Request By:
Ms. Joyce M. Widenbach
Graves County Coroner
P.O. Box 613
Mayfield, Kentucky 42066
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
Under item 12 of procedural rules of the Mayfield Police Department the scene of a crime must be kept intact. The rule simply states: "Let no one enter -- police, press, coroner, friends or relatives, etc. The scene must be preserved until turned over to the investigators."
You feel that the rule is in direct conflict with statutes pertaining to the coroner's function. As it now stands, the city police will not let the coroner onto the death scene until their detective arrives, and then as coroner you are to follow the detective onto the scene.
A coroner has the specific responsibility for investigating the cause and manner of all deaths that are defined by KRS 72.405 as a coroner's case. KRS 72.405(2) defines a "coroner's case" as a case in which the coroner has reasonable cause for believing that the death of a human being within his county was caused by any of the conditions set forth in KRS 72.025. The latter statute outlines seventeen (17) circumstances, any one of which requires the coroner to procure a postmortem examination. A "post mortem" examination is a physical examination of the body by a medical examiner, or by a coroner or deputy coroner who has been certified by the Department of Justice, and may include an autopsy performed by a pathologist or other appropriate scientific tests administered to determine cause of death.
In considering the coroner's central role of investigating deaths defined as coroner's cases, the General Assembly enacted KRS 72.020. In subsection (1) of that statute, any person, hospital or institution finding or having possession of the body of any person whose death occurred under any of the circumstances defined in KRS 72.025(1) through (12) shall immediately notify the coroner, or his deputy and a law enforcement agency, which agency shall report to the scene within a reasonable time. No person shall remove the body or remove anything from the body until directed to do so by the coroner or his deputy, after the law enforcement agency is present or has failed, within a reasonable period of time, to respond. KRS 72.020 contains specific provisions relating to the coroner's taking control of a death scene in coroner's cases. See OAG 83-52, copy attached.
In the event a law enforcement agency officer reaches a death scene prior to the coroner, he must permit the coroner, upon the coroner's arrival, to go onto the death scene at once in order that the coroner can first make the determination as to whether it is a coroner's case, and if the coroner thinks it is a coroner's case, he can proceed to carry out his investigative powers.
Rule 12 of the Mayfield City Police on its face is believed to be in conflict with the statutory responsibilities of coroners in coroner cases, as above explained. The penalty for a law enforcement officer's violating KRS 72.020 is that he shall be guilty of wilful neglect of official duties and shall be fined no more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or forfeiture of office or both. See KRS 72.992(3).
If the city officer arrives first at the death scene and keeps the scene intact, but steps aside to accommodate the coroner's entry upon the scene, there is no problem. But where the city police will not let the coroner onto the death scene until their detective arrives, the proper unfolding of the coroner's duties has been interfered with, and a violation of KRS 72.020 takes place.
The central role of the coroner has always been to aid in the administration of criminal justice by inquiring into the circumstances of violent or suspicious deaths. The object of an inquest has been to obtain information as to whether death was caused by some criminal act. City of Ashland v. Miller, Ky., 283 S.W.2d 195 (1955) 196. Thus it is important that this criminal investigatory role be not impeded in any way. See also 18 Am.Jur.2d, Coroners or Medical Examiners, § 7, pages 520-521.