§ 677. Records; reports. 1. The writing made by the coroner, or by the\ncoroner and coroner's physician, or by the medical examiner, at the\nplace where he takes charge of the body, shall be filed promptly in the\noffice of the coroner or medical examiner. The testimony of witnesses\nexamined before him and the report of any examination made or directed\nby him shall be made in writing or reduced to writing and thereupon\nfiled in such office.\n 2. The report of any autopsy or other examination shall state every\nfact and circumstance tending to show the condition of the body and the\ncause and means or manner of death. The person performing an autopsy,\nfor the purpose of determining the cause of death or means or manner of\ndeath, shall enter upon the record the pathological appearances and\nfindings, embodying such information as may be prescribed by the\ncommissioner of health, and append thereto the diagnosis of the cause of\ndeath and of the means or manner of death. Methods and forms prescribed\nby the commissioner of health for obtaining and preserving records and\nstatistics of autopsies conducted within the state shall be employed. A\ndetailed description of the findings, written during the progress of the\nautopsy, and the conclusions drawn therefrom shall, when completed, be\nfiled in the office of the coroner or medical examiner.\n 3. (a) The coroner or coroners of each county, or the medical\nexaminer, shall keep full and complete records, properly indexed,\nstating the name, if known, of every person whose death is investigated,\nthe place where the body was found, the date of death, if known, and if\nnot known, the date or approximate date as determined by the\ninvestigation, to which there shall be attached the original report of\nthe coroner, or coroner and coroner's physician or physician employed,\nor medical examiner, and the detailed findings of the autopsy, if any.\nSuch records shall be kept in the office of the county clerk except in\nthose counties having a full-time coroner or medical examiner, in which\ncase such records shall be kept in the office of the coroner or medical\nexaminer.\n (b) Such records shall be open to inspection by the district attorney\nof the county. Upon application of the personal representative, spouse\nor next of kin of the deceased to the coroner or the medical examiner, a\ncopy of the autopsy report, as described in subdivision two of this\nsection shall be furnished to such applicant. Upon proper application of\nany person who is or may be affected in a civil or criminal action by\nthe contents of the record of any investigation, or upon application of\nany person having a substantial interest therein, an order may be made\nby a court of record, or by a justice of the supreme court, that the\nrecord of that investigation be made available for his inspection, or\nthat a transcript thereof be furnished to him, or both.\n 4. The coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner shall promptly\ndeliver to the district attorney copies of all records pertaining to any\ndeath whenever, in his opinion, or in the judgment of the person\nperforming the autopsy, there is any indication that a crime was\ncommitted.\n 5. The coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner shall promptly\nreport to the commissioner of motor vehicles, in a form and manner\nspecified by the commissioner, the results of all 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, performed upon bodies of victims of motor\nvehicle accidents pursuant to the requirements of subdivision three of\nsection six hundred seventy-four of this chapter.\n 6. Notwithstanding section six hundred seventy of this article or any\nother provision of law, the coroner, coroner's physician or medical\nexaminer shall
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