52:17B-87 - Notification of county medical examiner and prosecutor
52:17B-87. Notification of county medical examiner and prosecutor
Upon the death of any person from any of the causes mentioned in section 9 of this act it shall be the duty of the physician in attendance, any law enforcement officer having knowledge of such death, the funeral director, or any other person present, to notify immediately the county medical examiner and the county prosecutor of the county wherein the death occurred of the known facts concerning the time, place, manner and circumstances of such death. Immediately upon receipt of such notification, the said medical examiner or his deputy or assistant shall go to the dead body and take charge of the same. He shall fully investigate the essential facts concerning the medical causes of death and take the names and addresses of as many witnesses thereto as may be practicable to obtain, and, before leaving the premises shall reduce such facts, as he may deem necessary to writing and file the same in his office and which shall be made available to the county prosecutor at his request. The police officer present at such investigation, or if no officer be present, then the medical examiner shall, in the absence of the next of kin of the deceased person, take possession of all property of value found on such person, make an exact inventory thereof on his report and deliver such property to the police department of the municipality wherein the death occurred, which shall surrender the same to the person entitled to its custody or possession. The medical examiner shall take possession of any objects or articles which, in his opinion, may be useful in establishing the cause of death, and deliver them to the county prosecutor.
L.1967, c. 234, s. 10, eff. Jan. 1, 1968.