BEDFORD — Saying that to release the autopsy report in a long-unsolved murder “would not hinder the prosecution, it would end the prosecution,” a judge sealed the Dana Gates autopsy Wednesday until an arrest is made.
Judge Thomas Ling granted the petition from District Attorney Bill Higgins to seal the record, thus preventing Blair County Coroner Patricia Ross from releasing the report.
Melissa Melewsky, an attorney for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, said Wednesday evening she was disappointed but not surprised.
“Access to these records has been difficult. That’s why there are so many lawsuits,” she said from Harrisburg.
“From a public-access point of view, it’s obviously disappointing. There might be some help (for investigators) in having the information released,” Melewsky said.
After seven years, Higgins maintains the murder is not a “cold case.”
The Tribune-Democrat asked Ross on Friday for the autopsy report in the 2001 murder after the state Supreme Court ruled the reports are to be made public – with limited exceptions. One is when a report’s release could jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation.
Ling ruled that exception applied.
Investigating state Trooper Craig Grassmyer of Hollidaysburg, the only person to take the stand, testified Wednesday that physical evidence at the Imler crime scene was practically nonexistent. He indicated authorities are relying on the autopsy – showing Gates’ injuries and the type of instrument used in her beating – to solve the case.
And that is the basis for Ling’s ruling.
Ling pressed Grassmyer about whether he would oppose release of autopsy reports in other instances.
“In this case only,” Grassmyer replied. “This investigation has not generated physical evidence.”
After paging through the autopsy in chambers for an hour, Ling said in open court, “The body of this poor woman constitutes almost all of the evidence in this case.”
Ling said that because of the lack of other undisclosed evidence to test a witness or suspect, investigators would not be able to determine if someone were telling the truth should the autopsy be released.
Ling could have released an edited report but did not.
Still, Melewsky said, Ling’s decision reflects the exception to the rule.
“The rule is the papers of the coroner are to be on file for public inspection at the office of the prothonotary,” she said.
The judge said he understood what was at stake in weighing First Amendment freedoms, right-to-know concerns, public safety and the need to catch a killer.
“I can think of no larger issue,” Ling said. “It involves fundamental questions.”
Gates was beaten and found dazed and near death at her home in November 2001. She died en route to an Altoona hospital.
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