§ 674 — Manner of investigation

§ 674. Manner of investigation. 1. When a coroner or medical examiner\nis informed of the occurrence of a death within his jurisdiction as\ndefined in section six hundred seventy-three of this article, he shall\ngo at once to the place where the body is and take charge of it. If the\ncoroner is not a physician duly licensed to practice medicine in this\nstate, he shall at once notify and designate a coroner's physician to\nact with him. If no coroner's physician is available, he shall employ\nand designate a physician qualified to make postmortem examinations and\ndissections and to testify thereon, and the physician so employed shall\nbe deemed a coroner's physician for the purpose of the investigation,\nand any statute referring to a coroner's physician shall be applicable\nto him so far as concerns that investigation. Such coroner's physician\nso notified or employed, and designated, shall also go to the place\nwhere the body is, and the coroner and such coroner's physician shall\njointly take charge of the body. Notwithstanding any general, special or\nlocal law, the coroner, or coroner and coroner's physician, or the\nmedical examiner, shall have authority to the extent required for the\ninvestigation to remove and transport the body upon taking charge of it.\nNotwithstanding the foregoing, in a county with a population of less\nthan two hundred thousand, a coroner who is not a physician duly\nlicensed to practice medicine in this state may, with respect to deaths\nspecified in paragraph (e) of subdivision one of section six hundred\nseventy-three of this article, take charge of, remove and transport the\nbody, without first notifying and designating a coroner's physician\nwhen, in the opinion of the coroner, it would be impossible or\nimpractical to at once notify and designate a coroner's physician to go\nto the place where the body is; provided, however, that the coroner\nshall notify and designate a coroner's physician to act with him in such\ncase as soon as practicable, and in any event within twenty-four hours,\nafter taking charge of the body.\n 2. The coroner, or the coroner and coroner's physician, or the medical\nexaminer, shall fully investigate the essential facts concerning the\ndeath, taking the names and addresses of as many witnesses thereto as it\nmay be practicable to obtain, and before leaving the premises shall\nreduce all such facts to writing. He or they shall take possession of\nany portable object which, in his or their opinion, may be useful in\nestablishing the cause or means of death.\n 3. (a) In the course of the investigation, the coroner or coroner and\ncoroner's physician, or the medical examiner, shall make or cause to be\nmade such examinations, including an autopsy, as in his or their opinion\nare necessary to establish the cause of death, or to determine the means\nor manner of death, or to discover facts, the ascertainment of which is\nrequested in writing by a district attorney, or a sheriff, or the chief\nof a police department of a city or county, or the superintendent of\nstate police; provided, that if the coroner is not a physician duly\nlicensed to practice medicine in this state, the determination whether\nan autopsy or any subsequent examination or analysis of tissue or organs\nis necessary shall be made by the coroner's physician, and any such\nautopsy, examination or analysis shall be made by him or at his\ndirection, and provided further that, if so provided by local law of the\ncounty, written concurrence of the district attorney or the county\nhealth officer or the sheriff, or written concurrence of all or any of\nthem, as the local law shall specify, shall be required for any\ndetermination by a coroner's physician under this subdivision whether\nacting as such physician or as deputy coroner pursuant to subdivision\nfour-b of section four hundred of this chapter, or for any determination\nby the medical examiner, that an autopsy or any subsequent examination\nor analysis of tissue or organs is necessary. The authority to make any\nexamination as provided in this section includes authority to remove,\nretain and transport or send, for the purpose of the examination, any\ntissue or organs and any portable object.\n (b) The coroner or coroner and coroner's physician, or the medical\nexaminer, also shall make or cause to be made, quantitative tests for\nalcohol, and for any trace of a controlled substance, as defined in\nsection three thousand three hundred six of the public health law, that\nthe coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner has reasonable\ncause to believe is present, on the body of every operator of a motor\nvehicle or a pedestrian sixteen years of age or older who was involved\nin and died as a result of a motor vehicle accident; provided, however,\nsuch tests shall not be made pursuant to the provisions of this\nparagraph if such coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner has\nreason to believe that the decedent is of a religious faith which is\nopposed to such test on religious or moral grounds.\n 4. A coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner shall have power\nto subpoena and examine witnesses under oath in the same manner as a\nmagistrate in holding a court of special sessions.\n * 5. Notwithstanding section six hundred seventy of this article or\nany other provision of law, the coroner, coroner's physician or medical\nexaminer shall promptly perform or cause to be performed an autopsy and\nto prepare an autopsy report which shall include a toxicological report\nand any report of any examination or inquiry with respect to any death\noccurring within his or her county to an incarcerated individual of a\ncorrectional facility as defined by subdivision three of section forty\nof the correction law, whether or not the death occurred inside such\nfacility.\n * NB Effective until March 19, 2026\n * 5. Notwithstanding section six hundred seventy of this article or\nany other provision of law, the coroner, coroner's physician or medical\nexaminer shall promptly perform or cause to be performed an autopsy and\nto prepare an autopsy report which shall include a toxicological report\nand any report of any examination or inquiry with respect to any death\noccurring within such coroner's, coroner's physician's or medical\nexaminer's county to an incarcerated individual of a correctional\nfacility as defined by subdivision three of section forty of the\ncorrection law, whether or not the death occurred inside such facility.\nFor the purposes of this subdivision, in addition to anything else\nrequired by law, an autopsy report shall include all photographs of the\nbody, microscopic slides, and post-mortem x-rays taken by or at the\ndirection of the person performing the autopsy, and all photographs,\nmicroscopic slides, and post-mortem x-rays reviewed by the person\nperforming the autopsy in the course of their examination or in the\ncourse of their diagnosis of the cause of death and the means or manner\nof death.\n * NB Effective March 19, 2026\n