And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: via Tom Schlosser http://www.expressnews.com:80/pantheon/news-bus/state/1816alhb.shtml Justice withdraws order for autopsy By Carmina Danini Express-News Staff Writer Saying that determining the cause of death of a young woman was outweighed by the religious objection of the Kickapoo Indian tribe, a Maverick County justice of the peace Wednesday rescinded her order for an autopsy. Justice of the Peace Martha Chacon withdrew her original order for an autopsy to be conducted in Bexar County following a nearly daylong inquest in Eagle Pass. The inquest was held to delve into the death of Norma Rodriguez, a Kickapoo who died March 2 in Eagle Pass, said Maverick County Attorney Ernest Mireles. Rodriguez's body was found in her home outside the Kickapoo Reservation near Eagle Pass. "With the cooperation of the Texas Rangers and the tribe, we sifted through the evidence and the JP withdrew her order," Mireles said. "It pretty much stops there because she (Chacon) is ruling out foul play at this time." In her order, Chacon said Rodriguez's death was not "occasioned by the illegal act of any third person and the objections of the Kickapoo Tribe being sincere and strongly held against the disinterment and mutilation of the body . . . the interest of the court in ascertaining the true cause of death is outweighed by the religious objections of her people." On Tuesday, over the objections of Kickapoos who called it an insult, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia of San Antonio ruled that the tribe could not halt the exhumation of Rodriguez's remains. Chacon ordered an autopsy after the woman's body was found, but tribe members, following Kickapoo custom, took the body from a funeral home and buried it before noon the next day. Garcia said the Kickapoo's religious beliefs did not outweigh state law mandating an autopsy. Lawyers for the tribe said they would not have opposed an autopsy had Rodriguez been murdered. They noted Rodriguez had locked her house from the inside and authorities had to break down the door to enter the residence. Rodriguez, they said, was known to inhale paint fumes and she may have died from an overdose. Wednesday, Mar 17,1999 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
