                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CERTIFICATE OF SURGEON AS EVIDENCE (§ 19.2-188.2)

A. In any criminal proceeding, the certificate of a duly qualified surgeon
stating that he has removed organs or other body parts from a decedent for
transplant in accordance with Chapter 8 (&#xA7; 32.1-277 et seq.) of Title 32.1,
shall be admissible in evidence as evidence of the facts stated therein. The
certificate shall be competent evidence to show that such organs or body parts
were functional at the time of recovery and not affected by any injury or
illness that caused the decedent&#8217;s death.

B. A copy of the certificate shall be filed with the attorney for the
Commonwealth in the jurisdiction in which the decedent&#8217;s fatal injury
occurred. The certificate shall not be admitted into evidence unless the
attorney for the Commonwealth has provided a copy of the certificate to counsel
for the defendant at least fourteen days prior to the proceeding in which it is
to be offered into evidence.

C. Any such certificate, when properly notarized, purporting to be signed by the
surgeon who removed the organs or other body parts shall be admissible in
evidence without proof of seal or signature of the person whose name is signed
to it. In any hearing or trial the accused shall have the right to call the
person signing the certificate and the provisions of &#xA7; 19.2-187.1 shall
apply, mutatis mutandis.

HISTORY: 1997, c. 557.