Judge Makes No Decision Yet in Zachery Tims Autopsy Disclosure Case

In Manhattan, State Supreme Court Judge Cynthia S. Kern has withheld judgment today on whether the cause of Zachery Tims' death should be released to the public or kept confidential to the family.

Tims, 42, pastor of New Destiny Christian Church in Apopka, was found dead in a New York City hotel room Aug. 12.

Attorneys for Madeline Tims, who is the preacher's mother, filed the lawsuit to keep the cause of death confidential, argued this morning before the court that the medical examiner's autopsy and toxicology reports are "medical records and should not be released without permission from the family."

Mother of Tims and attorneys also contend that death certificates of people whose deaths do not fall under the medical examiner's office are not public record — so those investigated by the medical examiner should not be either.

City attorneys representing the medical examiner's office are refuting this and contend that while the toxicology and autopsy reports are confidential, the manner and cause of death are not.

Anthony Suarez, the Orlando attorney representing Madeline Tims, said the medical examiner's practice of releasing the cause of death had never been challenged before.

"That's just the tradition and custom they've done before," he said.

Zachery Tims' Mother to Appear in Court To Keep Autopsy Private

Zachery Tims' Mother to Appear in Court To Keep Autopsy Private

We shall see what will become of this court hearing and if it will end up being a long and drawn out court case for months ahead.

CBN news reported:

Zachery Tims' mother is set to appear in court this week in an attempt to stop the New York City medical examiner's office from releasing the late pastor's cause of death.

Madeline Tims, 61, will appear in court Wednesday to argue why her son's autopsy results should remain private.

It's not unusual for a family to want to keep autopsy results from the public, however in Florida, a court order is required to do so.

Tims was found dead in a New York City hotel room Aug. 12.

After it was revealed that a white powder was found in his pocket, some speculated that his death was drug related.

After an initial autopsy was returned inconclusive, another was ordered along with a toxicology on the white substance.

Police said there was no foul play involved in Tims' death.

New Destiny Christian Center is now in the process of choosing their founding pastor's successor. [Source]

Zachery Tims's Secret Cause of Death: Mother Must Have 'Compelling Reason' or Will Be Made Public

 

 This is a full report provided by AToast2Wealth
 
Read below:

We have some concrete information now that at least tells us the late Pastor Zachery Tim's mother Madeline must have a good and compelling reason why his cause of death, autopsy and toxicology reports should be held from the public.

Even the NY Medical Examiners and the NYC Law Department state the information should be available to the public. Unless granted by the courts, she will not be able to keep any of the above information private.

If she is successful, the court could prevent the press and the public from knowing the pastor's manner of death.

The New York Chief Medical Examiner's spokesperson Ellen Borakove stated this week "that only the cause and manner of death can be made available to the public upon request, according to New York law." Borakove also stated the actual toxicology report can only be seen by next of kin.

Read the important parts of the report below by Central Florida News Channel 13:

• Madeline Tims had a lawyer file papers on Friday that put a temporary injunction on the release of any information from the New York City Medical Examiner's Office.

(Take heed that Madeline Tims is not only suing The Office of the Chief NY Medical Examiners but also; the City of New York, The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene of the City of New York and the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene- Thomas Farley) [See document here]

• The New York Police Department determined there was no need for a criminal investigation, even though a white powder was found in Tims’ pocket.

• A spokesperson with the New York City Law Department provided an Order showing that a state Justice has ordered the findings from Tims' autopsy not be released until a hearing next month.

• In New York, a Medical Examiner's office will only release the cause and manner of a person's death. But Tims' family doesn't want even that released.

• They'll have to prove to the Justice that there's a compelling reason to not have that information made public.

• The medical examiner’s office in New York City was preparing to issue a press release this past Friday afternoon about Tims' death, but this legal action stopped them from doing so.

• Madeline Tims and her attorney will go up against the City of New York on November 23 to try and keep that information from becoming public.

The NYC Law Department will defend the ME's ability to make the information public:

Statement from Ave Maria Brennan, NYC Law Department:

The Medical Examiner's Office does not release autopsy reports to the public. Rather, it discloses the cause and manner of death upon public inquiry. The City feel it's important to make this information available to the public. The Law Department will defend this challenge to the Medical Examiner's ability to do so."

Statement from the OCME:

A lawsuit was commenced today [last Friday Oct. 7th] and we are scheduled to be before the court on November 23rd. Pending the court's decision in this case, we cannot provide information regarding Zachery Tims' cause and manner of death

Here's the link to the Order to Show Cause on PDF file. We tried opening it to view it but the file appeared to be damaged at first and later opened after several tries.

Full report from AT2W