in Bedford because his clientsfelt it was possible the copy Diehl possessed was the only copy of the autopsy remaining and Ross no longer possessed a copy.Higgins responded to that argument by saying a motion can’t be filed on a “what if?” He said the proper procedure would be to petition the court to force Ross to produce the document.If she no longer possessed it, then Higgins said the next step could be to petition Howsare to order the district attorney to turn over the document.Higgins also argued that justbecause his office possesses a public document doesn’t mean they have let the public see it. Higgins said he believes the copy his office has is a photocopy of Ross’ original and was obtained as part of the investigation process.He said the files in the district attorney’s office aren’t open to the public and the autopsy report is a part of the Gates investigation file.Howsare said he would review both attorney’s arguments and make a decision in the near future.
Newspaper Details
Bedford Inquirer
Bedford, Pennsylvania, US
Fri, Aug 16, 2002
Page 5
Full Page
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USA 07 Aug 2020
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