Section 5. All law enforcement officers, district medical examiners, hospitals and other medical facilities, and other state, county and local officials shall cooperate with the office of chief medical examiner in the investigation of medicolegal cases. The office of the chief medical examiner may use the services of the department of state police laboratory for the performance of tests, documentation of evidence, investigating procedures and consultation on special problems. The chief medical examiner, subject to appropriation, may establish and operate a pathology laboratory within the office of chief medical examiner to meet the needs of that office. If other services required by the office of chief medical examiner are not available in the department of state police laboratory, the chief medical examiner may employ the services of other appropriate laboratories.

Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 38 sec. 5

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
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