In many states, an unobserved death requires an autopsy, even if foul play is not suspected initially and even if the family doesn’t want one. If one to be done, hope the Texas M.E. who gets the assignment is competent and thorough, including lots of toxicology tests. His US Marshall Service protective detail certainly will be interested.
Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara, who pronounced Scalia dead, told ABC News the death certificate will say the cause of death was natural, and that he died of a heart attack. She said no autopsy was necessary.
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Guevara said she immediately recognized Scalia’s name as a U.S. Supreme Court justice and pronounced him dead over the phone at 1:52 p.m. on Saturday.
She planned to drive to the ranch - about 30 minutes south of Marfa - but returned when a U.S. Marshal told her by phone: “It’s not necessary for you to come, judge. If you’re asking for an autopsy, that’s what we need to clarify.”
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Scalia died in his sleep during a visit to Texas. A government official said Scalia went to bed Friday night and told friends he wasn’t feeling well. He didn’t get up for breakfast on Saturday morning, and the group he was with for a hunting trip left without him.
Someone at the ranch went in to check on him and found him unresponsive.
Marshals were not at the resort in Texas where he died, but were called there after the fact, a law enforcement source told CNN. Mashals help supplement security for traveling justices.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/13/politics/supreme-court-justice-antonin-scalia-dies-at-79/
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Cibolo Creek Ranch is in Presidio County. Presidio County does not appear to have a medical examiner.
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Art. 49.02. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies to the inquest into a death occurring in a county that does not have a medical examiner’s office or that is not part of a medical examiner’s district.
Art. 49.04. DEATHS REQUIRING AN INQUEST. (a) A justice of the peace shall conduct an inquest into the death of a person who dies in the county served by the justice if:
(1) the person dies in prison under circumstances other than those described by Section 501.055(b), Government Code, or in jail;
(2) the person dies an unnatural death from a cause other than a legal execution;
(3) the body or a body part of a person is found, the cause or circumstances of death are unknown, and:
(A) the person is identified; or
(B) the person is unidentified;
(4) the circumstances of the death indicate that the death may have been caused by unlawful means;
(5) the person commits suicide or the circumstances of the death indicate that the death may have been caused by suicide;
(6) the person dies without having been attended by a physician;
(7) the person dies while attended by a physician who is unable to certify the cause of death and who requests the justice of the peace to conduct an inquest; or
(8) the person is a child younger than six years of age and an inquest is required by Chapter 264, Family Code.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) of this section, a physician who attends the death of a person and who is unable to certify the cause of death shall report the death to the justice of the peace of the precinct where the death occurred and request that the justice conduct an inquest.
(c) If a person dies in a hospital or other institution and an attending physician is unable to certify the cause of death, the superintendent or general manager of the hospital or institution shall report the death to the justice of the peace of the precinct where the hospital or institution is located.
(d) A justice of the peace investigating a death described by Subsection (a)(3)(B) shall report the death to the missing children and missing persons information clearinghouse of the Department of Public Safety and the national crime information center not later than the 10th working day after the date the investigation began.
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/CR/htm/CR.49.htm
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Nothing to see here. Move along.