A state appeals court ruled that counties can withhold autopsies and other coroner’s reports from the public if they are part of a criminal investigation likely to lead to prosecution, the Chronicle Chronicle. The ruling by the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento expands the law enforcement exception to the California Public Records Act which allows cops to keep information secret during an active investigation. The plaintiff in the case wasn’t a newspaper or broadcast journalist but an author who wanted an autopsy for a book she was writing about a murder in El Dorado County.