Coroner ordered to turn over Macron autopsy records
WKYC files lawsuit in Medina County court
Dr. Lisa Deranek
MEDINA – The Medina County Coroner’s office was ordered by the Medina County Common Pleas Court to turn over preliminary autopsy records for Bryon Macron, the Lafayette Township trustee whose body was found in Chippewa Lake in February.
On March 20, WKYC Channel 3 filed suit in Medina County Common Pleas Court, stating they had been denied access to this report and other records, a violation of state public records laws outlined in the Ohio Revised Code.
State public records law permits members of the media to inspect certain sensitive records such as preliminary autopsy reports, investigative notes and suicide notes if applicable, that are not available to members of the general public.
The coroner, who has a contract with the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office to perform autopsies, turned over the body to the office after it was found Feb. 22. The station said it was told by Coroner Dr. Lisa Deranek and County Prosecutor Forrest Thompson the preliminary report had not been given to her.
The complaint shows a copy of initial request made Feb. 28 by station producer Phil Trexler and a second request was made March 2, where the station promised to get legal counsel involved if the records were not turned over.
The next day, an assistant county prosecutor wrote in an email to the station stating the coroner did not have the records yet as they were still at the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s office.
However, even when they were received, the office believed they did not have to be turned over due to them being confidential information as part of law enforcement investigation.
On March 6, Trexler replied the records belong to Medina County and are in their control despite another agency handling the autopsy.
“It does not matter if the documents are in the office in Medina or Cleveland, they are still MCC’s (coroner’s) documents,” he said. “This is not complicated ... Please comply or we will have to file a mandamus petition.”
The complaint was filed March 20 and an oral hearing was held March 22 in Common Pleas Judge Christopher Collier’s court. Collier ruled as Macron was pronounced dead in Medina County, releasing those records is the responsibility of the coroner’s office and that the prosecutor’s office could not argue these records are confidential if nobody in the county has even viewed them, as the coroner and prosecutor claimed.
The office had until April 5, after The Post’s deadline, to turn over the records, the same date a court hearing was held.
During this hearing, the court would examine the records to determine if they should remain confidential under state law or if they can be released.
Deranek said March 29 the office will comply with the order, but added the preliminary autopsy report does not contain much information. The final autopsy report is still not yet completed due to waiting on the completion of toxicology tests, which could take months, according to court records.
On April 4, Deranek said she had received the autopsy records and turned them over to Medina County Prosecutor Forrest Thompson.
Macron, 45, was declared missing Dec. 16, 2016 after it was found a struggle had taken place at the township’s office on Wedgewood Road.
His vehicle was found later that day in a public parking lot in the village of Chippewa Lake, which is close to where his body was found more than two months later.
On March 20, WKYC Channel 3 filed suit in Medina County Common Pleas Court, stating they had been denied access to this report and other records, a violation of state public records laws outlined in the Ohio Revised Code.
State public records law permits members of the media to inspect certain sensitive records such as preliminary autopsy reports, investigative notes and suicide notes if applicable, that are not available to members of the general public.
The coroner, who has a contract with the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office to perform autopsies, turned over the body to the office after it was found Feb. 22. The station said it was told by Coroner Dr. Lisa Deranek and County Prosecutor Forrest Thompson the preliminary report had not been given to her.
The complaint shows a copy of initial request made Feb. 28 by station producer Phil Trexler and a second request was made March 2, where the station promised to get legal counsel involved if the records were not turned over.
The next day, an assistant county prosecutor wrote in an email to the station stating the coroner did not have the records yet as they were still at the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s office.
However, even when they were received, the office believed they did not have to be turned over due to them being confidential information as part of law enforcement investigation.
On March 6, Trexler replied the records belong to Medina County and are in their control despite another agency handling the autopsy.
“It does not matter if the documents are in the office in Medina or Cleveland, they are still MCC’s (coroner’s) documents,” he said. “This is not complicated ... Please comply or we will have to file a mandamus petition.”
The complaint was filed March 20 and an oral hearing was held March 22 in Common Pleas Judge Christopher Collier’s court. Collier ruled as Macron was pronounced dead in Medina County, releasing those records is the responsibility of the coroner’s office and that the prosecutor’s office could not argue these records are confidential if nobody in the county has even viewed them, as the coroner and prosecutor claimed.
The office had until April 5, after The Post’s deadline, to turn over the records, the same date a court hearing was held.
During this hearing, the court would examine the records to determine if they should remain confidential under state law or if they can be released.
Deranek said March 29 the office will comply with the order, but added the preliminary autopsy report does not contain much information. The final autopsy report is still not yet completed due to waiting on the completion of toxicology tests, which could take months, according to court records.
On April 4, Deranek said she had received the autopsy records and turned them over to Medina County Prosecutor Forrest Thompson.
Macron, 45, was declared missing Dec. 16, 2016 after it was found a struggle had taken place at the township’s office on Wedgewood Road.
His vehicle was found later that day in a public parking lot in the village of Chippewa Lake, which is close to where his body was found more than two months later.