Washington County DA accuses coroner of withholding autopsy reports

Washington County Coroner Tim Warco has been accused by county District Attorney Jason Walsh of withholding multiple autopsy reports from the DA’s office, and that Warco instead sent an invoice for payment in order to release the reports, according to state police.

TribLive news partner WTAE reports that state police, along with those from Canonsburg and Washington city, executed five search warrants at Warco’s office on Wednesday related to the reports.

Police said there didn’t seem to be any reason for Warco’s decision to withhold the reports.

“Under Pennsylvania statue, non-governmental entities may be charged fees for these types of records,” state police said in a news release. “However, government agencies such as the district attorney’s office are not subject to such charges.”

The situation is the latest in a series of escalating tensions between Walsh and Warco:

• In 2023, detectives from Walsh’s office served a warrant to search Warco’s office at the Washington County Crossroads Center seeking police reports and other evidence used in a coroner’s inquest into the April 2, 2023, shooting death of Eduardo Hoover Jr. by a Mt. Pleasant Township police officer.

Warco’s inquest found that Hoover’s death was not justified, countering Walsh’s findings that the officer, Tyler Evans, was justified in the shooting.

• This past July, Warco accused Walsh of unethical conduct in pursuing a pursuing the death penalty in a 2022 case involving the death of a 2-month-old baby in Peters Township.

In late July, the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation filed a petition with the court asking it to limit Walsh from seeking the death penalty, alleging that he had misused the threat of capital punishment to coerce plea agreements and earn political capital for being tough on crime.

Warco told WTAE there is a regular fee schedule charged by his office to provide documents, including $700 for an autopsy report.

“There is no law stating that I have to give any agency a police report or a coroner’s report or an autopsy,” Warco told WTAE. “There’s a fee schedule for each item in my file — autopsy, toxicology and coroner’s report. Who pays for that? The taxpayers.”

Walsh’s office has filed motions to compel Warco to release the requested reports. That case is scheduled to be heard in court on Nov. 13.