Carson autopsy will be released

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — The autopsy report on the slain student body president at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will be released June 30. (Should Carson's autopsy be released?)

Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall said Wednesday he does not intend to ask that the report remain sealed after that date, and neither do the lawyers for the two defendants charged in her death.

"These are public records," Woodall said. "I only requested 60 days so some final parts of the investigation can be completed."

Woodall had originally asked the report detailing Eve Marie Carson's death remain under seal to allow investigators time to complete interviews. Releasing the details of Carson's death before then, he said, would compromise the investigation.

Last month, attorneys for The News & Observer of Raleigh filed a motion opposing Woodall's request to seal the results, arguing the report is a public record and should be open to review.

The newspaper's attorney said Wednesday he had withdrawn that motion, and a hearing on the issue scheduled for Wednesday was canceled.

"In light of Mr. Woodall's representations, however, and the imminent expiration of your order, we see no reason to take up the court's time and energy to deal with an issue that apparently will become moot in a few days," attorney Hugh Stevens wrote in a letter to Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour.

Carson was found dead on a residential street about a half-mile near campus on March 5.

Police responded to reports of gunshots, but they have never disclosed how the 22-year-old died.

Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr., 17, and Demario James Atwater, 21, are charged with murder in Carson’s death.

The Durham Herald-Sun is also fighting to get six search warrants in the case unsealed.

Baddour ruled the documents should stay sealed because affidavits attached to them contain descriptions and details about the case that could lead to the identification of confidential informants

A hearing on that is scheduled for June 27.

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Latest Comments

last one for me....this report will be a matter of public record at the trial. I believe the shock value will be distracting at that time, perhaps. There will be no pics of "naked girl", as earlier surmised. I think an informed public is not a threat to anything. if nothing else, it will make a jury less likely to be swayed by this report in either direction. The jurors represent all of us in any action. Only in rare cases are documents kept from public access. I think most of us would like to know this info if for no other reason than to better understand how and why this happened. Probably an unreasonable way to protect ourselves or our kids but such as it is, it seems to be all we have at this juncture w this particular crime....Sad and sorry for all concerned...Answer? There isn't one except maybe for this country to spend more on kids and family support than on bombers. "What if the Air Force had to hold a candy drive to buy a bomber?"

anne53ozzy
June 12, 2008 3:13 p.m.

to dws...you are right and I am not suggesting we run...I am so much more aware than ever before that this country that I love (Army brat of several generations) seems to be letting down its guard on the neighborhood front. If I thought my kids were going to live in the trenches, as it were...I would not be running....I would be gently herding my young to a safer nest. Maybe just the country...away from the apparent group-oriented crime of the city...but then, they have to go to college somewhere, right? UNC grad and all...this area is becoming a scarey place to live. I love it but am not opposed to leaving if something is not done about this trend in the Durham area and elsewhere.

anne53ozzy
June 12, 2008 3:04 p.m.

And so now we have yet another lurker in the shadows, who calls him(or her)self st295x98, adding to the chorus of innuendo, again without a shred of facts--and this time, without a specific claim, just that "people are going to be outraged." Who? At whom will the finger point in the latest scenario (whatever it is)? The criminal justice system? Some group that serves as a code word for the whole black population of Durham? The gangs (where I think it belongs, along with the 2 perps)? The rumor-mongers who, I think, put this idea in their heads in the first place? Maybe Eve's parents and educators, who gave her the silly notion that she could walk around at night without packing heat? Maybe Eve herself, for some drug use? Or for some supposed racist behavior in high school? Or maybe being in some love triangle--hey, we haven't covered that one, have we?

Let's just calm down and see what comes out in the reports and then the trial. Patience is hard, but we have no choice.

mondosinistro
June 12, 2008 7:51 a.m.

This is why I don't read or buy the N&O, they're just sleez-bag hacks in media.

Nothing good can come out of releasing this or most autopsies, they just make it harder for the prosecution and jury. I'm curious about the case. I would like to know if she was in the car when they were at the atm and store but I'd prefer to preserve the facts before the media tries to sway the case like they're doing in Wilson. I can wait for the truth because it's way more important than the media's agenda.

bomanicous
June 11, 2008 9:51 p.m.

There will be a group of people that are going to be enraged when some of the facts of this case start coming out.... The Autopsy release is just going to be the jumping off point.