Section 5-311 - Records.
§ 5-311. Records.
(a) Content.-
(1) The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall keep complete records on each medical examiner's case.
(2) The records shall be indexed properly and include:
(i) The name, if known, of the deceased;
(ii) The place where the body was found;
(iii) The date, cause, and manner of death; and
(iv) All other available information about the death.
(b) Report of medical examiner and autopsy.- The original report of the medical examiner who investigates a medical examiner's case and the findings and conclusions of any autopsy shall be attached to the record of the medical examiner's case.
(c) Delivery to State's Attorney.- The Chief Medical Examiner or, if the Chief Medical Examiner is absent or cannot act, the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner or an assistant medical examiner, and each deputy medical examiner promptly shall deliver to the State's Attorney for the county where the body was found a copy of each record that relates to a death for which the medical examiner considers further investigation advisable. A State's Attorney may obtain from the office of a medical examiner a copy of any record or other information that the State's Attorney considers necessary.
(d) Evidence.-
(1) In this subsection, "record":
(i) Means the result of an external examination of or an autopsy on a body; and
(ii) Does not include a statement of a witness or other individual.
(2) a record of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner or any deputy medical examiner, if made by the medical examiner or by anyone under the medical examiner's direct supervision or control, or a certified transcript of that record, is competent evidence in any court in this State of the matters and facts contained in it.
(e) Fees.-
(1) The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall charge a reasonable fee for reports as specified in a schedule of fees defined in the regulations of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
(2) A deputy medical examiner may keep any fee collected by the deputy medical examiner.
[An. Code 1957, art. 22, § 8; 1982, ch. 21, § 2; 1990, ch. 238; 2008, ch. 69.]