§ 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 analy
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