[lstyls]

A suicide or homicide will almost certainly trigger a post-mortem. In the US the quality of the process varies widely by state. Some states have medical examiners, who are appointed and generally expert clinicians. Other states have a coroner system where the coroner is an elected position. Unsurprisingly states where the latter is true tend to have worse results.

[jessaustin]

The situation is often worse that that. The suicide to whom I was most closely related wasn't investigated by anyone. (Self-inflicted GSW, but still...) A medical examiner's assistant pronounced the death, then left and was never seen again. (Later the funeral home people arrived.) The medical examiner for our county lives 70 miles away and basically never comes to the county. When later we had to prove certain circumstances to certain parties, we were hampered by the fact that not only was there no completed paperwork, but no one could be found whose responsibility it is to complete paperwork. An actual coroner would be a big improvement in this county, but apparently that's an expense we can't afford.

[knughit]

Can the coroner do anything with legal force, or only inspect the body and file a report?