Richard Blake's Death Certificate & Cause of Death (Office Of The Chief Medical Examiner, New York)

Your request FOIL-2021-816-01518 has been successfully submitted to the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME).
The details of your request are shown below.

Request Title: Richard Blake's Death Certificate & Cause of Death

Request Description: To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:

Richard Blake's death certificate (including medical report of the cause of the death) as determined by the coroner (Chief Medical Examiner). Mr. Blake, age 45, died in-custody on Rikers Island on April 30, 2021.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Katie Ryan

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Requester's Contact Information



Name:
Katie Ryan

Title:
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Email:
requests@muckrock.com (mailto:requests@muckrock.com)

Phone Number:
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Street Address (line 1):
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You can view the request and take any necessary action at the following webpage: https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2021-816-01518. (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2021-816-01518)

The NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) has denied your FOIL request FOIL-2021-816-01518 for the following reasons: (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2021-816-01518)
The cause of death for this decedent, Richard Blake, is pending further study.

The OCME may release the cause and manner of death once the case has been finalized by the Medical Examiner conducting the autopsy. In the future please direct media inquiries to OCME’s Office of Public Affairs, which can be reached at PublicAffairs@ocme.nyc.gov.

OCME does not release death certificates through FOIL. They are exempt from disclosure pursuant to §87(2) (b) of the Freedom of Information Law. The disclosure would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

Finally, please be advised that OCME does not release decedent records/autopsy reports pursuant to FOIL.

As a non-family member, you can obtain a copy of the ME case file and/or autopsy report by submitting a Letter of Request to OCME’s Records Department.  The Letter of Request should include: (1) your name, (2) the decedent’s name, (3) the decedent’s ME Case Number, (4) a return address, and (5) your signature.  In addition, the above records request must be submitted with an original, notarized authorization from decedent’s next-of-kin which states that such records may be released to you (next-of-kin are spouse/domestic partner, and blood relatives, who are a first cousin or closer).  The authorization must also contain the authorizer’s relationship to the decedent; if the authorizer’s relationship to the decedent is legal (e.g., Executor, Administrator, Power of Attorney) rather than familial, a copy of the documentation establishing that relationship (e.g., Letters Testamentary, Letters of Administration, Power of Attorney + Letters of Administration/Testamentary) must accompany the authorization.  OCME does not accept requests via email or fax.



The written request for decedent records, along with the requisite authorization (and other documents, as applicable), should be submitted by mail to:



The Office of Chief Medical Examiner

Attention: Records Department

421 East 26th Street, 4th Floor

New York, New York 10016



Additionally, you can find more information about requesting decedent records/autopsy reports on OCME’s website at https://www1.nyc.gov/site/ocme/about/faq.page, or you can call OCME’s Family Service Center at 212-447-2030.



If you wish to appeal this decision, you may do so within thirty (30) days of its receipt.  You may appeal to: Leslie C. Kamelhar, Esq., FOIL Appeals Officer, Office of Chief Medical Examiner, 421 East 26th Street, New York, NY 10016.



Holly Serrette

Records Access Officer

Please visit FOIL-2021-816-01518 to view additional information and take any necessary action. (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2021-816-01518)