Oklahoma lawmaker pulls proposal to make autopsy details secret
The revised measure would have applied to murder cases in which law officers have no suspect. Critics said family members and the public have the right to the information
Facing stiffer opposition than she expected on the House floor, a lawmaker Monday pulled her bill that would have allowed district attorneys or law enforcement agencies to request the state medical examiner’s office to withhold certain parts of homicide autopsy reports for an indeterminate time.
House Bill 3155 was revised to cover only homicides in which authorities "are grasping at straws” and have little evidence or clues to come up with a suspect, said the measure’s author, Rep. Leslie Osborn. "We’re talking about not releasing every heinous detail,” said Osborn, R-Tuttle. Osborn said she estimated the measure would have been applicable about five times a year. Republicans and Democrats attacked the measure, saying it would have sealed off information from families of the deceased and from the public’s right to know. Osborn said the bill would have allowed authorities to ask the medical examiner’s office to withhold certain "grisly details” so it would be more difficult for "false confessors” to go to law officers and interfere with investigations. "It does kind of set up roadblocks and kind of diverts attention,” she said. Rep. David Dank, R-Oklahoma City, a former newspaper publisher, said he was concerned the measure would cut off information. House Speaker Pro Tempore Kris Steele said the measure could eliminate a layer of accountability from the medical examiner’s office. Steele, R-Shawnee, said people, based on information they have received from the media, have helped provide information to police. "Don’t you think openness and transparency in government is a good thing?” Rep. Lucky Lamons, a retired police officer, asked Osborn. Lamons, D-Tulsa, tried to add an amendment to Osborn’s bill that called for the House of Representatives and the Senate to conform with the state Open Meeting Act and Open Records Act. His effort failed. Legislators questioned Osborn for nearly an hour before breaking for lunch. Osborn didn’t bring up the measure in the afternoon, and she said after Monday’s session she voluntarily withdrew her bill. Osborn said that she would seek an interim study this year or continue to meet with law enforcement and media representatives in hopes of bringing up another form of the bill next year. A similar measure filed by another legislator stalled during last year’s legislation session. Osborn said she filed HB 3155 after hearing concerns from law enforcement officials that too much information was released about last year’s slaying of an Anadarko pastor and the 2008 killings of two Weleetka-area girls. Both cases remain unsolved. Contacted later, Mark Thomas, executive director of the Oklahoma Press Association, said the state medical examiner’s office has a unique place in government. "It’s supposed to be independent and autonomous and not subject to other agencies,” Thomas said. "That includes criminal investigators and prosecutors. "We want to make sure the public clearly understands the medical examiners don’t work for the police,” he said. "The medical examiner’s responsibility is to tell the public exactly how people died. Apparently there are killers still out there, and the public needs to know how vicious these people are.”
Related Topics:
Law Enforcement, Murder and Homicide, Crime, Politics, Crime and Law, Government and Politics
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