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Well Known Coroner Indicted
LANCASTER, PA. - Lancaster County Coroner and physician G. Gary Kirchner, 73, who came to national attention for his role as the coroner for the victims of the Amish School shootings, has been indicted by a grand jury, charged with giving reporters access to a Lancaster County 911 confidential web site.
Dr. Kirchner was charged Feb. 5, 2007, with the unlawful use of a computer and criminal conspiracy. This follows an investigation by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that included searching the computer hard drives of a Lancaster newspaper, the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal.
Several reporters from that paper appeared before the grand jury and testified that the coroner had given them the passwords. The incident dates back to August 2005, when another Lancaster based newspaper became aware that a Journal story concerning a woman's death quoted the confidential web site.
Attorneys for the Journal said that the reporters had done nothing wrong, as evidenced by the fact that they had not been charged with any crimes.
During the arraignment before the grand jury, Kirchner invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. At least three reporters testified that Kirchner had given them the passwords directly.
According to published reports, Dr. Kirchner told reporters during his arraignment that if "his parents were alive, they would not know what the hell to say. It's awful. I've been doing coroner business as I was sitting in handcuffs."
Kirchner, a war veteran who appeared on such news programs as CNN's Greta Van Susteren to discuss the Amish School House shootings, could be fined up to $30,000 and could face up to 14 years in state prison.
