On Monday, Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens postponed a hearing to determine whether accused killer Demario Atwater is eligible for the death penalty.

"Facts would be discussed in open court as part of a Rule 24 hearing that are contained in the search warrants and autopsy report that are currently under seal in this matter," Stephens wrote. "It would be in the interest of justice that this matter be continued."

Atwater's Rule 24 hearing was delayed until the week of July 7.

Last Thursday, two days after denying a local newspaper's motion to unseal records in the Carson case, Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour agreed to seal Carson's autopsy until he could review it and decide whether releasing it would compromise the ongoing investigation.

"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.

"Both the print media and electronic media routinely report the most intimate details of autopsy reports," Woodall wrote, "and there is often unfettered speculation about the significance of those details to criminal investigations and possible guilt of suspects.

"With the advent of the Internet, the resulting details and speculation become part of the public domain, and virtually anyone has unrestricted access to the information," he wrote. "Potentially prejudicial pretrial publicity may result from said media practices and hinder or prevent the fair and impartial administration of justice in Orange County."

Woodall asked that Baddour order the autopsy released only to his office, the Chapel Hill Police Department, the State Bureau of Investigation and defense attorneys. He expects the judge to review the autopsy and issue a ruling some time this week.

Police found Carson's body in a wooded neighborhood near UNC-Chapel Hill about 5 a.m. March 5. Police have said she was shot multiple times, including once in the right temple. Within days of the shooting, police released security-camera photographs of Atwater and a second suspect charged in the case, Laurence Alvin Lovette.

Woodall said the Carson autopsy is the first local autopsy sealed since Eric Miller's in 2001. The 30-year-old AIDS researcher at UNC-Chapel Hill died from arsenic poisoning. A judge sealed his autopsy twice, saying its release would hinder the investigation.