Santa Fe, NM – A court on Monday cleared the way for the release of investigation records from the death of Genes Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, as long as the representations of the deceased couple are blocked from the view.
The decision of a judge from New Mexico allows the possible release of video of the policy chamber written and other investigation materials, including the images of the dead dog of the couple. All Photos, video and documents of the investigation had been restricted from liberation by a previous one, Temporary court order.
“There will be no representation of any body in any video production” or photographic image of the bodies, said the judge based in Santa Fe, Matthew Wilson, in response to lawyer questions about his ruling.
A representative of the Hackman family farm had urged a judge from New Mexico to maintain sealed records to protect the family constitutional right to privacy.
The partially mummified remains of Hackman and Arakawa were Found at his home in Santa Fe On February 26, when maintenance and security workers appeared in the house and alerted the police.
The authorities have said that Hackman, 95, died of heart disease with complications of Alzheimer’s disease approximately one week after his wife died of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which is a rare disease and transmitted by rodents. Hackman could have been without realizing that Arakawa, 65, was dead.
One of the three dogs of the coupleA Kelpie mixture called Zinna, was also found dead in a box in a bathroom close to Arakawa, while two other dogs were found alive. A state veterinary laboratory linked the death of the dog to dehydration and hunger.
The authorities unravel the mysterious circumstances of the couple’s deaths and described their conclusions at a press conference on March 7 without publishing most of the related written and photographic records.
The Law of Open Registries of New Mexico blocks public access to confidential images, including representations of corpses. Experts also say that certain medical information is not considered public records under the Public Registry State Inspection Law.
When trying to block the launch of the records, the real estate representative Julia Peters had emphasized the possibly shocking nature of photographs and videos in the investigation and potential for dissemination by the media. Hackman Family Estate also sought to block the eventual launch of the autopsy reports of the Office of Medical Researcher and Death Research Reports of the Sheriff’s Office of the Santa Fe County.
A lawyer of the farm, Kurt Sommer, argued during the audience on Monday that the couple struggled a lot to stay out of public light during their lives and that the right to control the use of their names and similarities should extend to their assets in death.
Most of the investigations of death by the application of the law and the autopsy reports by medical researchers are generally considered public records under state law in the spirit of guaranteeing the transparency of the government and responsibility.
Associated Press, CBS News and CBS Studios intervened in the matter. Gregory P. Williams, a media lawyer, told the judge that they had previously said in judicial presentations that would not disseminate images of the couple’s bodies and that they would erase images to darken from other records.
“Certainly, there is a public interest in knowing how their deaths were investigated and knowing how it was handled,” said Williams.
Susan Mador, a publicist who had worked with the Hackman for years, testified that the couple Dapate living in Santa Fe Because he gave them anonymity. Hackman retired in the early 2000s.
Arakawa had no children, while Hackman survives three children from a previous marriage.
In the audience on Monday, a lawyer of the son and daughters of Hackman highlighted the possible traumatic effects of releasing conversations about deaths within the videos of the Police Corps Chamber.
Scot Sauder, lawyer for the state medical investigator, told the judge that the autopsy reports for Hackman and his wife do not yet exist and will not include past medical care information once completed. It may take months to complete autopsy reports.
It is likely that privacy will also play a role as the couple’s assets are resolved. According to the documents of the Court of Successions, Hackman signed an updated testament in 2005 leaving his assets to his wife, while the testament he signed that year directed his assets. With both die, the farm management is in the hands of Peters.
Without the trusted documents that are made public, it is not clear who the beneficiaries are and how the assets will be divided.
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Associated Press writer Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque contributed to this report.
