Mediation ordered in lawsuit for autopsies in slayings of 8 in family

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Supreme Court wants a settlement reached in the case of a newspaper suing a coroner for autopsy records in the slayings of eight people from an Ohio family.

A complaint by the Columbus Dispatch that is before the court alleges the Pike County coroner is improperly withholding the final autopsy records.

The coroner says the autopsies are “confidential law-enforcement investigatory records” that aren’t subject to public-records laws.

Ohio’s attorney general says he supports that position to avoid jeopardizing chances of catching the killers of members of the Rhoden family, who were killed near Piketon on April 22.

The court ordered the case to mediation Tuesday.

The Cincinnati Enquirer has filed a similar lawsuit, which is also in mediation.