                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

REPORTS BY CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER RECEIVED AS EVIDENCE (§ 19.2-188)

A. Reports of investigations made by the Chief Medical Examiner, his assistants
or medical examiners, and the records and certified reports of autopsies made
under the authority of Title 32.1, shall be received as evidence in any court or
other proceeding, and copies of photographs, laboratory findings and reports in
the office of the Chief Medical Examiner or any medical examiner, when duly
attested by the Chief Medical Examiner or one of his Assistant Chief Medical
Examiners, shall be received as evidence in any court or other proceeding for
any purpose for which the original could be received without proof of the
official character or the person whose name is signed thereto.

B. Any statement of fact or of opinion in such reports and records concerning
the physical or medical cause of death and not alleging any conduct by the
accused shall be admissible as competent evidence of the cause of death in any
preliminary hearing.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 19.1-45; 1960, c. 366; 1975, c. 495; 2003, c. 459; 2009,
c. 640.