Coronor, Tribe at odds over autopsy

A judge has granted a temporary restraining order against Kootenai County Coroner Warren Keene, at the request of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe.

Attorneys for the Tribe sought the restraining order in an effort to stop an autopsy of Olivia Pakootas, a 21-year-old tribal member who died Friday in a single-vehicle crash on state Highway 58. That’s a 3-mile highway on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation that runs between the Washington state line and U.S. 95 near Worley.

“Olivia’s family has expressed their desire for the coroner’s office to return Olivia’s body to the family without an invasive autopsy as it is a clear violation of their cultural traditions and their religious beliefs,” the Tribe said in a statement issued late Monday afternoon.

The Tribe called the autopsy unnecessary. They said there is no reason for the autopsy to take place against the family’s wishes since there is no criminal investigation of the fatal crash, and there are “no jurisdictional reasons” to move forward with the procedure since the crash happened on the reservation and Pakootas is a tribal member. An unnecessary autopsy would be a “gross desecration” of the family’s and the Tribe’s culture, traditions and religious beliefs, the Tribe said.

“We have the sovereign right to bury our people in line with our tribal beliefs and our religious and cultural values,” said Tribal Chairman Ernie Stensgar. “The Kootenai County Coroner is blatantly disregarding and disrespecting the religious values of our Tribe and of Olivia’s family. The family is going through enough with the death of their loved one. We demand the county cease and desist and return Olivia to her family immediately.”

Coroner Keene was not available for a phone interview late Monday afternoon. The person who answered the phone at his office said the matter is an active investigation and directed calls about it to the “county attorney,” and provided the number for the county prosecutor’s office’s civil division.

No one was immediately available to comment at the prosecutor’s office.

With the restraining order in place, Pakootas’s family is able to take her body to a funeral home until a full hearing on Thursday.