Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour will consider the motion at a hearing next Wednesday. He has temporarily sealed the autopsy report, pending his review to determine whether releasing it would compromise the ongoing police investigation.

Judges have sealed almost every public record related to the Carson case. Last week, Baddour upheld the sealing of search warrants and another unknown document after the Durham Herald-Sun moved to unseal them.

In a motion filed Monday, News & Observer attorney Michael Tadych explained that the newspaper wants "to intervene solely for the purpose of protecting [its] rights and the rights of the public to observe and report on this criminal proceeding."

The autopsy report would say how many times Carson was shot. It may also identify the weapon used to shoot Carson, who was president of the UNC-Chapel Hill student body.

"There are details related to the cause of death and manner of death of Eve Carson that should remain confidential until all interviews of possible witnesses have been completed," District Attorney Jim Woodall wrote in his motion to seal the medical report.

Police found Carson's body in a wooded neighborhood near UNC-Chapel Hill about 5 a.m. March 5. Within days, they released security-camera photographs of suspects Demario Atwater and Laurence Lovette, who have been charged with murder in her death.

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