Autopsy had been denied
By Kate Howard
THE TENNESSEAN
The widow of executed prisoner Cecil C. Johnson Jr., has been allowed to claim his body, putting an end to more than six weeks of legal wrangling over whether the state had a right to conduct an autopsy on his remains.
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Johnson was executed Dec. 2, 2009, for the 1980 murders of three people during a market robbery. Before the execution, he filed a suit stating his objection to an autopsy, citing his strong religious belief that his body not be cut after death.
An appeals court ruled last week that his religious convictions outweighed the need to prove a cause of death, since there was no challenge to whether the lethal injection was administered properly and Johnson never appealed the process itself.
"We're obviously happy that Mrs. Johnson has possession of his body and is able to finally bury her husband," attorney Bill Hubbard said.
The state medical examiner's office was given until last Friday afternoon to appeal the issue to the Tennessee Supreme Court, but no appeal was filed and Johnson's wife, Sarah Johnson, was permitted to claim her husband's body.
She planned to bury him in Las Vegas.
The state could still ask the Tennessee Supreme Court to review the appeals court decision, although the question of an autopsy was answered when Johnson's body was released from the medical examiner's office.
The appeals court decision said that the circumstances in Johnson's case led to its ruling, and that it shouldn't be interpreted as a blanket decision that executed prisoners can successfully object to autopsies.
By Kate Howard
THE TENNESSEAN
The widow of executed prisoner Cecil C. Johnson Jr., has been allowed to claim his body, putting an end to more than six weeks of legal wrangling over whether the state had a right to conduct an autopsy on his remains.
Quantcast
Johnson was executed Dec. 2, 2009, for the 1980 murders of three people during a market robbery. Before the execution, he filed a suit stating his objection to an autopsy, citing his strong religious belief that his body not be cut after death.
An appeals court ruled last week that his religious convictions outweighed the need to prove a cause of death, since there was no challenge to whether the lethal injection was administered properly and Johnson never appealed the process itself.
"We're obviously happy that Mrs. Johnson has possession of his body and is able to finally bury her husband," attorney Bill Hubbard said.
The state medical examiner's office was given until last Friday afternoon to appeal the issue to the Tennessee Supreme Court, but no appeal was filed and Johnson's wife, Sarah Johnson, was permitted to claim her husband's body.
She planned to bury him in Las Vegas.
The state could still ask the Tennessee Supreme Court to review the appeals court decision, although the question of an autopsy was answered when Johnson's body was released from the medical examiner's office.
The appeals court decision said that the circumstances in Johnson's case led to its ruling, and that it shouldn't be interpreted as a blanket decision that executed prisoners can successfully object to autopsies.
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