Interesting legal issue re: Bobsledder's autopsy/toxicology

[ringer]

Thought this was interesting: Family of deceased Olympic gold medalist threatens to sue coroner, so FOI request denied. There's a detailed piece in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. The paper did a great job trying to get to the bottom of it anyway. Solid reporting. Lead and link, below.

Any thoughts? Anyone have similar legal experiences?

LAKE PLACID — Essex County officials aren't releasing final toxicology and autopsy reports on the cause and manner of death of bobsled gold medalist Steve Holcomb. That's because the late bobsledder's family has threatened to sue the county coroner if he releases details.

County suppresses Holcomb death details after family threatens to sue | News, Sports, Jobs - Adirondack Daily Enterprise

 

[pseudo]

The day after that ran, USA Bobsled announced the results in a press release:

Holcomb investigation now complete
Report: Holcomb died of sleeping pills, alcohol | News, Sports, Jobs - Adirondack Daily Enterprise

"The Essex County Coroner shared the toxicology report and draft of the intended press release with the Holcomb family as a courtesy to ensure accuracy and to allow for feedback. The family felt that the draft included speculation beyond the scope of the toxicology report and autopsy findings and requested the release be withheld through the family attorney."

Sounds like the family's issue was with how the coroner's report was written, not whether or not the test results should become public?

 

[ringer]

How it was written? I don't think they were arguing over sentence structure. (a little joke, there)

There were glaring omissions in the test results that the family DID allow to go public. And if the family threatened to sue over the accompanying release (which was NOT released because of said threat) -- it implies that that omissions were highly damning. Things like: (a) How much of the sleeping-pill substance was in his system? The recommended dosage or a whole bottle's worth? (b) The logical extrapolation of what they found in his system and how much of it -- which could range from carelessness to suicide.

Are you with me now?