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Thursday, March 8 Medical examiner doubts photo claim ESPN.com news services DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- An Oak Hill, Fla., man told ESPN Thursday that he does not have copies of any Dale Earnhardt autopsy photos. That comes one day after Timothy Campbell told the Orlando Sentinel that he received one of the controversial photos from a friend, who told Campbell he had gotten it from an unidentified employee at the Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office. The medical examiner, Thomas Beaver, told the Orlando newspaper that he doubts the photo, if there is one, is authentic. Circuit Judge Joseph Will said in a letter Wednesday to lawyers for both Teresa Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt's widow, and the Sentinel that his office received an anonymous phone call from someone claiming that Campbell had some of the photos in his house. The caller said Campbell planned to distribute the photographs, Will's letter noted. The judge ordered police to Campbell's home, located roughly 27 miles south of Daytona Beach. Campbell told the Sentinel on Wednesday that he had one photo but kept it for sentimental reasons and never intended to make it public. Police did not take the photo from the home, Campbell told the newspaper. But on Thursday, Campbell denied to both ESPN and Daytona Beach Journal that he had any autopsy photos. Campbell told the Journal that he had arranged to receive a copy of the autopsy report into Earnhardt's death from an unidentified man, and that that man has copies of photos. "I did not seek them out, I promise you this. I was after the autopsy report," the Journal quoted Campbell as saying. "I was after the autopsy report ... after (the death) happened. The guy who gave (the report) to me said he would also give me some pictures." Beaver, the medical examiner, said any photo might be a fake. Beaver said the actual autopsy photographs were taken with a digital camera, saved on a compact disk and sealed in a vault. Dale Earnhardt died in a crash Feb. 18 at the Daytona 500. Teresa Earnhardt sued Volusia County four days later to stop release of the medical examiner's photos. The next day, a Sentinel reporter made a public-records request for the pictures. Will agreed Wednesday to delay a hearing on the photo requests until March 19. Legislation aimed at exempting autopsy photos and videos from Florida's public records law is scheduled to be heard on the state House floor the same week. Sentinel Editor Tim Franklin has said repeatedly that the newspaper has no intention of publishing the photos but wants to view them so that a head trauma expert can make an independent determination of the cause of death.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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