(a) All law enforcement officers, state's attorneys, prosecuting attorneys, other officials, physicians, funeral directors, embalmers and other persons shall promptly notify the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of any death coming to their attention which is subject to investigation by the Chief Medical Examiner under this chapter, shall assist in making dead bodies and related evidence available to that office for investigations and postmortem examinations, including autopsies, and shall cooperate fully with said office in making the investigations and examinations herein provided for. In conducting such investigations or examinations, the Chief Medical Examiner may issue subpoenas requiring the production of medical reports, records or other documents concerning the death under investigation and compelling the attendance and testimony of any person having pertinent knowledge of such death.

(b) In cases of apparent homicide or suicide, or of accidental death, the cause of which is obscure, the scene of the event shall not be disturbed until authorized by the Chief Medical Examiner or his authorized representative. Upon receipt of notification of a death as provided herein, the Chief Medical Examiner or his authorized representative shall view and take charge of the body without delay.

(c) In conducting his investigation, the Chief Medical Examiner or his authorized representative shall have access to any objects, writings or other articles of property in the custody of any law enforcement official which in the Chief Medical Examiner's opinion may be useful in establishing the cause or manner of death. Upon the Chief Medical Examiner's request, a law enforcement official having custody of such articles shall deliver them to the Chief Medical Examiner, along with copies of any reports of the analysis of such articles by such law enforcement official. The Chief Medical Examiner shall analyze such articles and return them to the official from whom they were obtained. When such articles are no longer required to be kept for the purposes of justice, the law enforcement official who has custody of them shall deliver them to the person or persons entitled to their custody. If such articles are not claimed by such person or persons entitled thereto within one year after the date of death, such articles may be disposed of by the law enforcement official as provided in section 54-36.

(d) Any person who wilfully fails to comply with any provision of this section shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

(1969, P.A. 699, S. 8; 1971, P.A. 412, S. 3; 1972, P.A. 6, S. 1; P.A. 79-47, S. 10; P.A. 80-190, S. 9; P.A. 90-158, S. 2; P.A. 98-14.)

History: 1971 act replaced office of medicolegal investigations with office of the medical examiner and added references to holding and analyzing property in Subsec. (c); 1972 act gave chief medical examiner power to issue subpoenas and compel attendance and testimony of witnesses in Subsec. (a); P.A. 79-47 added word “chief” to agency name and gave deputy chief and associate medical examiners authority under Subsec. (b); P.A. 80-190 removed coroners and deputy coroners from Subsec. (a); Sec. 19-531 transferred to Sec. 19a-407 in 1983; P.A. 90-158 substituted authorized representative for deputy chief medical examiner, associate medical examiner or an authorized assistant medical examiner in Subsec. (b); P.A. 98-14 amended Subsec. (c) by deleting “except as may be otherwise directed by the state's attorney or an assistant state's attorney” and providing that the Chief Medical Examiner will have access to, rather than possession of, objects, writings or other articles of property in custody of law enforcement official, who shall deliver them, upon request, to the Chief Medical Examiner who shall return them to the law enforcement official, and the law enforcement official shall, when such articles are no longer needed, deliver them to person entitled to custody.

Annotation to former section 19-531:

Cited. 5 CA 316.