Prosecutor to release autopsy report in NC university murder

The (Raleigh) News & Observer has backed off its motion for access to slain University of North Carolina student Eve Carson’s autopsy report, now that the prosecution expects to release it in a few weeks anyway.

Judge Allen Baddour sealed the autopsy last month while authorities decided if making it public would damage their investigation. Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall was quoted in the The Associated Press saying he wouldn’t push to renew a 60-day seal on the documents once it expires at the end of June.

“These are public records,” the prosecutor said.

A hearing on the issue was scheduled for Wednesday, but an attorney for The News & Observer sent Baddour a letter instead dropping the motions to open the report.

Two Durham men are charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of 22-year-old Carson, whose body was found near the Chapel Hill campus on March 5.

Six search warrants are still under seal in the case, partly out of fear for the safety of confidential informants, the AP reported. The Durham Herald-Sun has pushed for their release.