The (Easton) Express-Times, April 17

Easton officer accidentally killed in 2005; Express-Times seeks autopsy report since 2006

By APRIL HALL
The Express-Times

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard arguments on April 16, in The (Easton) Express-Times' appeal to obtain the autopsy report of slain Easton police officer Jesse Sollman.

The newspaper requested the report in February 2006, nearly a year after Sollman was accidentally shot by fellow officer Matthew Renninger at the Easton police station March 25, 2005.

Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim denied the request in February 2006.

At issue is what is considered an official record of the coroner and what must be made accessible to the public. A Pennsylvania statute calls for a coroner to file all records with the county prothonotary no later than Jan. 30 of the year following a death.

Douglas J. Smillie, the attorney representing The Express-Times, told the six-justice panel that official duties of the coroner end when the autopsy is complete, making that a part of the official record of the job.

The justices, including Justice J. Michael Eakins, asked if photographs were part of an official autopsy report. Eakins said publishing autopsy photographs would be "devastating for the family" of the victim.

Photographs are not part of The Express-Times' petition, Smillie said.

"We have never requested photos," Editor Joseph P. Owens said after the court proceeding. "We sought what is required by law, which is the autopsy report. We have no idea what is in (the report), because Lehigh County, in our opinion, has refused to abide by the law."

The newspaper filed its request in February 2006, a month before details of Sollman's death were released by the state attorney general's office. That followed a state grand jury ruling that Renninger's negligence contributed to Sollman's death but didn't merit criminal charges.

Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille noted that while a Commonwealth Court decision cited privacy issues as a reason not to release an autopsy report, there was no explicit explanation as to why privacy is a consideration.

Lehigh County attorney Stuart Shmookler, representing Grim's office, said releasing detailed autopsy reports puts the victim's privacy and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in jeopardy. Not only could autopsies include photographs but also the results of drug and HIV tests, he said.

Shmookler also said no law explicitly says what an autopsy report is. In another court case, a summary stating the cause and manner of death was accepted as an autopsy report, he said. Grim had provided that publicly.

The court made no decision on Wednesday, April 16. The panel will issue a written opinion.

Lehigh County Court ruled in favor of The Express-Times, but that decision was overturned by the Commonwealth Court. The county judge, in ruling that the Sollman autopsy be released in March 2006, cited a state Supreme Court decision that ruled an autopsy report is an official record that a county coroner is required to disclose under state law.

The Morning Call of Allentown also is seeking access to the autopsy records and was represented in court Wednesday by Malcolm Gross.

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