Sumter paper appeals secret autopsy report ruling

SUMTER, S.C. (AP) — A Sumter newspaper is appealing a judge’s ruling that autopsy reports in South Carolina are medical records and can’t be released to the public under state law.

A lawyer for The Item (http://bit.ly/UXX9lT ) says in the appeal that autopsies are like death certificates and aren’t medical records in the normal sense of being treated by a doctor.

The dispute started when Sumter County Coroner Harvin Bullock refused to release the autopsy report of a man killed by Sumter police officers after the newspaper requested it under South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act.

Bullock says his office doesn’t keep secrets and releases as much information as it can.

The newspaper suggests autopsy reports could be released after personal information not related to the death is taken out.

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Information from: The Item, http://www.theitem.com