Boulder County’s new coroner has a different philosophy on when to publicly announce the cause and manner of high-profile deaths, meaning it likely will be weeks before she makes an official ruling on the recent University Hill shooting and the fatal domestic dispute in Lafayette last month.
Emma Hall, who was elected to a four-year term as coroner in November and sworn into office Jan. 11, said she won’t sign death certificates or make public announcements about deaths until test results are returned — a process that can take several weeks.
Those results include toxicology tests, which examine blood or urine for the presence of drugs or alcohol, and histology tests, which are detailed examinations of cell structures.
Former Coroner Tom Faure, who was with the Boulder County Coroner’s Office for 23 years and was first elected coroner in 2002, would occasionally announce the cause and manner of deaths before all the tests were returned and before signing the death certificates, Hall said.
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