What official statements have the family’s attorneys released about the timeline for autopsy and investigatory findings?
Executive summary
Attorneys representing Renee Good’s family have publicly released preliminary findings from an independent autopsy commissioned by the family and have framed those findings as central to an ongoing civil and criminal investigation, while also saying the family has not yet received the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s official report [1] [2]. The law firm identified the pathologist only as “a highly respected and credentialed medical pathologist” and has emphasized that evidence the lawyers are gathering will “suffice to prove our case,” even as federal officials and the Department of Homeland Security have pushed back on the family’s narrative [1] [2].
1. What the family’s attorneys announced about the independent autopsy
Attorneys with Romanucci & Blandin released a statement summarizing preliminary results of a privately commissioned autopsy, saying the independent exam found three gunshot “paths” producing four wounds—including at least one head wound—and specifying non‑vital wounds to the left forearm and right breast, details the firm says align with other emergency reports [2]. The lawyers framed the private autopsy as an initial scientific account supporting the family’s view that Good was not at fault and declared that evidence they are collecting “will suffice to prove our case,” language that signals both civil litigation plans and an intent to shape public record ahead of official releases [2] [1].
2. What the attorneys said about who performed the autopsy and what they released
The family’s legal team deliberately withheld the identity of the pathologist, describing the examiner only as “highly respected and credentialed,” and released only a summary rather than the full autopsy report, a choice the reporting notes leaves unanswered forensic questions such as precise shooter positions or the sequence of shots [1] [2]. Attorneys’ withholding of the examiner’s name and the limited detail in their public description have prompted officials and independent observers to say the family’s account is incomplete for establishing a full timeline of the shooting or the spatial dynamics of the encounter [1].
3. What attorneys said about the official medical examiner’s report and timing
Family lawyers have stated they have not received the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s official autopsy results, and they have publicly contrasted their private autopsy summary with the lack of access to the county’s findings, effectively placing the family’s timeline of disclosure ahead of the official report in public communications [2]. Reporting indicates the county ME’s results remain unreleased to the family at the time the firm published the preliminary independent findings, but the family’s statements do not supply an explicit timetable for when they expect the official autopsy or the county’s investigative conclusions to be made public [2].
4. Attorneys’ statements about broader investigatory findings and obstacles
Beyond the autopsy, the attorneys have asserted they are “gathering” evidence and conducting their own investigation, and they have publicly accused federal interference with local fact‑finding—an allegation reflected in reporting that the Department of Justice has limited Minnesota officials’ access to certain materials and has coincided with the resignations of federal prosecutors, a development the family’s camp and some local actors have cited to argue that official investigatory timelines have been disrupted [2]. Federal officials, including DHS, have offered a starkly different framing in public comments, calling the death “entirely preventable” while also defending law‑enforcement consequences when officers face deadly threats—an explicit counterpoint to the family attorneys’ portrayal [1].
5. What attorneys did not say and outstanding timeline gaps
The family’s lawyers have not provided an exact schedule for when they expect to release the full independent autopsy report, have not named the pathologist, and have not set dates for when they expect the Hennepin County Medical Examiner or federal agencies to complete and disclose their official findings, leaving critical timeline questions open; reporting confirms these omissions rather than supplying alternative dates [1] [2]. Publicly available reporting does not establish a definitive timetable from the county ME or DOJ for when official autopsy and investigatory findings will be released, so the most concrete timeline information available remains the family attorneys’ assertion that their evidence-gathering will continue and that their independent autopsy supports their legal case [2].